Cost to %proof ratio.

[Ian Ex Machina]

Well, after having a look at what I am doing tonight (drinking games with friends) and realising I need to buy some more alcohol.

Now when I buy alcohol, I look for the highest % for the lowest cost, unless it's an impulse buy (scorpion/mealworn vodka ).


Does anyone else follow this route or is it just me*?


*Just to say I drink... roughly twice a week and never to the extent that I am hospitalised (by the alcohol), I also am not lightweight and if i were to get to my 'happy everyone should have smiles on' drunken state in bars it would cost a fortune.


edit: Just thought maybe as its alcohol is this a food topic? If so apologies.

[TizzyFoe]

i always look for the cheapest ratio. I think its cheap vodka, but i've never taken my calculator into a liqueur store to make sure. You also have to factor in the price of mixers, but i think its still cheaper then anything else.

[Ian Ex Machina]

I think I have a good deal from shop across the road, £5 for 2 bottles of 12% wine.
Plus Mixer of White Diamond Cider* 7.5% £1.50 (ASDA)
Plus Squash 13p (ASDA)

On occaision replace the cost of mixers for free, if there is alcohol left by other in the house overnight.



*Tramp

[cypherspace]

When I was a skint student, yes I did. Now I'm a paid student, no I don't. For example Smirnoff vodka is more expensive than the imitations, but tastes better than any other (ie, you can drink it neat without dying and if you dilute it till you can't taste it, it takes far less diluting). So I get that instead. When it comes to beer I'll always take ale over lager, and usually it's more expensive, but I get so much more pleasure from drinking it it's worth it.

[SecondTalon]

I take the same approach to drinking that I took to smoking..

I'd rather pay more and get something that doesn't taste like ass.

Also, as the years have gone by I've come to a realization that, at least personally, I'd rather control my intake more precisely than via shots... both to reach a certain level of intoxication and stop and to keep my tolerance low... so I've pretty much moved away from the hard stuff and mixers and the like...

Though my self of five years ago wouldn't believe it if I told him, I'm pretty much exclusively a beer guy.

[elminster]

Lambrini 150cl - 7.5% ABV - £2-3
White lightning (Generally cheap ciders, which taste like chemicals) 2L - 7.5% ABV - £3 - 150ml pure alcohol
Asda vodka (Generally home brand vokdas) 1.5L - £15 - 562.5ml of pure alcohol

I prefer strongbow or vokda + generic energy drink.

Like SexyTalon, I know my limits by shots. Worth noting that 1/2 the bars sell it by 25ml, others by 35ml... which isn't very helpful.

[d3adf001]

vlady is 1.75L @ 80 proof for 10$ but be warned its utter shit and a waste of money. get bracardi 151 its 750ml for 20$

[Moo]

I fear for your internal organs with the barely-safe-for-human-consumption chemical concoctions being discussed here, I really do

Then again I used to drink White Lightning and at uni in South Africa we always bought "My Kinda Vodka" - I swear, that was the brand name. They also made My Kinda Whiskey, My Kinda Gin, and goodness knows what else.

Now I'm old and boring and I make a salary so at the weekend we had Absolut Raspberry shots. It was DELICIOUS.

[Bakemaster]

The question is, are you drinking to get drunk or are you drinking to enjoy the taste of alcohol? Follow-up: how do you like your morning after? The less money you spend the more likely you are to be hung over/the worse it will be.

It is an interesting question though when shopping within a certain brand you know you enjoy. I was looking the other day at a series of beers my sister recommended to me, all named Bad Elf; but the stronger versions are called Seriously Bad Elf and Criminally Bad Elf. They were something like $5, $6, $7 according to ABV. They were also not all the same type of beer, and come to think of it they probably were the same, or close to the same, cost to proof ratio... I guess I was thinking more about the cost to volume ratio after all.

Nitpick: %ABV or proof. Not "%proof".

[cacp]

Everclear grain alcohol. 95% = $12 for 750ml.

(The cheapest I've gotten was 99% alcohol I swiped out of the ethanol engine lab at school.)

[Mr. Mack]

I actually have a spreadsheet that I use to calculate the cost of alcoholic beverages according to price per liter of alcohol. I later found a website where the operator was looking to compile a master list of that very thing (except he used price per ounce). I'd post a link, but the rules said I shouldn't do that until I've made at least five posts. Anyways, it clarifies the price according to US State and it only covers a few states, but the comparisons can still serve as a general guide.

My personal spreadsheet says that my most common purchase isn't a very good deal, but it's the cheapest thing on the list that's good enough to drink neat.

I usually make an exception for anything with a low alcohol content. My reasoning being that the lower the alcohol content, the more I'm going to taste the other ingredients. So cheap whiskey is fine, but I never buy cheap beer. Well, that and I can't find cheap porter.

Everclear grain alcohol. 95% = $12 for 750ml.

I've never seen Everclear that cheap, but I put that into the spreadsheet and two other things were still cheaper. I should probably check for an error, but it's easier to just act surprised.

[Endless Mike]

Bottom shelf grain alcohol tends to be the best value. The problem is you're stuck drinking bottom shelf grain alcohol.

[Girl™]

Now when I buy alcohol, I look for the highest % for the lowest cost

You buy.... I.......... With the....... A................ You mean....... I........... People actually......... Oh god.

::scurries away to cuddle her bottles of expensive imported liqueurs and cry::

[gmalivuk]

They sell potable alcohol at like 95% in parts of Latin America. Sure, it'll probably make you go blind, but if you're just looking for cheap ethanol, that's the way to go.

[Moo]

Very poor alcies in South Africa have what is known as "Blue Train*" - ethanol soaked into bread. They sometimes die

* this is a play on the very luxurious train that travels between Johannesburg and Cape Town, The Blue Train, because it comes out blue on the bread and sends them on a trip.

I am not suggesting this as an option, btw!

[22/7]

My roommate and I do this with beer, to a certain extent. For example, at the local bottle shop they have miller in 12oz bottles, 12oz cans, 8oz cans, and 7oz bottles (I still don't know why). To further confuse, the 12oz bottles come in an 18 pack, the 12oz cans in a 24 pack, the 8oz cans in either an 18 or a 6, and the 7oz bottles in, I think, a 24 pack. And of course they're all different prices. So we'll get out our phones and calculate which is the best deal. Almost always (kind of surprisingly) it's been the 18 pack of 12oz bottles, which are generally basically the same price per ounce as the 24 pack of 12oz cans.

[Flying Betty]

Eh, that's totally reasonable. The discussion is more about total quantity of ethanol vs price, quality not being a factor. I don't really like the taste of alcohol so I don't bother too much about top quality liquor, but my general rule of thumb is to never buy something that's available in a plastic handle.

[Belial]

I don't really like the taste of alcohol so I don't bother too much about top quality liquor

These two statements don't seem to follow.

Depending on the type of liquor we're discussing, the top quality stuff often tastes better and less alchohol-ish

[Moo]

I don't really like the taste of alcohol so I don't bother too much about top quality liquor

These two statements don't seem to follow.

Depending on the type of liquor we're discussing, the top quality stuff often tastes better and less alchohol-ish

That.

[mosc]

cheap vodka is definately the way to go. I don't mind vladdy. The real undrinkable ones are Bankers Club and Fleischman. My personal favorite cheapy is Popov. Regardless, I don't drink much anymore so the house vodka is sky and the top shelf is Belvedere (which I drink neat).

I went on a huge martini kick trying lots of vermouths and vodkas in different ratios. My final assessment was that the best martini is made with Belvedere vodka and consists of 0% vermouth and 100% belvedere. When I'm mixing the vodka in something though, I'll use the sky. It's half the price.

[Belial]

Most of the time the top shelf vodka isn't actually better than the middle shelf, it's just packaged prettier. Ahh, the wonders of suggestion.

As for Vladdy....it's actually just fine if you run it through a water filter three or four times

[Girl™]

cheap vodka is definately the way to go. I don't mind vladdy. The real undrinkable ones are Bankers Club and Fleischman. My personal favorite cheapy is Popov. Regardless, I don't drink much anymore so the house vodka is sky and the top shelf is Belvedere (which I drink neat).

I went on a huge martini kick trying lots of vermouths and vodkas in different ratios. My final assessment was that the best martini is made with Belvedere vodka and consists of 0% vermouth and 100% belvedere. When I'm mixing the vodka in something though, I'll use the sky. It's half the price.

THAT IS NOT A FUCKING MARTINI. THAT'S AN ALCOHOLIC'S GLASS OF WATER.

/snobbery

[mosc]

Most of the time the top shelf vodka isn't actually better than the middle shelf, it's just packaged prettier. Ahh, the wonders of suggestion.

As for Vladdy....it's actually just fine if you run it through a water filter three or four times

I can even taste the difference between belvedere, grey goose, sky, finlandia, and popov given five shots in front of me. It was a bet, I won. I would have done more but we ran out of types and I was starting to get to the point where I was too drunk to taste correctly.

Yes, there's a world of difference to me between belvedere and anything else. It has a nice clean vanilla undertone on it.

[Flying Betty]

I don't really like the taste of alcohol so I don't bother too much about top quality liquor

These two statements don't seem to follow.

Depending on the type of liquor we're discussing, the top quality stuff often tastes better and less alchohol-ish

It really does make sense. I have had some fairly decent quality Scotch before, and while it wasn't the burns and makes you want to kill yourself taste of cheap vodka, it certainly wasn't anywhere near palatable. I figured that if that wasn't good then I was probably hopeless. I prefer fairly weak mixed drinks so that the alcohol taste is fairly well masked. Or hard cider which also tastes good.

[Bakemaster]

You should try hendusoone's apple pie mix suggestion—equal parts Harpoon Winter Warmer and Harpoon Cider. If you can get both of those wherever you are. It really does taste like apple pie! (winter warmer = beer)

[Ian Ex Machina]

Just to further add to my low cost alcohol, when I visit home my dad usually gives me a bottle of homebrewed wine.
The last two I had were white pineapple wine and rhubarb rose.
So thats a whole £5 off for my cheap alcohol ratio.

On the subject of better tasting high quality alcohol, I'm not a fan of any kind of vodka or whisky (even after trying supposed nice brands/makers?) although in comparison to my awful cider, a nice Kopparberg is a welcome treat.

[Azrael]

I went on a huge martini kick trying lots of vermouths and vodkas in different ratios. My final assessment was that the best martini is made with Belvedere vodka and consists of 0% vermouth and 100% belvedere. When I'm mixing the vodka in something though, I'll use the sky. It's half the price.

THAT IS NOT A FUCKING MARTINI. THAT'S AN ALCOHOLIC'S GLASS OF WATER.

If you can't handle the taste of vermouth, don't make martinis.

Also: My new favorite term for vodka + sugary mixers + martini glass is "Tart-tini"

[Endless Mike]

Martinis aren't made with vodka in any case.

[Girl™]

Also: My new favorite term for vodka + sugary mixers + martini glass is "Tart-tini"

Oh, that's brill.

Martinis aren't made with vodka in any case.

Fun fact: technically, a "vodka martini" should be called a "Kangaroo."

[no-genius]

Martinis aren't made with vodka in any case.

It's called a Vesper

(Vodka Martini, shaken not stirred)

[Girl™]

Martinis aren't made with vodka in any case.

It's called a Vesper

(Vodka Martini, shaken not stirred)

Not true! the Vesper is a completely different drink, made up by Ian Fleming in Casino Royale. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesper_%28cocktail%29

...Man, I need to get out more.

[mosc]

Eh, people get all pissy about it. Gin only, Gin and Vodka both, or just Vodka.

Drinking Gin straight is nasty! I always appreciate a good G&T but Gin based martini's are lame. With my already stated aversion to vermouth, hiding the gin with it doesn't help matters either. Vodka is a much easier swallow.

Seriously though, I don't bother:
Shakespeare Stout (Rogue)
Maredsous 10
Abt (St. Bernardus)
Beamish
...

Yeah, they taste too good to be concerned about how much I'm paying per ml of alcohol.

[Azrael]

Drinking Gin straight is nasty! I always appreciate a good G&T but Gin based martini's are lame. With my already stated aversion to vermouth, hiding the gin with it doesn't help matters either.

Or jeebus. Just leave now, before Girl comes back.

I'm going to rephrase my statement from earlier: If you can't handle the taste of gin, don't talk about cocktails. Period. 'Cause it can only go downhill from here.

Re: Martinis - I'm not one of the militant gin purists, so I could care less if someone calls a vodka + vermouth concoction a martini. Hell, I don't even mind when Tart-tinis are called Martinis. I *do* mind when people can't grasp that not all cocktails are meant to taste like a liquid refugee from Jolly Ranger's Spring Break Beach House.

[mosc]

yes, because I prefer straight vodka to a martini I obviously think that "all cocktails are meant to taste like a liquid refugee from Jolly Ranger's Spring Break Beach House."

[Girl™]

Just don't call straight vodka a martini, and we're set.

I get annoyed with this crap because I can't order a good cocktail anywhere without handing the bartender a damned recipe card. (Funny, they don't like that much...) There's a whole world of lovely, strong, complex flavors--that also happen to make you tipsy--out there that don't involve either a cup of sugar in each drink or a spirit that's designed to have as little flavor as possible. And very few people seem to notice or care any more. Sigh.

[mosc]

I have yet to find a "cocktail" that's any good. G&T's are nice (if it's uber high quality gin. Otherwise, GROSS!) but they mostly just taste like Gin. Martinis to me are measured in quality by how little vermouth they have which I'll freely admit turns into something that shouldn't really be called a martini (although today's definition is so broad, I could call piss in a glass and call it a martini if the glass was right). I don't mind a lot of things on their own (Baileys, vodka, etc) but I have yet to find something that I actually prefer as a complex union of things.

I mean, daquari's are good not because of the alcohol but because we like fruit smoothies and their flavor is so strong you can hide booze without noticing. Give someone a virgin daquari and a) they prob wouldn't notice and b) it would probably taste better. Most Cocktails fall into this category IMHO.

I also struggle with the "you've just never had a GOOD ___" answer because I find the science of mixing drinks to be, well, rather elementary chemistry. Since I really only use high quality ingredients, I doubt I'm SO friggin' bad at mixing them as to miss the desired taste completely. How does one, exactly, fuck up a Martini that's two parts Gin and one part vermouth for example? Did I end up with 69% Gin and 31% vermouth by accident and now it's undrinkable crap?

I remember when I was younger (well before 21) that I thought mixed drinks were inherently more... complex than beer but now a days, I find hundreds of beers that have unique flavors and THEY seem to be the ones with interesting and surprising combinations. Mixed drinks just seem to be a hold out from the prohibition days when disguising cheap booze was the only way to sell them to non-alcoholics. If you want that approach, throw a couple handles of whatever handy in a Gatorade dispenser and add your favorite kool-aid to it until you can stand the taste and be done with it. Just don't get all snooty about it pretending there's some art going on more complex than finding the least painful vein on your arm to inject the drug into.

Wow I'm cynical today.

[Azrael]

yes, because I prefer straight vodka to a martini I obviously think that "all cocktails are meant to taste like a liquid refugee from Jolly Ranger's Spring Break Beach House."

Jesus Christ on a crutch, did I say you did? The two halves of your supposition there weren't even related until you put them in the same sentence.

I'd be willing to bet the internet provides ample opportunity for you to get all googly-eyed without having to resort to mock-offense-by-proximity.

Now this. This is aimed at you:

Just don't get all snooty about it pretending there's some art going on more complex than finding the least painful vein on your arm to inject the drug into.

Wow I'm cynical today.

... and an idiot. Of course there is skill and art to good mixology - that's why there are renowned bar tenders who are in high demand and get paid vastly more than the Joe behind the bar at the corner pub who's palate is roughly as sophisticated as a can of Coors.

As for Prohibition: don't forget, the king of the cocktails (the Manhattan) is traced to 1870. Count those five decades. The "original" cognac based cocktails were from ... 20 or 30 years before that.

Regarding beer: Yes, good craft beer is more complex than the average drink list. No one here is apt to argue with that. Mostly because we've already said that the average drink list is crap. Either way, I'm back to my first advice: If you can't handle vermouth, don't talk about cocktails. They're not for you. And ... that's ok.

[Belial]

If you don't see a reply from Girl within the next two days or so, pack a small bag and leave town. It means she's given up coming up with a coherent response, and is just going to come stab you.

Puts a lot of effort into her cocktails, she does.

[no-genius]

Now this. This is aimed at you:

Just don't get all snooty about it pretending there's some art going on more complex than finding the least painful vein on your arm to inject the drug into.

Wow I'm cynical today.

... and an idiot. Of course there is skill and art to good mixology - that's why there are renowned bar tenders who are in high demand and get paid vastly more than the Joe behind the bar at the corner pub who's palate is roughly as sophisticated as a can of Coors.

There's probably also an art to shooting up. And apparently you end up enjoying injecting things, so you can get a small high off just water. (Or at least, that's what they said in the Trainspotting extras).

[Endless Mike]

You *can* get high with water, but it would take more than a syringe full. Basically it requires ingesting (or injecting, I suppose) vast amounts to the point that your blood is thinned out so much that you're getting less oxygen to your brain. It's not unlike being drunk, I'm told. A few people have actually died from this while doing E.