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The Britta Vodka trick with Rum |
Helz
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 31, 2004
Posts: 415
From: Westminster, CO
|  Posted: 2004-12-07 2:46 pm Permalink
A friend of mine sent me a link to a website where a bunch of guys tried to improve the taste of cheap vodka by filtering it several times through a Britta water filter.
http://www.ohmygoditburns.com/
Being inspired by this I decided to try it myself with Bacardi Silver Rum, and I have to say that it mellowed it out quite a bit without dulling the rum taste that you want in your favorite Tiki drink. (I only ran it through twice).
I have yet to try it with any of the Gold or Dark rums, I figure it will mess up their flavors.
Just thought this might be something interesting to the Mai Tai and Zombie crowd.
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KuKuAhu
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 23, 2002
Posts: 567
From: Kahiki, Ohio
| Posted: 2004-12-07 4:31 pm Permalink
Wow. That's a weird thing to do.
Well, I suppose it might change the flavor of some rums and probably filter out all of the caramel added to many dark brands.
I'm not sure that it will have any effect whatsoever on the fusel alcohols that give flavor and color to liquor, but also can give it hangover potential.
I'm also dubious if one can filter out "harshness". I know that many vodka brands (Skyy for instance) use charcoal filtering to remove any trace of flavor from their spirit, but as for it's effect on percieved harsh flavor profiles due to cheap production methods is beyond me.
Doesn't Jack Daniels charcoal filter with the marketing assumption that it "mellows" the product?
Anyway, that's an interesting link. I think I'll just stick to decent rum though and trust the maker's skills.
Ahu
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Hale Tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 19, 2004
Posts: 1401
From: Pittsburgh
| Posted: 2004-12-07 4:43 pm Permalink
Actually, some friends of mine that write for Modern Drunkard magazine put out a filter a little over a year ago. It's called the grey kanaroo. It's a super brita, that takes a long time to die. It works almost like the tornado thing, with two 2 liters. you place it between the full bottle, and an empty bottle, and it strains it. We put the cheapest Vodka we could find through it, 10 times, and it came pretty fckin close to absolute. Here's teh website: http://www.graykangaroo.com/
Input my e-mail address, reverend_rude@yahoo.com if you order it. They have a referral program. Great shit. I used the hell out of mine whenever I have parties for people I don't want to serve my top shelf liquor to. I just grab a bottle of the $13.00 for 1.75L, run it through a few times. I wouldn't use it on good stuff though. It works, but it's not worth changing the flavor.
UPDATE. IF YOU BUY ONE, ENTER CODE "RICK" WITHOUT THE QUOTATION MARKS. YOU'LL GET A $5 GIFT, AND I'LL GET $5. SO, EVERYONE GETS $5. IT'S HAPPY HAPPY JOY TIME FOR EVERYONE.
[ This Message was edited by: Hale Tiki on 2004-12-07 18:40 ]
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Helz
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 31, 2004
Posts: 415
From: Westminster, CO
| Posted: 2004-12-07 5:15 pm Permalink
That's exactly the idea Hale.
I completely agree with Ku Ku, I wouldn't intend this to replace my Lemonhart (or my new-found joy St. James), when mixing a cocktail to be savored. But since most of my entertaining is done with folks that are not exactly rum connoisseurs, it is an option to improve the quality of experience with my drinks, without upping the cost.
But then again, maybe it is just the marketing hack in me afterall.
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net-tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 28, 2004
Posts: 244
From: The Town of the Damned
| Posted: 2004-12-07 5:28 pm Permalink
Santa brings me charcoal every year in my stocking now I have a use for it.
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Hale Tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 19, 2004
Posts: 1401
From: Pittsburgh
| Posted: 2004-12-07 5:45 pm Permalink
Oooh, I would like to apologize for the shameless plug as well. But hey, maybe someone will get a kick out of the Gray Kangaroo. Again, feel free to kick me for the shameless promotion.
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Chip and Andy
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 13, 2004
Posts: 2079
From: Corner table, Molokai Lounge, Mai-Kai.
| Posted: 2007-01-07 9:25 pm Permalink
OK, I have to bump this..... I have a genuine curiosity and I get to embarass Helz with this post.
Who has one these kangaroo things and is it any good? Does it actually make your cheap booze any better?
And, cheap booze is cheap booze. There isn't much you can do to improve it except serve it to the unwashed heathen masses when they visit your bar.
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sporkboyofjustice
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 30, 2004
Posts: 184
From: Eugene, Oregon
| Posted: 2007-01-08 12:44 pm Permalink
Mythbusters took this one on a while ago with Vodka and found that while it improved the harshness it was never going to make the spirit awsome. It was however fun to watch the Mythbuster crew drinking on the job again.
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Tonnikan Jinn
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 28, 2004
Posts: 143
From: La Conchita
| Posted: 2007-01-12 11:15 pm Permalink
I actually done this for the last two years for my Halloween party. I've bought mass quantities of cheap rum and vodka, run it through a Britta filter several times, and it has definitely made it more palatable to the untrained drinker.
I've done it with both silver and amber rums, and I didn't notice any difference in the coloration.
Mythbusters is right in that it won't make it top shelf hooch, but it will make that cheap crap ($9.00 for 1.75L) a lot less like lighterfluid.
Oh, and being a sneaky bastard... if you refill an empty bottle of a "nicer" brand with the filtered stuff, no one will ever know the difference. 
-T.J.
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Haole'akamai
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 07, 2005
Posts: 2269
From: The Polynesian Port of NOLA
| Posted: 2007-01-13 02:23 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2007-01-12 23:15, Tonnikan Jinn wrote:
Oh, and being a sneaky bastard... if you refill an empty bottle of a "nicer" brand with the filtered stuff, no one will ever know the difference.
-T.J.
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You don't bartend at the Pop Inn, do you?
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GentleHangman
Grand Member (4 years) 
Joined: Jun 23, 2006
Posts: 350
From: Stuart, Florida
| Posted: 2007-01-13 10:55 am Permalink
I look at it this way: If I have to filter ANY alcohol that I've purchased . . . then I shouldn't be drinking!
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finkdaddy
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 11, 2004
Posts: 2050
From: Wisconsin
| Posted: 2007-01-15 05:16 am Permalink
Brittas are not cheap. With the money it cost you, you could have just bought better rum!
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dan131m
Member
Joined: Jun 04, 2006
Posts: 3 | Posted: 2007-01-21 04:49 am Permalink
One of my college buddies did this with bourbon. The end result tasted like vodka.
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GentleHangman
Grand Member (4 years)
Joined: Jun 23, 2006
Posts: 350
From: Stuart, Florida
| Posted: 2007-01-21 3:27 pm Permalink
I just watched the 'Mythbusters" program last night in which they did the filtering thing with Vodka - they proved that it's much better to spend a little more and buy decent liquor in the first place!
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