What is VODKA and does it really all taste the same?! Let's find out!

are you a fan of vodka a lot of bartenders do give it a bit of a bad rap because it's seen as a very neutral spirit and therefore boring and it's fair that a lot of vodkas do taste pretty similar to be fair it doesn't really help that for a long time the legal definition of vodka in the States was that it was uh neutral Spirits so distilled or so treated after distillation with charcoal or other materials as to be without distinctive character Aroma taste or color which sounds like a pretty big diss from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms if you ask me also as an aside can any of those people out in the states let me know why one kind of government thing governs all of those three quite different things anyway they have amended it now so it just says neutral spirits and they can have a little bit of sugar or a little bit of citric acid added that said I was actually at a vodka training once and they got us to do a blind tasting which I thought was a pretty bold move from the brand because it was always obviously you know pinning itself against the competitors with all of the marketing Stripped Away and I was actually pretty surprised at how noticeable the differences were between them I have spoken before in another video about the factors that influence what a spirit Spirit is going to taste like um and what it's made from is definitely a big one and in vodka you do really taste that because most are distilled on the same kind of still so a continuous or column still and that does strip out more flavor than a pot still generally and then obviously none of them are aged so you're not getting any kind of influence from a battle or anything like that and then unlike a lot of spirits which have to be made from a certain base so you know rum and sugar or whiskeys and you know various barley or corn or whatever vodka can be made from basically anything that can be distilled historically greens and potato are the most common ones but I've even seen ones made from honey and cheap Suede and quinoa so let's have a little taste through some vodkas made from different bases and see if we can see what the differences are so I'm going to start with I guess a bit of a control one um so Gray Goose is made from wheat and that's probably the most common worldwide I would honestly have to check that fact but it feels like it is and it does tend to produce like kind of quite soft and quite neutral um vodkas so it smells quite fresh and citrusy but yeah not too much else really um yeah definitely you know you can kind of smell a bit of alcohol on there as well because it's not really got again kind of any wood or anything like that that sort of tends to mask that a little bit yep so soft like tiny hint of vanilla tiny hint of citrus um but it kind of probably does live up to that real uh sort of neutral um you know is the word of the day here and I think that's honestly why it's so popular Gray Goose is probably um what you know probably the thing that gets ordered the most sort of brand called across the bar and they've obviously done a really good job of marketing and nobody's really not gonna like that if you're a vodka Drinker there's nothing to kind of upset anyone in there so obviously gonna work in basically all of your classic vodka drinks no Belvedere's little polish vodka and this is actually made from Rye so if you think about the difference between sort of a wheat whiskey which is uh generally what's used in Blended whiskeys to kind of bulk out the single malts and again quite kind of a neutral um uh like flavor profile there rye whiskey obviously is usually pretty like big and bold and spicy so be kind of interesting to see if that manages to filter through this at all so I feel like that does jump out the glass A little bit um more but doesn't smell massively dissimilar to Gray Goose I'm definitely not really getting yet any further notes and again a little bit of citrus and a little bit of like actual kind of ethanol alcohol smell it genuinely is a bit a bit spicier like there's just a bit more it kind of made my tongue tingle a little bit which didn't really happen with the Gray Goose it felt kind of yeah pretty like soft and smooth across the whole palette I'm it's always hard to tell obviously if there's a bit of a placebo effect because I do know what I'm tasting um but I would say that that's like a little bit Bolder um and you know maybe if you're having a martini or something that you kind of want the Vodka to take a bit more Center Stage that could be a good option while still not being too in your face like again it's not gonna offend anyone who's kind of used to drinking vodka now these ones are all kind of Australian ones uh because that's what I had to hand but there are examples of um things you know vodkas made from all of what these ones are made from made all around the world and so I'm going to start with the little Adelaide Hills one Adelaide Hills is a really big wine producing region so they actually make it from basically the waste from the wine industry so grapes essentially but once they've been pressed and think things like that so it smells a little bit sweeter and obviously these guys are quite citrusy but this one is like a little bit more fruity I definitely wouldn't be able to you know put my finger on Grape but it does smell like a little bit kind of sweeter and juicier and the same on the palette probably about the same texture and body as the Belvedere so I'm a little bit rounder than the Gray Goose and again I find it slightly sweeter um and yeah quite nice and kind of approachable I reckon that would work well in your sort of Cosmos or like citrusy and kind of berry um you know a French martini or something like that that's going to play quite nicely uh in there just bring a little bit more kind of heft to it no Archie rules are up in Sydney this one's just fun um because actually what they've done is a native Botanical vodka so it's almost somewhere between a vodka and a gin really but it just doesn't have Juniper in it so they have infused it with some different flavors got lemon scented gum native Sunrise lime and Australian Peach which sounds quite delicious very peachy um and yeah really nice and kind of lifted lots of uh fun Citrus notes on there and obviously yeah it's still a lot more neutral than a liqueur or something more kind of actually flavored like it's still got that really kind of clean palette um so if you do want something that's a little bit fruity but not too full on uh that's a little kind of flavored vodka can definitely be a good option in there I reckon that'd be really nice just with soda on a summer's day as well um again if you just don't want something as full on as gin or you're not really into that Woody spice or Juniper flavor and definitely a good option didn't have quite enough glasses there but I reckon this guy is going to definitely overpower any Gray Goose left in there so this one um is a little potato vodka so it used to be super common a little bit less common now um this one's made down in tassy but again there's plenty made sort of worldwide that definitely smells the most different of all of them even you know the Archie rose that actually has other things kind of infused in there this is like real kind of like potatoey like very kind of flurry um and quite Savory smelling and again kind of jumps out the glass A lot more than than any of the rest of them I would see it's pretty crazy how different the most fuel is like it's real kind of coats your mouth um obviously there's not any sugar or anything in there it's in a Savory way but the actual Spirit weight is just quite different I could be wrong but I don't think Hellfire is a very big Distillery so I'd be surprised if they have a full column still it might be what's called a hybrid still or even actually a pot still which would kind of explain why that Spirit has a little bit more wheat to it um but I'll do a little bit of research into that and let you know in the description below but this is definitely my favorite I have to say um I think in like a dirty martini or something like that it's just really gonna gonna stand up I don't think you could substitute it into you know a Cosmopolitan or a French martini that'd be pretty weird like it's too kind of funky um but again in something where it's going to be Center Stage um and and really kind of shine through uh that's definitely I would I would say the most interesting of all of them so there we have a little taste through of some vodkas and again you know I really do think it's something that especially if you're someone who's quite dismissive of vodka is kind of worth doing um because they are varied it's definitely a little bit more subtle nuances than you know like an Isla Whiskey and a space side whiskey or something like a big pitted thing and something that's really light and floral um but if you're looking there's there's definitely a little bit of Interest going on in there and therefore you know kind of will some will work better in certain drinks than others vodka so now you know

Channel: Behind the Bar

Views: 12,935

Keywords: vodka, what is vodka, what is vodka made from, what is vodka made of

Id: RoblPKI7jv0

Length: 8min 57sec (537 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 05 2022