Vodka for drinking neat?

[ATV]

I've got 2 Estonian clients coming for a meeting and I've been told off the record that their preferred drink is vodka over ice cubes.

Me personally I thought drinking vodka was for alcoholics it tastes like lighter fluid. Never head it without some form of mixing (usually Red Bull).

However, I would appreciate if anyone who drinks vodka neat, could tell me what connoisseurs would consider the best bottle on the market?

[Swervin_Mervin]

Someone got us a bottle of Chase Vodka. It's alright actually. Smooth. Doesn't really taste of much but then Vodka doesn't ime. Not that I really drink the stuff

[Cheese Mechanic]

The higher quality vodkas should be fine. Cheap crap, Smirnoff Red, etc, is just that. The smoothness comes with the distilling ratio (apparently) Try Snow Queen (Kazakhstan) or Snow Leopard(Polish) Both I beleive are 5 times or more distilled.

Very smooth. Should impress your guests,they are very possibly used to rotgut.

P/S If drinking with them, take care.

Edited by Cheese Mechanic on Wednesday 12th November 17:43

[Cheese Mechanic]

The higher quality vodkas should be fine. Cheap crap, Smirnoff Red, etc, is just that. The smoothness comes with the distilling ratio (apparently) Try Snow Queen (Kazakhstan) or Snow Leopard(Polish) Both I beleive are 5 times or more distilled.

Very smooth. Should impress your guests,they are very possibly used to rotgut.

P/S If drinking with them, take care.

Edited by Cheese Mechanic on Wednesday 12th November 17:50

[KFC]

Cheese Mechanic said:

P/S If drinking with them, take care.

yup, if you don't normally drink straight vodka then starting it with 2 clients who've flown to Britain and need to be impressed just has disaster written all over it

[Mandat]

Go for a good quality vodka and make sure that you serve it from the freezer rather than at room temperature.

[Phud]

I would suggest Beluga, russian, or grey goose, france..

straight from freezer, if I remember in Lithuania its a litre per bloke

[condor]

I think you'll be limited in your choice by what is available. Sainsburys sell Grey Goose at £36 and just seen on their site they have U'luvka on special offer at £30 - it has very good reviews, also a quirky bottle shape which might help break the ice

If you expect them to drink a lot then Russian standard will be fine and much cheaper

[Simmo6pot]

Belvedere is a much smoother drink than the more popular Grey Goose. Even Stoli will taste better than most of the crap that is marketed heavily in the UK. Russian standard is ok as a last resort.

[wolfracesonic]

Will your Estonian clients appreciate being given Russian vodka though? Bit of history between the two countries, though maybe booze transcends all boundaries.

[HotJambalaya]

Tito's Handmade. Look it up, will give you an interesting story to chat about with them too.

-and this comes from someone with a 6 litre bottle of Belvedere, a bottle of Stoli and a bottle of Russian Standard within a meter of him right now...

[Swervin_Mervin]

wolfracesonic said:

Will your Estonian clients appreciate being given Russian vodka though? Bit of history between the two countries, though maybe booze transcends all boundaries.

Good point. Easier to play safe I'd suggest.

ETA - Chase is £35 in Waitrose at the moment.

Question is - would they actually prefer the rougher stuff?

Edited by Swervin_Mervin on Wednesday 12th November 22:22

[Mobile Chicane]

I am of Estonian heritage. We know a thing or two about vodka.

Do not buy Chase. It's as rough as a badger's arse. However your Estonian guests will be far too polite to cast aspersions. Even if they're retching, such things 'aren't done.'

The secret of vodka is the number of times distilled. Do not be fooled by such marketing guff as 'three times filtered' - it could be filtered through Gisele Bundchen's diamond-encrusted knickers, however it is the number of times distilled which makes the difference.

Lidl 'Putinoff' (5 times distilled) isn't bad, however my favourite of the moment is Waitrose own label Polish rye. Smoooooth.

[HarryFlatters]

Oval 42 is amazing. It's got a creaminess to it that I've never experienced from a vodka of this price.

Other than that, Crystal Head is very good too, and the empty bottle looks great on one's coffee table

Edit: - don't put it in the freezer, put it in an ice bucket.

[Swervin_Mervin]

Mobile Chicane said:

Do not buy Chase. It's as rough as a badger's arse.

Really? I found it very smooth. But then, like I say, I don't really drink the stuff anyway so I'm far from an expert

[Pferdestarke]

Green Mark is a bargain. £10/70cl in Sainsburys at the moment. It's very good stuff.

[Hoover.]

for cheap stuff what he above said ^^^^^^^ or Finlandia

[Mastodon2]

ATV said:

Me personally I thought drinking vodka was for alcoholics it tastes like lighter fluid. Never head it without some form of mixing (usually Red Bull).

You must live a fairly sheltered existence.

[DUMBO100]

I've got a bottle of Beluga which is good to drink straight, it was bought in Kazakhstan

[sidekickdmr]

Ive tried many many top end vodkas including the more obscure ones.

However I keep finding myself back at Grey Goose or Ulacava (however you spell it)

Ice cold, over ice with a squeeze of fresh lemon