Hmmm, what does Belvedere have to say about this Vodka's claim to luxury?
[gawker.com]

Have you tasted this swill. It'll make your head spin 360 degrees. I took one taste and immediatly recycled it into the sink. I couldn't even swallow it.

What the heck were you doing in Time's Square? That place if for turists only.

And dont try to lie, I see Caroline's on the right hand side of the picture!

200% less energy? So instead of using energy, the distillery produces it? An interesting claim (and certainly possible), but I have to say I don't buy it and I couldn't find it on the website, either.

...oh and Grey Goose is still king. Up, please.

Amen. Vodka purists can crow about GG being overhyped swill all they want, but as someone who has drank his fair share, only Ketel One comes close and everything else tastes like rubbing alcohol and nail polish remover.

If they really cared about the environment, they wouldn't put it in a box.
On their website, they have a donation program:
360 Vodka's Close the Loop Program supports domestic "green friendly" initiatives and organizations with donations from the return of the 360 Vodka Closure.

Carefully remove the closure and drop it into the pre-paid envelope and 360 will donate $1.00 for every closure returned to recognized environmental causes.

The first step in environmentalism is reduce. How about not printing envelopes for us to mail stuff, and then making us mail it (mailing something requires the use of fossil fuels) and just donating more money to the causes they claim to believe in.

I don't care how much energy pot-distilleries use. I'm not giving up my Smirnoff Black triple-pot-distilled (and it is *hard* to find) drinkie.

@FreeMarketGravy: GG, Ketel, and the only other vodka I would put in with that crowd is Ciroc. Ciroc on the rocks is like drinking water.

So slapping a green label and marketing the product as "green" just because their printer prints on both sides of the paper?

If this doesn't prove that global warming is all about making money, I don't know what else it could be.

If they were really green, they wouldn't be consuming 100 kWh of electricity on their outdoor signs.

Claim denied.

You all need to try Svedka. It's cheaper than Smirnoff, but everyone I've had try it loves the stuff. It may not scream the bling bling lifestyle like a bottle of Trump, but it sure as hell tastes better.

They say they do lots of other stuff, like use locally grown grains, have a distillery that uses 200% less energy than pot distillers

@dialmelo: Technically you are correct (about global warming and making money). I have heard many environmental scientists state that the only way we can get people to care about the environment is spin in it a way that makes money.

They're not concerned with the environment, they're just using it as a gimmick to sell vodka.

for shame.

@dialmelo: You may be right. But isn't denying global warming about making money as well? In fact isn't one of the arguments that we can't do anything about global warming because it might cost us too much money? So if I had a choice between making money and potentially reducing global warming or making money and contributing to global warming, I'd take Pascal's wager and take the more eco-friendly route.

Although I searched and couldn't find the 200 percent comment, I found most of their winning comments including the double sided comment.

[www.vodka360.com]

Okay, found the 200% comment on their website now, [www.vodka360.com] but its a jpeg in a compressed zip file. (BTW, compressed a compressed image format into zip saved a whopping 20 kb of their bandwidth).

I had to check, because I couldn't actually believe they would make that comment. Another winning comment is that their "Outer shipper (read: cardboard box) is developed for infinite reuses such as: storage, filing, stacking and easy moving with Built In handles."

@rmz: It is possible, though not probably, that they use some form of alternative energy (i.e. solar) to run the distillery, and are sending the unused power they generate on to the grid. While technically this isn't "using less energy", this could be what they're talking about. Or, more likely, they pulled a number out of their ass.

@rmz: Ummm...no. Using "200% less energy than a pot distiller" (emphasis mine) means that their distillation method is 3 times more energy efficient than pot distillation.

@eelmonger: errrr...2 times

200% less energy? I suppose it's possible to be that ignorant of basic math if you were drunk enough off your a55 on vodka.

eelmonger: Um, no. 100% less of anything is, by definition, zero. Unless they're literally producing energy and selling it to the energy company (highly doubtful), it's not possible for them to exceed 100% "less."

You're getting confused about your basis. If I use 1000 kW of energy, 50% less is 500 kW compared to a basis of 1000 kW. If I'm using 500 kW, moving to 1000 kW is a 100% increase from a basis of 500 kW. Another way of saying that is that 1000 kW is 200% of 500 kW. But you can't exceed a 100% decrease moving down.

@eelmonger: Ummm...no. You're wrong and the others are right - it's poor math.

E.g.,

Pot Distiller uses 100 W.

Crappy Eco vodka uses 33 W.

That's 77% less energy than pot distiller...

Vodka -- 100% pure marketing of fantasy of a neutral grain spirit. people that swear they can taste the difference? well they seem to be born more often than every minute now days.

Vodka is the last stop on the train and $31 is an expensive ticket.

You guys are right, it's bad phrasing on their part. I think it's pretty clear that they meant to say what I said though.

Britta piture will smooth out around 50 bottles of $3-4 vodka. Don't bother wasting your money when you can run it through a charcoal filter yourself and make better tasting vodka.

Their "eco-glossary" indicates, complete with embarrassing fo-neh-tick pronunciation notes, that "the evolution of vodka" is a verb. What?

I imagine consuming this crapahol produces a lot of "post-consumer waste."

Anyone who uses any variation of the phrase "X% less than" should be drawn and quartered. And, of course, don't patronize their business.

X% more, or $FRACTION of, are acceptable means to express differences. Our competition uses 200% more energy, we use 1/3 the energy of the competition, for example.

I had this at a "drink green" event at a bar in NYC.

The haters posting here have obviously not drank this, because it is quite good; very smooth and gentle in flavor, great in a martini (though I preferred the organic beers).

Take note, this is not an organic drink, but rather a company with green practices. They take steps to reduce their foot print, encourage recycling (even including a SASE to return the normally un-recyclable part of their packaging), and present a "greener" face. As has been pointed out, they are flawed in their efforts, but they are doing some things right.

Overall, this is not a zero-footprint company, but they are trying to do the right things for the right reasons.

Stop hating until you try, and go green people!

Comment on What Makes Vodka360 An "Eco-Luxury" Vodka? Need to try Reyka from Iceland. First distillery to be powered with green energy (geothermal), unique lava-rock filtration and tastes great. Brian Strandberg=

@mikelotus: I would say you're right at the mid- to upper-end of the market - but man, bad vodka is BAD. We used to drink Fairnoff vodka (proudly manufactured in Lewiston, Maine) in high school because it was dirt cheap and I can still taste that stuff. Horrid. Orange juice would run from it, you had to mix it with something already foul like grapefruit juice to have any chance of coming out with your sanity intact.

When I tried the Brita thing, it worked, but for a very loose definition of "work".

It turned the most vile substance intended for human consumption, Popov, into the second most vile substance intended for human consumption. I only filtered it about 4 times though, but I doubt more would somehow give me Belvedere.

@mikelotus: Tell me you can't taste the difference between Ketel One and Popov, I dare you.

To get on topic, I tend to avoid "green" products anyway. If "carbon footprint" bothers you so much, it's probably more efficient to just buy normal stuff, and then buy some carbon "offsets" (indulgences).

@laserjobs: Mythbusters, etc. Essentially, it will make it a little better, but it will not make it "good."

@suburbancowboy: Thank you for picking up on this important point so many fail to comprehend. Reduction is the best strategy by far. Actually recycling isn't particularly green at all, especially to the extent that it reduces incentive to reduce/reuse materials.

@redragon104:did you see the ECO Factoids??/ Landfills cause cancer!!! I didn't read anymore, but I'm sure there were some other fun ones.

@Lo-Pan: didn't...I mean COULDN'T.

I don't even come close to believing they care.

"GREEN" is now the biggest marketing gimmick out there. Funny thing is: Most of the things these places do to be "green" actually can save them a lot of money, possibly allowing them to lower prices and not need to mention their "greeness" in those overpriced ads, some of which aren't very green (billboard with lights, using up paper in magazines and other print adds, and so on).

Vodka's good for disinfecting a cut. Give me good wine or good whisky any day.

@Mr_D: I've heard claims that running Smirnoff through a filter is worth the effort. Most people consider it "drinkable" already, and it makes the experience more pleasant.

@Darren W.: I prefer drinking Ketel One, but Svedka is an excellent value. I agree with you, it's heads and shoulders above Smirnoff... and it's cheap.

f that s

i'll stick with svedka. Big handles of decent stuff for 20 bucks.

Unless you're a girl, you aint having martinis.

@mikelotus: Popov isn't premium vodka at all. I suspect it's actually engine degreaser, and is somehow marketed as a spirit in the US.

I know there's little difference between the premium vodka brands. For drinking/shooting, they're all good. Subtly different, but almost the same. For mixing, there's no need to spend $30 for a fifth. Something inoffensive but inexpensive like Svedka (ding ding) is fine.

Vodka is, in its purest form, just alcohol and water. Impurities creep in, and give it flavor (same as any other spirit).

Ben, when it comes to Vodka, there is only one brand to remember Tito's Handmade Vodka.

It's hands down the best vodka I've ever tried, and at a ridiculously reasonable price too. You'll probably have to order it online (I got mine for shoppersvinyard.com). But at 18.99 or so per 750, it blows Grey Goose, Shakers, and Reyka out of the water.

Try it. You can thank me later.

(Oh, and when you're getting that, pick up a bottle of 15 year old El Dorado rum. Simply delicious.)

@JeffCarr: Oh man, the ol' Tito's cult. It's like the Shiner Bock of vodkas. Everyone talks about how amazing it is because it's local to Austin (or outlying areas) when in reality, it is staggeringly mediocre.

@Smackdown: No, I think it's amazing because it's so smooth. I drink good vodka all the time, but Tito's is smooooth...

The fact that it's made from corn, made in Texas, and made by a guy named Tito, kept me from trying it for quite a while.

"200% less energy than pot distillers"

1) 200% less is indeed incorrect. "Two times less," which hurts the heads of mathematicians, is standard English for one-half as much ("n times less" = 1/nth), but would only be validly expressed as a percentage with "50% less."

2) What do you get when you distill pot?

@JeffCarr: A friend of mine bought a bottle of Tito's last week at the liquor store (Pinkie's liquor carries it here in Texas). That rat bastard had one shot of the Tito's, then proceeded to clean me out of Grey Goose making Screwdrivers. So now I have an empty Grey Goose bottle and the better part of a bottle of Tito's.

Oh, and if you guys actually WATCHED that episode of mythbusters, even after using the Brita pitcher on the Vodka, the professional taster could STILL tell the difference and Karrie liked the cheap stuff prior to filtering anyway.

I'll have to try some of those other brands assuming I can find them in the liquor stores here.

@Namtab:

Awww...are we shilling today?

New account + that was your only comment, ever = go fuck yourself.

If you can find it, Pearl Vodka is the best I've ever tasted. I worked for a liquor distributor for a few years and tasted A LOT of vodkas. Pearl, still, is the finest I've tried.

It's made from Canadian winter wheat, and it is so smooth, I swear it feels almost soft in your mouth!

@Wormfather: For those that buy into their marketing. Yes , it is king.

Fris for the win. IMO it's as good as Grey Goose, and it is ~$20 for 1.75 liters. And it's Danish, just like Legos!

bobblack555: You're not even buying that. You're buying a brand and an image. They're hoping there's enough douchebags out there that will drink it because it makes them look green, just like the dumbasses that only drink Grey Goose because they think it makes them look cultured or refined.

It will, of course, provided your friends are as shallow as you are.

Drink up!