Do you freeze your vodka?

[jmrtnko]

If you're just drinking something straight with no ice, I suppose you could freeze a spirit, but why? Especially vodka.

Your tongue's ability to detect flavor is reduced at extremely low temperatures, but straight, unflavored Vodka, by legal definition (at least in the US and Europe), is already a neutral, flavorless spirit. So by freezing it, you just eliminate your ability to taste what slight sliver of flavor there might be, including any sub-threshold ingredients added to balance the ethanol. If you mainly like the cold burn, then by all means go for it, but don't bother with anything above a $15 bottle. It's not worth it.

For anything other than vodka, you're really dulling the flavor the distiller worked so hard to put in by freezing it. If there's too much ethanol burn for you at room temperature, dilute it with a with bit of water. The burn will be reduced, and the flavors of the spirit will smooth out the rest. That's why they were put in there.

That said, do what works for you. But do yourself a favor and experiment a bit. You might be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Bebop]

If by definition, vodka is flavorless, how can freezing it dilute the "flavor"? [huh] I agree. Experiment.

 

[jmrtnko]

If by definition, vodka is flavorless, how can freezing it dilute the "flavor"?

Straight vodka, while being flavorless, is not necessarily unflavored. The original point of added flavor in a spirit was to balance the sharp taste/burn of the ethanol. All vodka is pretty much the same 95% ethanol diluted with water, so there's nothing inherent in the spirit to do that. But distillers can add flavors at a sub-threshold level. You wouldn't specifically notice them. You'd be hard-pressed to pick any of them out. But the spirit as a whole would "taste" a little more balanced and smooth.

It's like catsup. It doesn't specifically taste "salty," but when you have the un-salted variety, you definitely notice its absence. Salt in this case is used in a way to balance and activate the other flavors.

The legal requirement for straight vodka (again, in the US and Western Europe) is to be neutral and that there be no predominant identifiable flavor. The ultimate goal is... plain water. The ethanol is a huge hurdle to get over in achieving that goal, so slight flavorings can be added to balance it out to get as close as possible to making it taste... completely tasteless.

If you freeze vodka, you limit your tongue's ability to taste those subtle flavors, even if you wouldn't have ever consciously noticed them. All you're really left with is the ethanol burn which is what the distiller was originally trying to minimize for you.

 

[Pompidou]

The only situation I've ever really known anyone to freeze vodka for is to increase the abv by separating it from a portion of its water content - a process of dubious value at best.

 

[jmrtnko]

a process of dubious value at best.

Eh, it would work... somewhat. But depending on where you live, it'd be a whole lot easier to go and buy Everclear if you just want NGS.

 

[davidraphael]

Having lived in Moscow, and in Odessa in the Ukraine (and Krakow in Poland, for that matter), I can say that it's absolutely standard practice to freeze vodka. In fact, vodka with ice in it would produce the same response that a cocktail umbrella in a beer would get.
Ice-wise, it's the same with single malt whiskey/whisky. Ice is a big no-no.
Go to Dublin (where I also used to live!) ask for it on the rocks and they will riverdance you to death!

ok, off-topic...vodka in the freezer. no question.

 

[FRASER_NASH]

A very old and close friend of the family died a few years ago. I inherited a couple of leather steamer trunks from the 20's and 30's, a few RFC (the father had been a pilot officer on the western front) items, a couple of 1930's deco lamps and...AND...A bottle of 1936 Smirnoff Vodka, sealed (I believe Smirnoff kicked off sometime in the 30's in Russia). Would I / should I..open it, and freeze it, then savour it...Mmmmm, working up to it (but need a very special reason to do it).

 

[BriarWolf]

A very old and close friend of the family died a few years ago. I inherited a couple of leather steamer trunks from the 20's and 30's, a few RFC (the father had been a pilot officer on the western front) items, a couple of 1930's deco lamps and...AND...A bottle of 1936 Smirnoff Vodka, sealed (I believe Smirnoff kicked off sometime in the 30's in Russia). Would I / should I..open it, and freeze it, then savour it...Mmmmm, working up to it (but need a very special reason to do it).

Good Heavens man. I'd be torn between saving it and selling it; I would not doubt there's enthusiasts out there who would pay a fine sum for that bottle.

A spirit of such history deserves to be kept in reserve for something truly astounding...such as becoming the next Tsar.

 

[1mach1]

I do not drink vodka, but my wife does, and she freezes hers.