Which vodka is the best one?

Popov.

This website has reviews of the hooch in your price range. No Vodka though.

Chopin
Blu Vodka
Ketel1
Absolut (if I'm at some bar that doesn't have the ones listed above)
Skye (if I'm broke)

Why no Smirnoff?

No particular order:

Grey Goose
Ketel One
Chopin
Belvedere
Russian Standard Gold
Tito's Handmade Vodka (Smoothest vodka I've ever had that isn't expensive. titosvodka.com)

I'll try tito's then, but I have a hard time trusting a Russian liquor made by some guy named Tito.

I won't drink French vodka. Fuck the French.

Vodka should taste like alcohol and nothing else. The only question should be how smooth or rough it is and what is in your price range....drinking two equally smooth vodkas where one costs 5 times as much as the other is pointless. .....As for dirt cheap swill goes I've found Stroika much less rough than Popov for the same price point.

It's been distilled six times and no sugar added in the process of making. I think typical is 3. And Wine Enthusiast rated them a 95 out of 100 vs. Ketel One scored 89. Absolut, Goose and Belvedere scored 84.

I'm fine with Belvedere, Grey Goose, or Ketel One. I serve these along with Stoli and Tito's, and Smirnoff in our well.

Would you try Russian liquor made by a guy named Dr. Boris?

Russian brands of vodka:

Zelyonaya Marka
Belenkaya
Myagkov
Ruskiy Lyod
Giorgiefskaya
Graf Ledoff
Dvoynaya
Altai
Zhuravli
Hortitza
Putinka
Pyat Ozer
Belaya Beryozka
Parliament
Kedrovitsa
Gusli
Chistiy Kristal
Staraya Moskva
Prozrachnaya
Privet
Prazdnichnaya
Moskovskaya Vremia
Medal
Ivan Kalita
Zavalinka
Beliy Klyutch
Zolotoye Koltso
Kristalnaya
Posolskaya
Kazyonka
Zimnaya Doroga
Etalon
Gerbobaya
Marusia
Kalinov Lug
Talka
Yamskaya
Sotka
Serebryaniy Kupazh
Kauffman

I used to buy blow from a fresh off the boat Asian dood named Giovanni. Wasn't bad. Go figure.

All I know is I hate flavored vodka. Why was that even invented?

Tweens and twinks.

Tito's , hands down.

Chistiy Kristal sounds like a porn name. We should invent a game called Russian Vodka or Eurobabe Index Girl.

I like Stoli and Gray Goose. Skye is good too. Having said that I can't really tell a huge diff between any unless it's the really cheap stuff.

We don't carry flavored vodkas.

That's like asking why negroes smoke menthol cigarettes.

Sissies. Like Apple.

I once has a broad stand me up on a hook up who requested Bubble Gum flavored vodka. I left the bottle at a cook out this summer.


Edit: I also left a small bottle of Patron Cafe, so it ain't like I completely stiffed them.

Tito's is hard to find out here, and most stores close to me only carry a few bottles (cost of shelf space and all).

The "taste" of a vodka is largely determined by the impurities that remain in the finished product, and the ingredients of the stuff--typically potatoes and some grain. The more times any alcohol is distilled, the more impurities are removed, i.e. less hangover. I've read the Finnish have a tradition of filtering their product through juniper leaves and branches to give it a little flavor.

Close, but not quite. Buddy of mine used to be sous chef here about a dozen years ago and they were making this all the time. Basically, it was a way to extract maximum cash out of rich, dumb, theater-going douchebags using bottom barrel vodka, a buck's worth of fruit and zero effort (all you need is a pot, a bottle, a handful of berries, a really low flame, and a thermometer to make sure it doesn't go above 170 F.) The fact that many/most Broadway bumblefucks had a teen or twink on their arm ordering stupid shit in high volume simply added more profit to it.

I mostly get Ketel One these days. They used to have some messed up pricing at my favorite liquor store where it was cheaper to get 3 fifths of the stuff than to just get a half gallon. Then they raised the price back up after about a year. On a whim I tried something cheaper and was very satisfied with Svedka. It's about $10 a bottle cheaper than Kettle One. The only flavored vodka I've had is Absolute Pepper in a Bloody Mary. It was fine, but I never got it again.

Just bought a 750ml bottle of Tito's tooday at 5-Star for $16.99. Mom said that its Tito Broz, I told her no. Bottle is chilling in the fridge, so I will give it a go soon.

Also got a 100ml shot/stakan of Slavyanskaya Cranberry at the register.

They also had a black matte bottle with gold or bronze color relief of Stalin's head, on the shelves behind the cashier.

I like fruit-flavored vodkas, but I don't like the wacky flavors like marshmallow pie and chocolate chip cookies.

no...just stop.. flavored vodka just isn't on the list.

Conan, what is best in life?

Fruit-flavored vodkas are great for novelty factor and brand expansion. When I got to the store, I like to the burst bubble with the text "new!" inside of it on the label: I like when companies keep cranking out new flavors and stuff. Persik. Limon. Applik. - its all good in the name of novelty. Its like Jelly Beans - you can't just have 1 flavor of it. Same shit with bourbon - I like when they spin-off their main product with stuff like Honey, give it names and some goofy backstory to it like Devil's Cut or Jacob's Ghost. You know what I mean.

I've had some good potato vodka. A friend drinks it because he's gluten intolerant so I gave it a shot.

I once had a 192 proof polish vodka. Like 2 shots / night max with beers. A friend spilled some on a VHS tape while lifting his shot glass. It ate the tape. I think it was Young Girls In Tight Jeans In Deep Trouble. http://www.adultdvdmarketplace.com/dvd_view_31782.html

What's the deal with Ciroc? I was gifted a bottle of coconut and one regular. I am not a drinker at all and thought I would re-gift them. Are they just for the moolies, or can I give them to decent people? (voice of Holly Hunter in Raising Arizona on that decent people line)

Technically, Everclear is 190-proof vodka. Wouldn't touch that stuff without mixing it.

When I was 18-19, it was handy separating the men from the boys.

I had my brother in law buy it for me when I was 16 and didn't know anything. "That has the most alcohol in it, might as well get that." First try mixing it w/ grape Gatorade was bad, so it was retired until my tolerance for booze was built up.

Just tired a shot of Tito's and its pretty good [I like it]. Smooth but has a distinct aftertaste which I did not mind. The only thing is the steeper price.

A lot of vodka is being made locally now. Just like the craft beers. Many of them are very good and it is better to support your local businesses.

All of them. Or none of them. In blind taste tests people rarely pick out their preferred brand.

This. Reminds me of an asshole friend in college who would buy handles of Crown Royal thinking he was the shit while everyone else drank the cheapest alcohol they could find. As soon as he'd leave the bottle unattended we would pour it out and replace with $10 a handle Kentucky Deluxe. He'd still walk around the party touting his "Crown" with the purple bag talking about how it was the best, how he can't even drink cheap whiskey anymore, etc., etc. We'd just sit back and watch him laughing.

why the fuck would you pour it out?. dude does sound like a supreme douche though.

@nassim. that just proves most brands taste the same after 4 or 5 drinks.

drink enough everclear and you'll definitely display symptoms of bells palsy. FACT

Manufacturers infuse it with bubble gum, grape, raspberry, pepper, bacon, lemon, strawberries etc because it basically has no flavor to speak of. Bubble gum scotch would either taste horrible or be an extremely pathetic attempt at disguising how horrible a particular brand of scotch tasted.

I meant pour it in another empty bottle, then we drank it.