As a followup to my vanilla extract thread, I have some questions about vodka. I've made herbal tinctures before, but I do not drink alcohol, so I need some help with this.

The choices for vodka include Smirnoff 100 and Baron Rothschild 100 proof. It is significantly cheaper for me to dilute Everclear with distilled water to get the desired proof.

Is there likely to be any discernible taste difference between using one of these vodkas and diluting Everclear? The guy at the State store told me vodka is supposed to be tasteless.

I've never tasted Everclear. Never had the opportunity.

I have had many vodkas over the years. There is a flavor to vodka. It is subtle, but present. I actually like the flavor of some harsher vodkas. Still, some of the best vodkas are cheap ones found at Costco. Go figure.

I spent some time in Russia, and had some of the best vodkas available. You can't really understand vodka without such experiences. But similar quality is obtainable here.

Let me know if you want to trade a bottle of something for some Everclear. I'd be interested in such a trade.

H&K-Guy

Everclear is god awful. I haven't had that crap since college.

We made jello shots once with it and the jello shots burned going down. In other words, if your dilution is off it burns.

If you mix it with a metric shit ton of fruit punch it can become tasteless. Don't know how many metric shit tons of distilled water is required to dilute Everclear.

anything you want to use for food, I think should not suck before being utilized - as in, use decent wine for cooking, not crap.

If you are looking for a vodka base, I’d suggest at least Tito’s - decent price, and a good flavor to start with (by my house rating, with a bottle in the freezer)

Vodka is for middle aged wives and moms on a diet

quote:

Originally posted by feersum dreadnaught:
anything you want to use for food, I think should not suck before being utilized - as in, use decent wine for cooking, not crap.

The selection of the State store here limits my choices.

I thought both the Everclear and the vodkas were supposed to be tasteless. The distilled water should not add anything taste-wise. It will cost close to 2.5x as much to use the vodkas vs. diluting the Everclear. I need at least a half gallon to start.

I do not want wonky tasting vanilla extract, so if the diluted Everclear is going to taste bad as compared with the Smirnoff 100, I will go with the Smirnoff.

I have no clue what you are trying to do but while I would never just drink Everclear I used it very successfully to make Lemoncello.
There are Vodka recipes but the Everclear works perfectly for some reason.
So the moral of the story is if you are trying to make something by seeping then Everclear works better.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
I have no clue what you are trying to do but while I would never just drink Everclear I used it very successfully to make Lemoncello.
There are Vodka recipes but the Everclear works perfectly for some reason.
So the moral of the story is if you are trying to make something by seeping then Everclear works better.

I want to make a gallon of double fold vanilla extract. I have enough high quality beans to do the project. I just need to get the alcohol correct for the solution and put the beans in for six months.

Research data suggests a solution containing 47.5% alcohol extracts a higher concentration of vanilla than 95% alcohol. I picked 100 proof to simplify the dilution.

Everclear 190 proof is ethanol plus a little water. Vodka is ethanol plus more water and some left over stuff that imparts a degree of flavor. Diluting Everclear to whatever degree of alcohol is desired produces a solution that contains as much alcohol as whatever it’s compared to.

There’s nothing more diabolical about the ethanol in Everclear than in vodka, scotch, wine, beer, or any other alcoholic beverage. The reason Everclear has the reputation is does is because ignorant and/or stupid people drink more of it than they should—just as some stupid/ignorant people drink more beer, wine, or vodka than they should.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
Everclear 190 proof is ethanol plus a little water. Vodka is ethanol plus more water and some left over stuff that imparts a degree of flavor. Diluting Everclear to whatever degree of alcohol is desired produces a solution that contains as much alcohol as whatever it’s compared to.

This confirms what I've been thinking. One of the vodkas carried by our State stores is made by a local company. This company's website says they distill the alcohol then dilute it to 80 proof.

All of that is much the same as what I plan to do.

If it’s 100 proof it is not vodka. If there is any flavor added it is not vodka. Vodka is 40% neutral grain spirits. 80 proof. If you dilute ever clear to 40% you will have vodka. The flavor depends mostly on the water that you’ve added.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
If it’s 100 proof it is not vodka. If there is any flavor added it is not vodka. Vodka is 40% neutral grain spirits. 80 proof. If you dilute ever clear to 40% you will have vodka. The flavor depends mostly on the water that you’ve added.

I'm not going to buy it, I only know what the store told me.

http://www.smirnoff.com/en-us/...f-100-proof-vodka-2/

I asked here because our members know a lot more about vodka than I do.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
If it’s 100 proof it is not vodka. If there is any flavor added it is not vodka. Vodka is 40% neutral grain spirits. 80 proof. If you dilute ever clear to 40% you will have vodka. The flavor depends mostly on the water that you’ve added.

Incorrect. Vodka is a MINIMUM of 80 proof according to the code of federal regulations.

quote:

Title 27 CFR

§ 5.22 The standards of identity.

Standards of identity for the several classes and types of distilled spirits set forth in this section shall be as follows (see also § 5.35, class and type):

(a)Class 1; neutral spirits or alcohol. “Neutral spirits” or “alcohol” are distilled spirits produced from any material at or above 190° proof, and, if bottled, bottled at not less than 80° proof.

(1) “Vodka” is neutral spirits so distilled, or so treated after distillation with charcoal or other materials, as to be without distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color.

tatortodd, that information is helpful.

Wodka is said to be tasteless but it does have a taste that varies across brands. An old trick with cheap wodka is to run it through a brutal filter a few times. Everclear diluted will do you better especially because it's cheaper. The issue folks have with everclear is its high proof and their rapid consumption of it.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
Incorrect. Vodka is a MINIMUM of 80 proof according to the code of federal regulations.

Interesting. I didn't know about the US CFRs. But I wouldn't say I am incorrect. Many people in my family are Polish and they all say vodka must be 40%. A quick search and it seems 40% is the standard in many European countries, and in Russia, Ukraine, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by deepocean:
Research data suggests a solution containing 47.5% alcohol extracts a higher concentration of vanilla than 95% alcohol. I picked 100 proof to simplify the dilution.

47.5% alcohol is 95 proof. If you are starting with 100 proof, there is really no need to dilute in order to get to the neighborhood of 47.5%.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
Incorrect. Vodka is a MINIMUM of 80 proof according to the code of federal regulations.

Interesting. I didn't know about the US CFRs. But I wouldn't say I am incorrect. Many people in my family are Polish and they all say vodka must be 40%. A quick search and it seems 40% is the standard in many European countries, and in Russia, Ukraine, etc.

Your quick search missed that the European Union (ie Poland) standardized on minimum 75 proof vodka in 2008:

quote:

Vodka (a) Vodka is a spirit drink produced from ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin obtained following fermentation with yeast from either:
(i) potatoes and/or cereals, or
(ii) other agricultural raw materials,

distilled and/or rectified so that the organoleptic characteristics of the raw materials used and by-products formed in fermentation are selectively reduced.

This process may be followed by redistillation and/or treatment with appropriate processing aids, including treatment with activated charcoal, to give it special organoleptic characteristics.

Maximum levels of residue for ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin shall meet those laid down in Annex I, except that the methanol content shall not exceed 10 grams per hectolitre of 100 % vol. alcohol.

(b) The minimum alcoholic strength by volume of vodka shall be 37,5 %.

(c) The only flavourings which may be added are natural flavouring compounds present in distillate obtained from the fermented raw materials. In addition, the product may be given special organoleptic characteristics, other than a predominant flavour.

(d) The description, presentation or labelling of vodka not produced exclusively from the raw material(s) listed in paragraph (a)(i) shall bear the indication ‘produced from ...’, supplemented by the name of the raw material(s) used to produce the ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin. Labelling shall be in accordance with Article 13(2) of Directive 2000/13/EC.

Whole different ball game.. but then I personally think vodka is pretty bad.... but most serious drinkers like it.

Everclear is just pure grain alcohol.... if you've ever tasted the stuff coming off of a good still running at about 180 proof you will know what it taste like.... what often young college students don't get is alcohol is toxic and if you consume enough of it, it will kill you.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
Your quick search missed that the European Union (ie Poland) standardized on minimum 75 proof vodka in 2008:

I don't know if you are just looking for a debate. I'm not talking about what any particular law defines as vodka. I'm just saying that from a taste standpoint vodka has generally been 40%. The op is interested in diluting ever clear to make vodka then what is the usual dilution is more important than what a law happens to say.