We're at TGIFridays, where we've secretly replaced fine liquor with swill

Let's see if anyone can tell the difference!

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2013/05/bars_swapped_cheap_booze_for_p.html#incart_river_default

 

Such a dumb idea.

First of all, once you do it, you better not fire any employee who knows about it.

Secondly, the markup on premium brands is excellent. This just isn't worth it. They're only getting a premium brand if they request it, or they order a premium drink off of the menu that specifies a brand.

If they're ordering these drinks, they are your best customers. Don't fuck them.

Now, it's true that a vodka drinker won't likely notice, as vodka -- by law -- has to be tasteless. And, they probably won't notice if you swap out the tequila or rum in some of their sugary concoctions. But, you still don't do it.

 

end of thread.

 

TGIF is owned by a company in Northern New Jersey, I think Uncle Junior was getting a cut

 

Vodka is not tasteless and I can tell the difference between rotgut and the better stuff. Huge difference.

 

Ugh.

Not only is it tasteless, it has to be by law.

The only thing you're "tasting" is alcohol.

In a blind taste test, you'd have a very hard time differentiating brands. If they were in a mixed drink, it would be almost impossible.

It's a "neutral spirit". Vodka is cheap and easy to make, and it doesn't take long. And, selling it is all about branding and marketing. That's why you see so many vodkas, and why folks like Donald Trump and Adrienne Maloof have their own vodka brands.

 

By US law. I could tell the difference between drinking good vodka and the rotgut stuff (outside the US) when I was partying on a consistent basis.

 

I'd be surprised if many of us could really differentiate between "good" vodka and run-of-the-mill vodka. It's a neutral spirit, as YF points out ... and it's pretty easy to make a neutral spirit.

 

Truth.

Regardless of what the so-called experts might claim.

Give me a shot of Titos, a Stoli, a Stoli Elit and a Ketel One and I guaran-damn-tee you I will go 4-for-4 on picking them out. Do it again, and I'll do it again. Do it a third time, and I'll sleep with you.

 

You could identify all four?

Try it. Seriously. I trust you to be honest. Let us know if you get them right.

You can continue to distill it, and you'll take out more impurities, but at some point, that's just for marketing claims as well.

And, how you cut it matters to a degree. You basically pour the beginning and end down the drain, and just collect the middle, or heart.

But, at best, that's going to impact the "smoothness" but not the taste.

 

Give me a glass of Coca-Cola, Pepsi, R/C Cola and a Shasta and I guaran-damn-tee you I will go 4-for-4 on picking them out. Do it again, and I'll do it again. Do it a third time, and I'll have to take a leak..

 

I've told this before, but it's too relevant not to repeat.

lono and I were staying at a boutique hotel with a pocket bar in the lobby. We decided to taste test the vodkas, so had the bartender set up a row of shots. I know there was Grey Goose, Chopin and Belvedere, and I think two more.

Could I tell you which was which in a blind tasting? No, but I haven't made a practice of repeating that evening. I can tell you they damn sure weren't identical.