Not worth the money?

[Roger Hicks]

Nothing to do with cameras. Or is it?

Most brandies, eaux de vie and whiskies are sold at 40% alcohol or less (as low as 37,5%).

Compare them with the real thing (cask strength) and they taste 'cardboardy'. Of course the weaker stuff is cheaper - it's diluted with (very cheap) water.

But I'd rather pay the extra, because the 'real thing' is simply better.

Quite unlike cameras, then.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Thardy]

Yes, nothing like cameras. 😉

 

[hipsterdufus]

I am no brandy expert, but I thought Paul Masson Grande Amber was a good brandy for the price. Of course, YMMV.

But generally with liquor, you get what you pay for. I've been getting into the Irish whiskeys lately. I particularly like Tullamore Dew 10 year. Scotch is still too "peaty" for my uneducated palate.

Of course, the next time I'm mixing a vodka/diet coke with (insert crappy vodka brand here) and some vodka snob comes up to me and goes off on the how awesome (insert expensive brand of vodka here) is, I'm going to flip out. When you're mixing liquor and diet coke, are you REALLY going to notice the difference in liquor quality? Especially enough to justify the price difference? In prohibition, mixers became popular to cover the taste of crappy moonshine. So why would I waste decent stuff on a mixed drink? Argh. Sorry about the rant, but it has happened to me way too much.

 

[kevin m]

Quite unlike cameras, then.

It is, actually. Liquor is the end product, a camera is just a means to an end. A photograph and your favorite beverage are a good comparison, as is an oak aging barrel and a button-rewind M2.

 

[sig]

The end product is me drunk. Unless the expensive alcohol makes me better drunk it is just more expensive. Much more important is the bar you sit in and the people around you. Have to say that it has been some time ago that the alcohol content has been the most important criteria when choosing the vessel that will bring me to Drunk.

There are of course thresholds in alcohol too, but if it is good enough it is good enough.

 

[Keith]

Pour a cheap brandy or any cheap alcohol into an expensive hand blown glass and it will taste exactly the same.

Attach a $500.00 Bessa body to the back of your Noctilux, Summilux, Summicron etc and you'll get exactly the same result a $4500.00 MP would have given you!

What does this all mean?

I have absolutely no idea! 😛

 

[Sparrow]

Ironically, metaphor is often misunderstood on the interweb ... as is irony

PS except in Australia

PPS one can't put cheap gin in the freezer I've noticed

 

[Rob-F]

Don't know much about brandy, but when you are ready to talk single-malt scotch, I'll be here. I like The Glenlivet.

 

[dfoo]

The end product is me drunk.

You also just eat hot dogs then? If the purpose of drinking is to get drunk, the purpose of eating must be to be satiated.

 

[typeguru]

I'll take a nice old aged Lagavulin or a Laphroaig any time. Mmmmmm peaty!
But this is quite good too (see attached):

Now, let's see some Single Malt & RF photos!

 

[rxmd]

But generally with liquor, you get what you pay for.

There is a point of diminishing returns, though.

Of course, the next time I'm mixing a vodka/diet coke with (insert crappy vodka brand here) and some vodka snob comes up to me and goes off on the how awesome (insert expensive brand of vodka here) is, I'm going to flip out.

You have a point there, not because of the mixing with diet coke, but because vodka snobism makes no sense at all. In vodka, the quality marker is purity and that's it. I don't think it makes sense to spend more than $10-$15 for a bottle of vodka. (I don't know what it costs around where you live, but in Germany that gets you a decent bottle of Moskovskaya Kristall or Gzhelka. Here in Central Asia the market is completely different of course.)

Of course people will exhibit all sorts of snobbery based on price anyway, but this is really one of these cases where an expensive taste is more about "expensive" than about "taste". (And as a good friend has put it, and I tend to agree, after the first bottle it doesn't really matter what's in the second.)

As far as Roger's original statement is concerned, not all of us like to drink stuff at 60-70% all of the time, and the dilution may actually bring out some tastes that are overpowered by the alcohol at higher strengths. Tastes differ, of course, but I don't appreciate a cognac at 60% all that much.

And as usual the best liquors are those that skilled people make themselves and give to you in unlabeled bottles, and those aren't paid for in money, they are earned through friendship and good company.

 

[Gazzah]

A drop of the good stuff...

A drop of the good stuff...

I used to go surfing a lot on the north coast of Ireland at a plce called Bushfoot - basically the mouth of the river Bush., about 1/2 mile down stream from the Bushmills distillery. In the days before they sold out to Segrams they produced some wonderfull small batch distilations.. Maybe 50 bottles in a batch - I still have a few of the better ones stashed away.
The price was lower than the normal stuff in the shops because you were buying it from the gate/store/cleaner ... but I would gladly have paid a lot more.

I cant see the connection with cameras - except the enjoyment in using the product...

Gary H

 

[sig]

You also just eat hot dogs then? If the purpose of drinking is to get drunk, the purpose of eating must be to be satiated.

You do not eat hot dogs? If you have not tasted a good hot dog you have not lived......

 

[sig]

One of my favorite alcoholic beverages is a local beer called Rogers. And it has a tiny bit less alcohol than the average beer, and a bit more expensive.

 

[kshapero]

FYI - Lite beer is regular beer with water added. Now you know.

 

[antiquark]

Don't bother with the fancy glasses and swishing it in your mouth and such... just get to the damn point:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everclear_(alcohol)
:angel:

 

[amateriat]

Alcohol has parallels with a few other fave indulgences here: some dig the journey, others concentrate on the destination. There's Sierra Nevada and there's PBR, a Nathan's hot dog at Coney (hey, someone brought up hot dogs here), and your house-brand pack o' franks at the supermarket, a Panasonic GF-1 and an iPhone...


- Barrett

 

[Gumby]

As far as Roger's original statement is concerned, not all of us like to drink stuff at 60-70% all of the time, and the dilution may actually bring out some tastes that are overpowered by the alcohol at higher strengths. Tastes differ, of course, but I don't appreciate a cognac at 60% all that much.

That's exactly right, and it's been done since the dawn of distilled spirits.

Although the liquor makers attempt to make a profit, cutting the "cask-strength" is not a budget stretching technique.

I'm sure that they are surfing the internet, looking for good ideas on how to make better liquor... from a photo forum. 🙄

 

[Gumby]

Oh... if anyone wants an experience at "uncut" liquor, they should head to Winnipeg... it looks like 'antiquark' has something to share!

 

[Roger Hicks]

@ Thomas: Of course you're right. No-one would buy an inferior camera just to save money.

@ Hipsterdufus. Persist. Maybe you'll like Laphroaig one day. Or (and Laphroaig themselves admit it) maybe you won't. On the mixers, a good friend, for whose opinion I have much time, drinks Glenfiddich and Coke. I do not see a significant difference. She does. Dare I call her a liar?

@ Kevin. Sort of. Clearly to Sig alcohol is a means to an end (he is not alone: I have one or two quite good friends with the same world picture). But equally I'd rather use my MP than my R2. The R2 is a excellent camera. The MP is even better and nicer to use. Slightly the same @ Keith.

@ Stewart. You mean 'irony' is not synonymous with 'ferrous'?

@ Dfoo: Bourgeous plutocrat! What's wrong with sliced white bread and a glass of water?

@ RXMD: point fully taken about too-strong liquor but at least with whisky and brandy ageing has lowered it to 50-55% or so. I water cask-strength whisky but not brandy. As for vodkas, the appeal is almost all in the flavouring. I do an (infused) hot-pepper vodka (40% using cheap commercial vodka and fresh peppers with two sugar cubes/bottle) which is known to my friends has 'holy water', because the normal reaction on trying it is "Good God! What's that?" or "Jesus Christ!" Apologies to Christians for the blasphemy but those are the words I hear. My favourite commercial vodkas are Kubanskaya and Zubrowka.

@ Gazzah. Most of the best stuff I've ever had is home-distilled.

@ Sig: I must never have lived. The best hot dgs I've had have been... well... pretty good if you like that sort of thing. Personally I'll go for named meat every time.

@ Derek. Good for cleaning lenses too. I don't get to the US much any more so I use Slovenian alc. abs.: Prvovrstni Rafinirani ALKOHOL, Etanol 96%. Sometimes I give a small glass to those of my friends who say, "Oh, I drink anything..."

@ Barrett: Precise analogy.

Cheers,

R.