We bought a handle of the cheapest stuff we could find at Safeway: Winner's Cup. It was $8 a handle. If you bought a case of em, they were $6 a handle. The stuff is really only good for cleaning things. We also had on hand, Ketel One...generally a top of the line vodka. Maybe only a slight step down from Grey Goose or Ciroc, but certainly a favorite. Smooth, good for shooting and mixing...just good stuff. Oh, we also had some Smirnoff Triple Black that Steve and Chubb bought a while back cuz it was on sale. Just becomes it comes in a glass bottle, does not mean the stuff is decent, but whatever.

We filtered the Winner's Cup five times, and then Steve gave me a blind taste test of the unfiltered, the filtered, and Ketel One. I correctly identified each by smell, but Steve said he wouldn't tell me until I tasted them all. I tasted the Ketel first, then the filtered, and then the unfiltered. The unfiltered Winner's Cup was so horrifically foul that I had to sprint to the sink to spit it out and wash out my mouth. It was death, in liquid form.

Althought the filtered Winner's Cup was not anywhere near as good as Ketel One, it was far, far superior to what it was originally. Progress made!

We decided to filter it two more times (for a total of seven), and then I gave Steve a blind taste test of the filtered Winner's Cup, Ketel One, and Smirnoff. He correctly identified each, but wasn't sure whether he thought the filtered Winner's Cup or the Smirnoff was better. He gave me a blind taste test next, and I had a much harder time distinguishing between them all with smell alone. I could guess at which was the Ketel One, but the other two were hard. So I tasted them all, and correctly identified each, though I thought that the filtered Winner's Cup actually tasted a little better than the Smirnoff. Steve tasted again, and agreed.

The extra two filterings didn't have dramatic effects, and I'm pretty sure it kinda reached its peak by then. It wasn't something I'd reccomend for shooting, but it is certainly good enough for mixing. I'd say it was Stoli or Skyy level...at least as good as any well vodka that a bar would use. And better than Smirnoff. Quite a step up from something I'd only reccomend using to clean your toilet.

You can buy a pack of 10 Brita filters at Costco for $40, so let's say that's $4 for a filter. And the Winner's Cup is $8/handle. Smirnoff is $15 for a fifth. Twice the vodka, and even still, with the filter...it's cheaper than Smirnoff. And after enough filterings, better. Not too shabby.

before - after