What Is The Difference Between Cheap and Expensive Vodka?
What is the The Difference Between Premium and Less Expensive Vodka?
The simple answer is, price. A number of factors determine what companies charge for their Vodka including, the cost of the agricultural products, skill of the distiller, packaging and marketing costs, distribution costs, and more. Sometimes a high-price vodka differs from a lower priced one, not by what’s inside the bottle but the bottle itself.
What is the difference between good and bad quality vodka?
There are many myths perpetuated to convince consumers that price equals quality, which is untrue. Consequently, many people overpay because they don’t understand what matters and what doesn’t when purchasing Vodka. Test your Vodka knowledge by evaluating these statements:
1. The more times a Vodka is distilled, the better the Vodka.
FALSE. This is a common marketing tactic to justify a higher price. After a few distillations, the process removes all traces of taste in the vodka but doesn’t make it any better or higher quality.
2. Cheap Vodka is more likely to give you a hangover.
FALSE. Hangovers are largely related to how much you drink, but impurities and additives in Vodka will also contribute to feeling hungover. If the vodka you’re drinking gives you a front-of-the-tongue burn, that’s a sign methyl alcohol is present, which indicates a poorly distilled Vodka and one that likely has additives or sugar to compensate for off tastes. Look for Vodkas that market themselves as additive free.
3. Vodka tastes best when kept in the freezer.
FALSE. What’s true, is that Vodka tastes less when kept in the freezer. If your vodka tastes better at freezer temperature (0 degrees) than around 38 degrees, that’s a clue it's not a good quality vodka.
How Does Distillation Affect Vodka Quality?
Since hangovers are predominantly caused by how much you drink, an expensive vodka won’t spare you a hangover. Congeners, impurities from the distillation process are also believed to contribute to feeling hungover. But again, an expensive vodka may have just as many congeners present as a cheaper vodka.
Does Cheap Vodka Create A Worse Hangover?
Since hangovers are predominantly caused by how much you drink, an expensive vodka won’t spare you a hangover. Congeners, impurities from the distillation process are also believed to contribute to feeling hungover. But again, an expensive vodka may have just as many congeners present as a cheaper vodka.
How Does Distillation Affect Vodka Quality?
Distilling removes impurities and by-products of the fermentation process, like methyl alcohol, that are unhealthy to consume. But a few distillations should remove the impurities if the distiller started out with quality ingredients. Vodkas that claim a large number of distillations often use this to justify a higher price. After a few distillations, the process removes all traces of taste in the vodka but doesn’t make the quality any better.
How Does Temperature Affect Making Vodka?
The liquid removed from the mash contains ethanol, water, and other by-products of the fermentation process. During distillation, the ethanol boils at a lower temperature, around 180 degrees compared with 212 degrees for water. After the ethanol boils, the vapor condenses, gets separated from the water and other substances, and is then cooled, turning it back into a liquid.
Are Certain Types of Vodka (Like Potato or Grains) Better Quality?
The quality of a vodka is determined by the quality of the products used and skill of the distiller rather than the type of grain or base ingredient. Contrary to the notion that vodka is a tasteless spirit, the characteristics imparted by each agricultural base is distinctive and a personal preference.