Tuesday, March 18, 2008

In The World Of Vodka, Image Apparently Trumps Taste

There's a lot of vodkas out there. Some are cheap and come in plastic bottles. Others are fancy and have frosted glass and artwork peeking through the inside of the bottle. So which one's the best? And are expensive vodkas somehow better than moderately priced ones?

David Kiley wrote up an article in BusinessWeek recently, exploring that same question. He did an informal, unscientific taste test with loyal brand drinkers, and asked them to pick out their brand. The result? People couldn't tell which vodka was which, despite their loyalty to a given brand.

I buy that some vodkas burn and taste weird, and others are milder and taste purer. But after you get past the purity and mildness bar, does it matter what material is used to ferment and distill the vodka, or how pretty the bottle is, or what the story is behind the vodka? I'm thinking not so much. I don't have a super-sensitive palette, nor do I drink the stuff straight, so why bother with the premium?

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