Does filtering cheap vodka through a Brita filter really work?
I have friends who swear by the technique of passing the cheapest handle of vodka one can buy through a Brita filter four times. They say that, after filtration, they can no longer distinguish between it and top-shelf stuff.
I'm about to try it (it's not actually cheaper for me, because I didn't own a Brita filter to begin with), but am curious if I'll poison my New Year's party guests by serving them the stuff that comes out of it. Has anyone else done this? The Internet at large seems to have mixed reviews.
Thanks!
n0r1
Dec 30, 2007 05:53PM
Well , it will probably remove some things but most filters are designed to remove particulates, heavy metals, and chlorine.
Yes, carbon removes/absorbs a lot of noxious stuff , however I don't think it can completely replace not having to remove/filter heads and tails from poorly distilled vodka. Next time if you buy decent cheap vodka (like Sobieksi at $10 a 750 ml or $20 for a 1.75 L) you won't end up using your guests as lab rats.
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thats not cheap!!
a 1.75 L of Georgi Vodka ranges from $11.99-$14.99
haha its good stuff
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I'm sure it helps for a while, but what happens when the carbon becomes saturated with the nasty stuff it's pulling out? I asked a home distiller about it and he said it will eventually saturate and then you run the risk of dumping more nasties into the batch you're filtering. Carbon doesn't last forever- something tells me what you save buying cheap vodka may cost you in filters. I just buy decent vodka and don't worry about it.
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unscientific study with some of my wife's Russian friends is that they could not tell the diffference between top shelf and brita filtered popov. Might just have been an excuse to keep drinking and tasting though..... I will say that when I have overdone it, I have much less of a hangover with the bnta filtered stuff.
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It works really well, but you burn through those filters really really fast... to the point that you might as well just get the good stuff to begin with.
If you're looking for a good value on vodka, get the stuff from Costco. As far as I can tell it's made by Grey Goose, and is 30 dollars for the 1.75L.
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n0r1- filtering through a Britta can clean up some off tastes but it isn't cheap.
As a distiller I am positive that there are better ways to do it and much cheaper as well. Buy some FOOD GRADE activated charcoal (NOT aquarium charcoal). Put an inch or two in a bottle of any type of vodka leaving some head space of air, and leave it there for a week. Shake every day. Put it in the freezer at night and take it out during the day. This will smooth it out so much that you will think it is better than the best vodka on the market.
JK- That vodka is very probably made by grey goose and may be the exact same stuff, or else with just a little bit of a change in the composition to give it a slight flavor change. Grey Goose has great marketing but really isn't that tasty or good a vodka.
NOTE: It really depends what you mean when you say "good" in reference to vodka. Do you mean completely flavorless? Or do you meran a vodka that is light and clean but you can still get a glimpse in the taste of what it is made from.
Personally I feel that tasteless vodka is totally meaningless to me. Why drink it? I want a vodka that is smooth and light but has character and flavor to it. Of course I think vodka in general is not worth wasting my time on except in rare cases like Jean-Marc, Saaga, Vermont Gold, and a few others. All of which have some flavor to them. I have reviewed dozens over the past few months and while some are very good, I still want to drink something with big flavors to it.
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Good to know! Might try this some time if I'm really bored, but in general, I'm not a vodka person (just decided to try this as a good party trick), and probably couldn't be bothered to spend a week making vodka better. (Give me a bottle of Hendrick's any time.)
Party report: The infused Popov vodka, filtered 4x through a new Brita filter, infused with a pound of halved cranberries, and mixed with 2 or so C of simple syrup, made for a great base, on top of which I intended for people to put tonic. But as the night wore on, even despite my warning sign ("NOT punch! Infused vodka! Drink straight at your own peril!" -- or something) people began, judging by their behavior, to do exactly that. Then they started digging the vokda-soaked, sugar-infused cranberries out of the bottom of the pitcher and putting those in other drinks.
Note to self: Perhaps spend next New Year's Eve at someone *else's* house.
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Sounds like it got a little drunk out.
Popov is made by the same folks who make Smirnoff. It isn't rotgut and is a very good vodka. It definitely didn't benefit much from the filtering since it already was very pure and clean.
I'll take gin anytime as well, although i don't think that much of Hendrick's. When it first came out it was great because there weren't that many premium gins, but that's not the case anymore.
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It really isn't safe to filter vodka/spirits through a Brita filter for several reasons. One they are made of plastic and spirits going through will leach out toxic chemicals from the plastic that are inert when it filters water. Also there is more in the filters than activated charcoal and these resins and other substances also leach into the spirits. So while the vodka may taste smoother, it actually will now have more toxins in it.
Buy an activated charcoal filter from a brew supply place like www.Brewhaus.com. Cheaper, safer, and more effective than a Brita.
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My husband would be extremely pleased that you posted this note of caution, JMF. Whenever I mentioned trying the Brita filter method, he said the same things you did. I accused him of being a worry-wart, but now I know he was just trying to protect my health.
But he never told me about activated charcoal filters! This sounds like it's worth a try someday.
Thanks,
Anne
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This makes no sense at all. Ethanol (the alcohol you drink) is a polar protic solvent just as water is with similar polarities. This means they dissolve similar substances. If water doesn't dissolve it EtOH will not either.
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Personally I disagree, but that's what is great about forums like this. Everyone gets their say as long as they are polite and stick to the general area of the subject.
There are many substances that are polar protic solvents such as methanol, which is toxin in and of itself, and can bind with other toxins as well. Also acetic acid which is the acid in vinegar, but also as an acid can dissolve many toxic substances that water will not. Then there is formic acid, the stuff that makes bee and ant stings painful, another acid that has different propertis than water. Then you have hydrogen fluoride and ammonia to name a few more polar protic solvents. None of which are really healthy substances (can you say toxic) and all of which have different interactions as solvents.
So just because water and ethyl alcohol are polar protic solvents doesn't mean much of anything in this instance because one must remember that polar protic solvents are just that, solvents, they extract soluble compounds from substances.
It has been discussed many times on distiller forums that brita filters are not safe for filtering alcohol. High proof alcohol denatures many types of plastics. I have seen some plastics crack and shatter from 40% abv alcohol being poured into them. Also there are other substances in a brita filter besides charcoal that the alcohol can dissolve.
One of the first things I learned in distilling is that you have to use special plastics, rubbers, and silicone that are alcohol and chemical resistant to keep toxic substances out of the spirits.
So all I can say is that anyone who wants to should go ahead and use a brita to filter alcohol. I won't.
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Yes, there are some thylates I know that can interact when EtOH and certain plastics are in contact. This can cause hazing...don't know effects on health/toxins, but it probably isn't good, but then again, you're drinking alcohol, a mild intoxicant...Ha! :)
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Alcohol in moderation has actually been found to be very healthy. I guess it just depends on what you think moderation is.
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According to a Time article moderate drinking is as beneficial to health as escercise. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/art...
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Drinking vodka straight is not for everyone - certainly not for me - but exactly because of its lack of flavor it is such a good ingredient to give a kick to mixed drinks, fruity drinks and the sorts.
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Kirkland Signature Vodka is the best vodka I take straight, and I prefer it to GG - especially at $30 per 1.75L. That is cheaper than a 750 mL bottle of GG! Unfortunately, only us West Coast people are lucky to have liquor sold at Costco - plus some other lucky states.
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Costco also has Georgi for $12 for the 1.75L
but it depends which Costco, the one near me on long island, New york has a big liquor store built right in
haha but thats new york for you
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This was tested on the show Mythbusters on the Discovery Channel (Episode 50). They tried several filtering methods and used a vodka judge to determine the results. The filters did not turn cheap vodka into Grey Goose. Quote from the judge, "Passing a low-end vodka through a filter will make it better, but it won't make it a top shelf vodka."
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You might also consider hitting Home Depot (or similar) for a "whole house" water filter cartridge. Since they're rated for drinking water (potable) it's safe for food use. For the same 8 bucks for a Brita you can get a single Activated Charcoal filter that's 10 times the amount of charcoal. I guess the form factor and pitcher of the Brita does make it more convenient though...
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There are a lot of activated carbons used in industry (food/beverage/water treatment) to minimize off-odors/flavors on a large-scale. There are many specific charcoal types used for different applications, for instance, charcoal mellowing of whiskey. The idea is good, but using a Brita 'water' filter might not get you the best results.
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Whether it works or not, doesn't it seem that by the time you buy cheap vodka and filters you might as well have gotten the premium stuff? Unless you are going to go through a lot of vodka, it doesn't seem that worthwhile to me. But I could just be on the lazy side.
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I can buy activated charcoal for a couple dollars a pound, much cheaper than a brita. It's sold next to the wine kits and alcohol testers at the DIY shop. Can't I just put that activated charcoal in the bottle then filter it out after shaking for some time, I don't know maybe with a coffee filter or cheese cloth?
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***Disclaimer*** I am a food / beverage journalist, who was just flown to Iceland by Reyka Vodka.
At the Reyka distillery, they pot distil the vodka, 'throwing out' the heads and tails (used in some other lower quality bev I'm sure), and then they filter it through some local volcanic rock. The master distiller claimed that there was a taste difference, but not something that was quantify-able.
G.
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I'm pretty sure they don't throw out the heads and tails. Typically in all pot distilling they go back into the still with the next batch, there's lots of good ethyl alcohol there that can be separated out during the next run.
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Yes according to the master distiller, and others at the distillery, the heads and tails are not re-distilled in the next batch. They are taken out and used in a different spirit, not in Reyka. Only the 'true heart' makes it into the bottle.
The interview is on tape, it'll be up in November.
G.
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That 'true heart' bit is a misnomer. The heads and tails contain a huge quantity of the heart of the run. They just have a higher proportion of the other stuff in there. Adding them back increases yield and flavor. In vodka the flavor gets stripped out anyway.
The people at Reyka could be telling the truth, or not. Since they say they use the heads and tails in other to produce other spirits I tend to believe it. Reyka seems to be a very well made brand from my few experiences tasting it, and I am not a vodka fan.
As a writer who focuses on artisanal distilling, premium sprits, mixology; and as a small artisanal distiller I have seen and uncovered quite a few white lies and tall tales passed along by the bigger guys.
I look forward to seeing the interview.
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Look for my talk with Reyka starting on Nov 21...
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Ketel One throws out the "heads and tails", no??? They told me they did on a tour of their distillery....
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No distillery throws out the heads and tails which are only cut out as such in a pot still. They are re-run is some form or another to recover the valuable ethyl alcohol. If a distillery discarded the heads and tails they wouldn't be able to run their business. Every pot distillery adds them back in one way or another to the still. The nasty stuff gets thrown away eventually.
In most vodka distilleries they use continuous fractionating distilling columns, not batch pot stills, which separate the nasty stuff and all the flavor out in a different way, so you really don't have to cut out the heads and tails in each batch, because there is no batch. It's a little hard to explain.
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FYI- Reyka is made from grain spirit produced in Scotland. It is shipped to Iceland where it is re-distilled through a still with a volcanic rock at the top.
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I don't doubt that the GNS is made in Scotland since William Grant & Sons is behind this product. But you are saying the rock is in the still? Sorry, but I think that is incorrect, the vodka is filtered through the rock after distillation.
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Sorry if I wasn't clear (english is my second language) it's not in the pot of the still, I've seen a photo of it and it appears above the still as if the vapor is passing through it. I may be wrong it could be that it is after condensing, but it is incorporated in the still design- not a separate operation afterword.
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They use a Carter Head still and the Vodka passes through the volcanic rock after it condenses... During my day at the distillery, where I conducted video interviews (which can be found on the 'net) I can say that they mash in the distillery in Iceland. Raw grain comes in the door at one end, and vodka goes out the door at the other end.
This isn't speculation on my part from stuff I have read, but what I saw with my own two eyes and camera.
G.
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Yep, that will sort of work. If done right, much better, be safer, and cheaper. But you need a lot of charcoal so putting it in a large container is really necessary. Make a activated charcoal filter by filling a gallon jar with the charcoal, and then pouring the vodka in and let it soak overnight, then filter it out. the activated charcoal can be used quite a few times until it loses it's charge and has to be re-activated or thrown away.
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