Hey guys, welcome back for another edition of Barrel to Bottle, The Binny's Podcast. I'm here with the Binny's team, Patrick Brophy. Say, what up, Pat? What up, Pat? And say, what up, Greg? Hey. That's Greg Versch. So we've got different vodkas, and we're going to taste them without knowing what they are. Totally blind. That's the idea of blind tasting, and just give you guys a general feel of our first and second, third impressions of these vodkas, and kind of what's good, what's bad. Now, Pat, we're talking about demystifying, right? This is this word you and I have been using a lot lately, when we talk about Barrel to Bottle topics. So I'm looking for a good vodka, Pat. They exist, but it kind of depends what you're looking for. My brain goes to two places, neutral and character driven. Yeah, that's where my brain would go to. By its legal definition in America, vodka needs to be odorless and tasteless. You know, it is the definition, boring, neutral. It is neutral. You know, you're going to have that characteristic ethyl alcohol aroma and taste, but that's not really anything. I'm looking for neutrality when I look for vodka, because that's the whole point is... Why? Because what are you going to do with it? This is a base building block that I can build up from with other flavors and other ingredients. Some people do look for vodka with a little bit of flavor to it. Maybe they might want to recognize what kind of grain it's made from, or it might have a little bit of a residual sweetness or something to it. I tend to score those vodkas lower if I'm scoring vodka. It goes against the spirit of what it should be, which is as neutral as it can possibly be. You want to do a history lesson? That's the funny thing about vodka, this whole neutrality thing. There's not a lot of history behind it. You know, way back when, vodka wasn't what it is today. It was macerated with herbs and botanicals, and it was used strictly as... As liqueurs, basically. Yeah, it was used as a medicine. I mean, nobody drank vodka. I mean, I'm sure some people drank it for pleasure, but a lot of times it was just used as a medicine for stomach ailments and aches and pains, that kind of thing. And then as distillation became more modern, and we were able to create higher strength, higher proof, cleaner, more neutral distillate, vodka really became its own category. And that really took off with the advent of continuous distillation. You know, that kind of industrial revolution era is when vodka really came into its own. Vodka was commercialized and widely available and in a more neutral, modern form in Poland before that. But again, when it really kind of started to conquer the world, so to speak, is when we were able to industrialize it and produce it on mass scale. All right, Pat, tell me how I make basic vodka. The most basic vodka, you're taking something that's been fermented. You need some kind of fermentable sugar source that could be sugar beets, it could be molasses, it could be corn, it could be any kind of grain, anything that contains sugar or starches. You convert those to alcohol and you have a low alcohol wash, so to speak, so something that's between four and eight, nine percent alcohol. And then you have to distill that. So all distilling is, is taking alcohol and concentrating it. And you're taking alcohol out of the water, out of the solution that it's already in. So with a, with a pot still, you put your alcohol in the bottom and you heat it up and it starts boiling. Alcohol has a lower boiling temperature than water, so it vaporizes and rises first and it condenses off the top. And then you collect your pure alcohol. Now to make something neutral with a pot still, you need to do that a couple of times at least, over and over because it's just can't distill up to those really high neutral proofs as 195, 195 and a half neutral proof. Meaning like as a chemical reaction, it's not like mathematically perfect. There's always a little bit of junk, a little bit of water vapor, a little bit of... Different things boil at different temperatures and there's different kinds of alcohol that boil at different temperatures. There's methanol, the bad stuff that makes them blind in moonshine or something, and methanol boils at a lower temperature than ethyl alcohol, the alcohol we want. But this is all based on a pot still. And really, when we're talking vodka now, we're talking a column still. Even small craft distillers have column stills. So with a column still, it's also known as continuous distillation. You essentially are always continuously pumping that low alcohol wash into the top of it. And as it falls down between different rectifying plates, steam is rising from the bottom. And as the steam passes that alcohol that's falling, the steam strips the alcohol off of that wash that's falling, and it rises to the top, and then you collect it out the top. But it's usually not exactly the top. And the thing with column distillation is, we know alcohol boils at a specific temperature that we want to collect it at. So we draw from our column where that boils. So where it's getting pulled out of the column might be only three quarters the way up to the top. So higher is higher volatility, and lower is heavier stuff. Exactly. And so the stuff that actually rises to the top, we don't even collect that would be our tails cut in a pot still, but it just gets cycled out of that thing and back in, and gets kind of recycled through the distillation process. I never realized that the distillate was introduced at the top. I thought it was the bottom. No, yeah. It's the steam coming in from the bottom. Wow. There it is. So I mean, the big differentiator with vodka is, if everything's distilled to neutrality, the big differentiator that vodka companies will claim is the amount of times it's distilled, or how it's filtered, and how many times it's filtered. I mean, yes and no. Well, after a certain amount of times through the distill, it does not matter anymore. And the way a column still works, like I was talking about how it kind of falls between those rectifying plates, technically speaking, each plate could be counted as a distillation. So if somebody has a column with 50 plates in it, they could say it's 50 times distilled. But that's not really what they're referring to. We've got a vodka in our blind set here that said distilled five times. And no column still has only five plates in it. So they're insinuating five different passes through a column still. Yes. Which doesn't mean anything. What their column still is, is actually it is a still that is made up of five columns. And it passes from one to one to the next, that all might be controlled at different temperatures, pulling off different alcohols. So one distillation, but it's a continuous distillation, and it happens to pass through five columns. It's almost like a compound continuous distillation. It's reticulated. So all this business with the column still, pot still, cut points, all that, isn't really the biggest impact on flavor here. You know, we want to talk about sugar source first and foremost. We have to ferment something before we can even get it to a still. And if it contains sugar, we can essentially turn it into vodka, whether that is sugar beets, corn, wheat, rye, potatoes, sorghum, grapes, different kinds of fruits, pretty much anything like that. So you're talking about all of this distillation process, but that's not really the most important component in vodka. Exactly. None of this matters. All that matters is the taste. And that's why we have to taste some blind. So we took vodkas that had a varying performance, I guess, from our last blind tasting. We don't know what they are. We've got a little range here. And let's go through them one by one. Again, I'm looking for vodkas that totally exhibit neutrality. That's what I'm looking for in a vodka. Because I think if you have a vodka that tastes a little too much like something, you're kind of wasting your time. I agree. I'm also looking for a softer mouthfeel. Nothing too bracing or chemical. I don't want a vodka that tastes like a charcoal filtration. So we're going to taste these things? Yeah. When you're tasting spirits, do you smell across all of them first? Because I'm kind of used to that from wine tasting. You can. I tend to taste a lot of different things in a short period of time. Like if we're tasting barrel samples of bourbon, we might be tasting 20 barrels. I'm not going to pour them all out and line them up. I'm generally going one at a time and taking accurate notes. But I take condensed notes. I'm only doing nose, palate and finish. And I'm just trying to separate every spirit I taste into those three parts and judging them based on that. Three is a really clean nose. Three is my fave nose, but six is good. Six is a little sweeter. Yep. Smells like corn pud. All right. Let's start with number one here. Hey, this is Greg from the future. We're tasting blind right now as we record the podcast. We don't know what we're tasting, but we want you to know. I'm going to cut in with the answers here so that you can tell what we're talking about. Number one is Smirnoff. Anything standing out? It's as neutral as neutral gets as far as I can tell. Yeah, it's got a bit of that kind of classic alcohol burning nose, slightly chemical nose. No chemical romance here. I'm not really too into this. Very light, delicate, doesn't have a whole lot of mouthfeel to it. A little bit of lingering burn. Otherwise, it's a pretty clean vodka. Yep. No discerning grain character or anything like that. I mean, this is pretty damn neutral. Light sweetness on the finish. A little bit of residual sweetness. I think that's just the ethanol making it seem sweet. That's all I think it is. You know, I just... You think this is the smooth characteristic and the mouthfeel you're looking for, Greg? I think it's a little bright, and I think it might have a little bit too much chemical, but I honestly, I'm gonna have to taste five more of them before I'm sure. All right, on to number two. Number two is Grey Goose. This one on the nose smells a little just harsher to me. It wants to... You can kind of smell that it wants to fight back. Number two tastes kind of cheap and adulterated. I shouldn't say cheap. It just tastes chemically. This is the charcoal-y flavor that I don't like. I think to me is more of that classic acetone-y nail polish remover. And it's got a thin body. You know, I'm not looking for a particularly full, you know, voluptuous-bodied vodka or anything, but this is particularly watery and harsh. Yeah. Three? Number three is absolute. Now, this is a neutral nose. This is nothing. Nothing at all. See, I don't... I think I get more nothing at all from number one. This one has, yes, neutral, but within that, there's a little bit of a sweet component to it. That it just... It's pleasant. It's got a little softer, rounder mouthfeel to it. Less of that minerality that you were talking about before. Really clean, light finish. I mean, a little tiny hint of alcohol burn and that's it. Less sweet than one and two. Yes. It's my favorite so far. None of that charcoal, acetone, filtration component that I just abhor. This is good. All right. Number four? Yeah, number four. Number four is Fetca. Now, this is neutral. Yeah. I don't smell anything. Yeah, I mean... It's clean on the palate too. Yeah, very clean. Number four is clean, neutral. It does have a bit of a minerality in the mouthfeel, I guess. Peppery quality? Black pepper? Yeah, maybe a little bit of black pepper. And I mean, is that more of a sensation of the alcohol sucking the moisture out of your mouth or an actual pepper quality to it? You know, it's hard to say with this. Really nice, though. Yeah, I mean, it is a, you know, I'm not going to call it a beautiful vodka because then I'd have to, you know, quit my job. I think four is kind of textbook, but it has more character on the finish than number three does. Three finished a lot cleaner than four. Yeah, four does have a little bit of something on the finish. All right, on to number five. Number five is Journeyman Red Arrow Vodka. Ooh, now this is character. Now, yeah, see, now this is one that I would say... Someone purposely left some stuff up in this. Yeah, this smells estery. I bet it's fruit. So, okay, so just to back up to make sure that we recap and we're doing the service to our listeners, if somebody wants to leave these sort of estery, right, which basically just means an odorous compound, thanks to, let's say, distillation in a lower temperature or less times, right? So that's what they're doing. They're looking for temperature and looking for less times through a still, maybe pot still, something like that, to create a vodka of this. Yeah, totally. So this is kind of the cream form. Yeah, this is fruity, estery. But definitely, yep. There's also a vanilla and a cocoa powder flavor on the bottom. I get the cocoa powder a lot. I get the vanilla. I think it's interesting. I think it tastes good. Not what I'm looking for in a vodka. But it's not a poor product at all. Yeah, I don't mind it. This is more like a Pisco to me. So is this a sugar-based vodka? I mean, they're all sugar-based in some sense. Sure. But I mean molasses-based or whatever it is. Yeah. Is it coming from molasses or grapes or something? I think it's grapes. You think it's grapes to me? Because it's definitely high-toned, but it's lighter-bodied. It's lighter on its feet. And there's just a lot of- It has these flavors, but they're delicate. I don't know. If I'm drinking vodka club soda, which is a silly drink to me, I would rather have one like this, because then I could taste a little something, I think. But if you're using it as a foundation for a cocktail that maybe has some- All their stuff you want to taste. Laurel liqueur or some aromatic bitters. Yeah, totally. Anything that is delicate or easily overwhelmed, this wouldn't be the vodka for that. Yeah. Okay. So what do we got here? Do you want to take some guesses if you were to guess? Just pick a favorite. If we're going for neutrality and quality, three and four, but three, I think, is my favorite. I'd go for three as a favorite. I'm also going three. Three was just the cleanest, most neutral to me. But four was a good close second, relative to close second. Four was excellent. One was very good as well. Number five had character, but it wasn't harsh. It was pleasant. It was just not that neutral. It smells more like white dog. White dog generally has more body to it too. White dog is coming off the sill at a lower proof, and this is very light. When I smell white dog, I kind of get that cream corn smell, and that's what I get. So I think that's maybe why it's a bit reminiscent for me and sort of hitting that kind of receptor. Corn pudding. You just got corn pudding on the brain. I listened to our Rye podcast, which have you even listened to it? Most expensive vodka. I want to say it's also too. Yeah. I'm going trick question, and I bet it's number two. Yep. I know we're going here, and I'm so happy. There's no trick question. I'm not. You know what? Yeah, you don't know. One might be up there. That's what I just tasted it. You sure? All right. Everybody ready to find out what we just tasted here? You're nodding. It's an audio medium. Oh, right. You can't see that. Yes. That's an affirmative Red Ryder. Yeah. It's it. Lay it on us. None of that's usable. Number one, Smyrnov, the finest Russian vodka made in the Midwest. Huh. That's not that bad. It's good. Smyrnov always shows well in a blind tasting. It is a damn good vodka. We just, I just. Did you call number one is most expensive? Yeah. I just thought that it was the most balanced in terms of just kind of between neutral and pleasant. It's a great vodka. The everyday vodka with the luxury taste. Surprising bang for your buck. I wouldn't have seen it coming. Yeah. Total surprise. I'm a Smyrnov fan. All right. Number two, what was the distinction on number two here? Thin, harsh, acetone. This was everybody's least favorite? Number two, gray goose. I knew it. I knew it. It's a blind tasting, man. It's a blind tasting, and we're here to educate people, you know? This is fun. This should be fun. We all loved number three. What is number three? Number three, Absolute. This is funny. You saw this coming. I was curious to see because when we did this with our spirits consultants last week, Absolute was also the winner. Yeah, it was the big winner of the day. All right, number four, Svedka. Right? Yeah. Svedka, we all liked. I mean, it was between Absolute and Svedka. It does get lost in the fight, but it's right up there with Smyrnov and Absolute there. But what a value. Clean, neutral, but it's a little bit rounder. All right, number five, Journeyman Red Arrow Vodka. That is the most expensive. Yeah, I believe it is. Crafted Still Vodka from Sunny, Michigan. Yeah, it's pretty good. You know, but it's got a lot of character. It's big and flavorful vodka. Oh, it's also the highest proof. It's 90 proof, $29.99 a fifth on the shelf. Oh, that's a really good price for a Crafted Still Vodka. Yeah, you know, $30 for a good bottle of vodka is not bad. Again, this vodka has got a lot of character, but that extra 10 proof is pretty interesting too. You know, it's not going to get us watered down in cocktails. So, last week when we did this, absolute tied for first place with Journeyman Red Arrow, actually. Wow. Because some people were looking... So we've got a neutral and character. Some people were looking for neutrality. Some people were looking for vodka that actually tasted like something. But you can't go too far with the vodka tasting like something. Several years back, actually, a small distillery out in Iowa had to rename their vodka from Vodka to Artisan Spirit because the government actually came and said, You know what? This has too much flavor. This tastes too much like something. You can't call it vodka. So the thing about blind tastings is you always kind of feel like an idiot. It's always humbling. Makes you pay more attention than if you were relying on the preconceived notions that you had about the products that you tasted. Yeah, absolutely. It keeps you honest too. Even if you take what you have, what you've purchased, it doesn't matter. You can still blind taste it. No matter how few bottles you have, if you have your loving friends and family pour it out for you, you are not going to know what is what. And that will give you an objective, an honest objective answer for yourself as to what you like. That brings us to our customer Q&A portion of today's podcast, the Barrel to Bottle. Reach out to us for your chance to win a $20 gift card. And if your question is good enough, cool enough, smart enough, we will answer it or attempt to. Today, it's Mike O. So Mike O wrote us in fittingly about vodka and he says, I like goose, but goose is kind of expensive. So what's the deal with gray goose versus cheap vodkas? Knowing the process of gray goose is charcoal filtered. He says, if I pour my cheap vodka through a Brita filter, will it give me the same effect of gray goose? I'm pretty sure there's a Mythbusters episode on that. We'll have to look it up. There is? I'm pretty sure. Gray goose, you're definitely paying for some marketing. As you can see from today, if we're taking things objectively, aka blind, there are other vodkas out there that are cheaper and I think we can all agree are better. But the most important thing is, if you like it, keep drinking it. The most important thing here, Mike, is that you drink what you enjoy. And if you love the taste of gray goose, you love the taste of gray goose. Nothing wrong with that. I mean, millions of people do, obviously. It's one of the best selling vodkas in the world. Yep. $20 gift card to Binny's Beverage Depot. $20 gift card to Mike for sending us his vodka question. Thanks for the question. Hit us up with any of your alcohol related questions. You know what? At Binny's Beverage Depot on Twitter. I'm putting it out to the listeners. I want, if you're listening to this podcast, please, please blind taste something that we've talked about with your friends and report back to us. Write us on Twitter, write us an email and just say, hey, we listened to the podcast, we got together, we thought we're going to blind these whiskies, these scotches, please write in to us and tell us how it goes. Let us know, girls. We want to hear about it. So thanks for listening. Wrapping up one more Barrel to Bottle, The Binny's Podcast. I'm Pat. I'm Greg. Hey, I'm Kristen. Thanks so much for listening. We'll see you again and keep tasting.