S o what IS the difference between a good vodka and a bad one? Is it the taste? Is it the after taste? Is it the feeling you’re left with the next morning, i.e. a hangover? One of my favorite things to talk about with consumers is why exactly they drink “their” brand of vodka. Power houses like Grey Goose and Belvedere have done a great job of selling their brand, but is it the taste or is it marketing? One brand, Purity Vodka, decided back in the spring they wanted to challenge peoples way of thinking when it comes to picking a vodka.

“Grey Goose® has been claiming for a long time to be the ‘world’s best tasting vodka’,” says Thomas Kuuttanen, founder and master blender of Purity Vodka. “I am very proud of my vodka and believe its taste speaks for itself. And, we have won quite a few awards to prove that, so, I thought we’d kick-off a friendly competition to let Grey Goose® vodka drinkers decide.”

So with that being said, they created the “Ultimate Taste Challenge”. This past month, at Tales of the Cocktail, Purity hosted a set of blind taste tests to a group of media and presenters initially, followed by the general Tales attendees. Each time, we were presented with two identical small glasses and asked to pick our favorite. The ones containing Purity were specially marked with infrared ink and would be revealed once you made your selection.

So what were the result? Initially, during the first test Purity took home the belt, with 72% of the tasters choosing Purity over Grey Goose. In their second tasting, they added in samples of heavyweight contenders: Ciroc and Ketel One, in addition to the already used Grey Goose. Even with 2 new big popular brands against them, Purity still took home the title with 61% of tastes choosing their brand. Amazing what a little un-biased drinking can do for you right?

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Photos courtesy of Purity Vodka.