Vodka: potato vs grain
Lybations
Vodka is defined as a neutral spirit "without distinctive character, aroma, taste or color. In fact, vodka's neutral taste does account for much of its appeal: It mixes equally well with tonic water and tomato juice, and it can be as crisp as James Bond's vodka martinis or as trashy as the "swamp waters" my local bartender mixes (made of vodka and Redbull). Vodka suits any occasion, goes with any food, and "possibly" gives you less of a hangover than any other liquor. It's no wonder that in America, vodka outsells gin, rum, and tequila, as well as scotch, bourbon, and whiskey.
Vodka can be distilled in a good many ways, from a great many substances, including wheat, rye, beets, corn, potatoes, and sugar cane. In Russia, the Yukos oil conglomerate recently made headlines for marketing a vodka distilled from hemp seed. As a result, each brand has a distinct smell, flavor, aftertaste, and burn (i.e., the burning sensation vodka creates as it goes down your throat). The grain-based vodkas, which are the most popular, tend to be smooth and can even go down easy. Vegetable-based vodkas are often, and often unfairly, dismissed as being harsh.
After several tastings, we came up with this short list of tasty, smooth vodkas.
• Brilliant (Distilled from grain)
• Glacier (Distilled from potato)
• Ketel One (Distilled from wheat)
• Armadale (Distilled from wheat and barley)
• Chopin (Distilled from potatos)
All fantastic, but in the end, Chopin was by far the best of the best. So, there you have it, distillation with potato is the winner. Cheers!
Reader Comments (1)
While Kettle One is a good choice - I'd argue that Russian Standard Vodka, based on a recipe from 1894, is one of the best premium wheat vodkas.