Tis the season for imbibing with greater frequency. To be clear, I'm thinking of the cheap end of things, not bargain basement. Maybe the well at a fancy pants bar, not Skoal vodka, or rot-gut wine.

What is the most tolerable fermented beverage tradition under the abuse of budget friendly mass production? What is the most drinkable, least diarrhea/headache inducing? Is there a drink where like pizza, or sex, you like so much that it's still kind of good, even when it's bad?

Feel free to be the Totinos Party Pizza loyalist and explain your affection for PBR, Charles Shaw, or Hornitos.

I rarely drink nowadays, but if I do then like fuck is it the cheap stuff. The only exception I would make is rakija from the right bathtub.

I quit the booze a couple years ago but from memory, Rittenhouse rye was damn tasty and pretty cheap.

All vodka tastes equally shitty to me and is used as a mixer most of the time anyway, I don't see a reason to pay big bucks for it.

Gimme a bottle of Jim Beam and I'm good.

penningtron wrote: Sun Dec 26, 2021 9:15 am All vodka tastes equally shitty to me and is used as a mixer most of the time anyway, I don't see a reason to pay big bucks for it.

The better the vodka, the cleaner and smoother it tastes. Cheaper variants can be very harsh. Thus even when using it as a mixer you'd want higher quality. Also the difference between good and crap is 5 bucks at most. Definitely worth it in my view.

kokorodoko wrote: Sun Dec 26, 2021 10:14 am Also the difference between good and crap is 5 bucks at most. Definitely worth it in my view.

TBH I'd probably never buy the cheapest thing available (I don't need to drink that bad), but for vodka Costco brand is probably good enough for me.

kokorodoko wrote: Sun Dec 26, 2021 10:14 am

penningtron wrote: Sun Dec 26, 2021 9:15 am All vodka tastes equally shitty to me and is used as a mixer most of the time anyway, I don't see a reason to pay big bucks for it.

The better the vodka, the cleaner and smoother it tastes. Cheaper variants can be very harsh. Thus even when using it as a mixer you'd want higher quality. Also the difference between good and crap is 5 bucks at most. Definitely worth it in my view.

A friend of mine once told me that a U of Chicago professor used to do taste tests with his grad students, and they could never tell the difference between cheap, mid-tier, and expensive vodka. I don’t doubt that there are some differences between brands, but they’re small.

I don't drink much anymore, but the choice for me is Evan Williams. My favorite shit beer is Gennesse Cream Ale, but it's tough to find out west.

False dichotomy if you mean inexpensive. Good stuff can be cheap, bad stuff can be cheap. Expensive stuff can be crap in all categories.

If by cheap you mean "shit" booze, then I won't touch it.

In the world of alcohol, generally, the larger the marketing budget (and depletion allowance), the crappier the product.