Well I truly like EFFEN... Vox and Ketel are also fine... absolut is fine, much better than Finlandia!

The premium vodka market is nothing but a scam. I'm sure they are very happy that so many fall for it. Lots of big talk, but I won't believe anyone's palette is that refined until I see them perform in a blind taste test. Typically, only professional tasters can tell the difference (and by professional, I don't mean a drunk). So unless you are a professional, or you've proven yourself in a test, you're talking smack.

Interesting is this quote from the NY time article: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/26/di...l?pagewanted=1

"In the United States almost all vodka producers buy neutral spirits that have already been distilled from grain by one of several big Midwestern companies like Archer Daniels Midland. The neutral spirits, which are 95 percent alcohol or more, are trucked to the producers, where they are filtered, diluted and bottled. In our tasting only one brand, Teton Glacier Potato vodka, was distilled by the producer. Another producer, Hangar 1, distills a portion of its spirits and buys the rest."


Not saying there are zero taste differences between brands, just that price is not a determining factor in taste. Me, I'll stick with McCormick.

BTW, a vodka taste test is a must-do at the next DO (if there ever is one again)

as a recent switch from Alaska to UA, I was somewhat disappointed that they had no tequila, no scotch and few beer selections.

I do a lot of taste testing, but I'm not a big vodka fan anyway so premium is kind of a waste on me.

I CAN say that a JW Blue agrees with me much better than Chivas.

and at 17 shots a bottle, well, you can do the math on profit-making.

UA's bourbon selection has always been a disappointment, especially when Delta had Woodford. Makers isn't that much more expensive and tastes miles ahead of JB or JD.

Spot on about the Bombay Sapphire - much, much too floral for my taste. I just cannot drink it. While I can drink Hendricks, it really is too mild. I went to a blind gin tasting several years ago and Plymouth and Tanqueray came out on top. I think I'll be drinking a lot more water on my flights.

So you'll be having a coffee then?

Interesting...I really enjoy a Hendricks martini. Then again, I don't mix vermouth in and garnish it with lime or cucumber (obviously, not on the flight). An olive does overrun the flavor.

tasted the Margarita mix yesterday--not nearly as good as the "Jose" they had previously.

I've been flying TRANSPAC several times this month and back in May and Glenlivet has been there. If it's not on a flight I'd be royally pissed!

No, I like my water crystal clear. ;)

With that being said, I never drink coffee, not a beer drinker, either. Pretty much gave up soft drinks. I do like tea, preferably Earl Grey, so you know where that leaves me while on the plane. I do like the Numi tea selections in the RCC, however, I was very surprised to only find Lipton regular tea in a recent visit to a Presidents Club. What the H*ll is that about???? Lipton? :td: Really? Is that the best the PCs can do? I had a 7 hour layover in the EWR PC and all I drank was water. (Also, couldn't bring myself to sample the kiddie packs of pre-packaged carrots and dip, :td: nor the mini-slab-o'-cheese. :td: Yuck!) I hope that is a "change" that isn't carried over to the new United Clubs.

Also, next to Tanqueray, I like wine, however, I've found it tough to consume the freebie stuff in the lounges and on the plane. Like I said, it looks like I'll be drinking more water. C'est la vie. :)

+1

Was very happy when United adopted Tanqueray, which is my favorite, years ago, and am disappointed with this switch, but at least that haven't gone back to Beefeater.

It's pretty clear, though, that they'd need at least two choices of everything to satisfy even half of us here.

You're pointing out a truth about American vodkas. Note that most of the vodkas people are mentioning in this thread are not from America @:-)

As to the vodka taste test count me in! And my GF too!

The real question that I always have is whether liquor could be a profit center for the airline. Does their college-fraternity-level selection reflect the usual race to the bottom that we have come to expect from UA, or has someone really looked at it and determined that this is the optimal selection of product?

I assume the former. I suspect most people here don't pay for their drinks, as I never have (always in F or using a 1K coupon or drinking from my flask instead). And I barely indulge in the swag that UA serves even when I am not paying, much less would ever pay even $1 for any of this swill.

However, I have paid for drinks on Delta, which used to have nice premium cocktails that rotated periodically. I don't know if they were free in F (I assume so), but, even so, the airline apparently felt that they contributed positively to the bottom line, either through sales or in increasing the appeal of the airline (slightly, at the margin). I am sure that they were not that expensive; only they showed that the airline invested a little bit of thought to try to add a nice little touch to add something to the customer experience.

I hate to say it, but I probably would pay. If I could have even basic bar-quality drinks -- like Mount Gay rum, a margarita with a nice dark tequila, a Greg Goose martini, Chivas again, or a wine that is drinkable (unlike the dishwater they serve now) -- for a reasonable price (like $7), I might actually pay for them in F. Maybe. Perhaps if they gave me a number of coupons and made them valid for the higher-end drinks, or gave the first two in F for free on each flight, and then made me pay beyond that, then I might become conditioned to accept it.

What do you think? Assuming that cocktails would always be free in F, could they sell enough in Y to offset increased costs and consumption of decent stuff? Or would you be willing to pay in F, say Finlandia or Absolut for free, Grey Goose for $7?

Or $5 for a real Starbucks Cappuccino? :)

Dude, I don't know what Fraternity you were a member of, but sounds like you had plenty of disposable income! :)

In college, we would pool all our money together to see how much we had... A few of us would go to the 'Packy' (liquor store) together, but the guy with the fake ID would have the money.

At that point our alcohol purchasing was something like a mileage run... Which vodka is lowest cents / ounce? OK, 3 plastic half gallons of Popov!

Which beer is on sale? $4 per 12 pack for Smaltz Nasty Brew? We'll take 3 cases...

Budweiser (and Skyy) were like liquid gold compared to what we ended up with...