Filtering Vodka

[Prairie Dog]

Some co-workers told me today that they pass the cheapest handle of vodka through a Brita filter four times. They say after filtration they can no longer distinguish it from the top-shelf stuff.

Have any of you tried this??

 

[Smithy]

They did this on Mythbusters.

They started with a rough as guts cheap vodka and filtered it several times (keeping vodka from each filtration stage) and also had a top shelf vodka. Two people, a professional vodka taster and a vodka drinker then had to attempt to correctly arrange the vodkas from cheap, "once filtered", "twice filtered" and so on up to the top shelf. IIRC, the professional got them bang on, but the amateur didn't have a bloody clue with their results all over the show.

Moral of the story? If you are a professional vodka taster then consider it, if you happen to be an amateur vodka enthusiast, then drink what you like the taste of.

 

[univibe88]

I like vodka that tastes like juniper and other botanicals.

 

[Boodles]

Filtering to improve Vodka?

I'd have reservations about that. Much of the mega-buck vodka is distilled multiple times rather than filtered multiple times. There isn't much left of vodka by the time it's ready for the bottle save for alcohol and water. It seems that all the rounds of distillation are to remove even more of the non-alcohol content. I also wonder why, if you can mirror the taste results, that some distillers are not using the filtering method to achieve better taste on the cheap. Perhaps that is happening. Still, I have not tried filtering trick myself and I'm certainly not going to contest the results of a Mythbusters test.

 

[Tomasso]

I like vodka that tastes like juniper and other botanicals.

Then you should try gin.

 

[driven_247]

I have been filtering cheap-o vodka through a Brita pitcher for over a year now. My favorite Vodkas are $30+ for a 1/5. I got real tired of spending that kind of money. Now I buy the really cheap stuff @ $15 for a handle.

It really works. I thought maybe it was my imagination so I've performed some test with myself and others. The big tell before you even drink is the smell. That cheap stuff will make you gag just by smelling it... until you run it through the Brita.

Just try it, I'm sure you see the results too. I do run it through about 6 times though, not four.

 

[John in Covina]

Jack Daniels is run thru charcoal they make themselves. I recall the Foxfire book with the moonshine chapter talks about charcoal filtering of moonshine, so i know that doing so is not speculation but a time honored tradition in some parts. The component they want to remove in the moonshine is called fusil oils, which can make for killer headaches but in small amounts can be a flavoring constituent.

Activated charcoal is a common filtering agent and I have heard that it is available at the local pharmacy. As such, it may be possible to make one's own filters for less that the store bought Brita one.

 

[KenS]

This place is too classy;
Nobody has suggested filtering the cheap stuff through your kidneys..:eusa_doh:
Ken.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

What's a 'handle of vodka'? A big plastic bottle with a handle? I've never heard that term.
I only drink the cheap stuff, but not available to just anyone, Military Special. Odor? None, but then I never claimed to be a connoisseur.

 

[univibe88]

handle = 1.75L bottle.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Insomnia

Thanks, univibe88. Any idea how that name came about so I can sleep? It's not in my dictionary and I really don't know why it's niggling me, but I'm interested in definitions I haven't come across before.

 

[carebear]

I think your guess is on, the big bottles have a handle.

I'd bet your favorite hat on it.

 

[mtechthang]

That was on Mythbusters too

I have been filtering cheap-o vodka through a Brita pitcher for over a year now. My favorite Vodkas are $30+ for a 1/5. I got real tired of spending that kind of money. Now I buy the really cheap stuff @ $15 for a handle.

It really works. I thought maybe it was my imagination so I've performed some test with myself and others. The big tell before you even drink is the smell. That cheap stuff will make you gag just by smelling it... until you run it through the Brita.

Yes. It does make the cheap stuff taste better. But it still doesn't taste like the good stuff. I guess a good (not really, but humor me) analogy would be, you can put all the polish, spend time fitting everything precisely, balance and blue-print a Ford Mustang all you want- it still isn't an Austin, or a Diablo, or well, you see what I mean. Better Vodka, yes. Not great Vodka!! (What kind of Vodka do I like. Scotch and/or Bourbon, please. What do I know. But the expert did get it exactly right from one to six filterings- and in the precise order- with the premium Vodka ranked highest. That was pretty impressive). If you like it, I say go for it!

 

[mtechthang]

Mythbusters did six filterings.

Just try it, I'm sure you see the results too. I do run it through about 6 times though, not four.

Not that it matters all that much. Again. If this works for you, the experience is rather subjective. I say, it is your nickel!! FIlter away. As to making your own filters. Charcoal - yuck!! Don't they tell you not to drink the first water through. Is the shluff-off dangerous? I remember charcoal being used for upset stomachs (not by me!). [huh] [huh] Well, I wouldn't breath it- known carcinogens!! (JD uses charcoal from maple which they were told can't be done. I've seen them do it so maybe the "experts" were wrong about that too).

 

[carebear]

Activated charcoal can be eaten as is. In a slurry it is used as a counter for drinking certain caustics, if I remember correctly.

Typically the charcoal in a filter is contained in something that would remove the dust. A coffee filter would do it.

Just use the basket and a filter from your drip machine filled with charcoal instead of coffee and pour through that.

 

[miss_elise]

my friends once made a giant cocktail in a water cooler... only when they poured it... the filter filtered out all the fruity bits - it was a giant swirly pink cocktail at the top and came out a water-y liquid at the bottom... hilarious...

 

[driven_247]

What's a 'handle of vodka'? A big plastic bottle with a handle?

Exactly... although I have purchased "handles" that were made of glass. More commonly plastic though, me thinks.

Yes. It does make the cheap stuff taste better. But it still doesn't
taste like the good stuff.

I agree with this completely!