I saw this post and wanted to ask the opposite. What are some items that really aren’t worth paying the expensive version for? Preferably more extreme or unexpected examples.
I saw this post and wanted to ask the opposite. What are some items that really aren’t worth paying the expensive version for? Preferably more extreme or unexpected examples.
I personally do not find expensive wine and liquor worth it. That obviously don’t mean all cheap wines are good, but I find the percentage of bad wine I had at $50 - $70 range is pretty much the same as wine around or under $20.
I find the best way is to research online before you buy or go for couple known-good brands. Most of the results actually tend to be on the cheaper side (around $20 for wine, around $35 for liquor).
IMHO, there are two price bands for wine: under-$10, and over. I have an unsophisticated palette, but I can tell a cheap wine from a not-cheap one. I can’t tell a not-cheap one from an expensive one, though. Some really expensive wines taste like crap to me, worse than the mid-range ones. That’s the only time I can pick out on expensive wine: it might taste bad, but it doesn’t taste cheap.
I’ll disagree to a point on liquor.
I like single-malt Scottish whiskey. I like Islays the most, followed by Speysides, Cambelltowns, Highlands, and Lowlands (in that order). I’ve found that, generally speaking, the longer a whiskey has been aged, the better it’s going to be at mellowing out the harsher flavors in a given distillery’s offerings. Compared to blended whiskeys–which are usually cheaper–single malt, and single barrel are a better experience in my opinion. I’m usually paying $50-200 for something that I’ll really enjoy, with most being in the $100-150 range.
But $5000 for a 40yo bottle of Macallen? Absolutely not.
I heard whisky can be quite expensive, so I retract my point on whisky. The liquor I had in mind is mainly tequila, which is generally rather cheap.
FWIW, whiskey is expensive because the market had grown sharply, and production runs a minimum of seven years behind demand (for Scottish whiskey, due to laws on aging). Ten years ago you could get a perfectly decent Laphroaig for $25-35; now it’s more like $60 for the same thing.
There were some often-quoted tests in which even professional sommeliers could not tell the difference between super-expensive wines and much cheaper ones. See this article on The Guardian for instance
I’ll agree on the wine front, but I also don’t care for wine much. Never developed a palate for it.
But liquor, very much disagree. If you’re one to enjoy a scotch on the rocks or something, there’s a huge difference in taste once you splurge and get the good $100+/bottle stuff. And the cheap liquor always gives me a bad hangover.
under $20 for 1.75 L is the one of the better vodkas out there. Very smooth, little to no flavor, its actually like drinking water
hop on that cheap danish shit
I can’t tell the difference between wine at all. Whiskey and beer I can definitely tell the difference between cheap and good stuff, but once you hit the 80$+ range it all blends together.
I’m a classic ____ and coke person myself, and I’ve settled with Evan Williams White label with RC Cola, almost indistinguishable from Jack and Coke for well under half the price at probably twice the ABV. And the more I drink, the less I care.
When I see people say stuff like “rc cola is almost indistinguishable from coke” it blows my mind. Do you actually mean you can’t taste the difference? Or that you don’t think the difference is worth the extra money?
I’m more curious where these people all get RC Cola, I haven’t seen that stuff since the 90s…
For both wine and liquor I find that presentation will impress people way more than price. Get a cool looking decanter and you’re basically set as far as the average wine drinker goes - as for liquor, I have a Crystal Head Vodka bottle that I rinse out and pour whatever I’m drinking into, which is a lot cheaper than buying another Crystal Head lmao.
I am picky but it doesn’t correlate directly with price. Wine, no. I don’t like wine enough to like bad wine so just saving money by drinking it rarely(maybe 6xa year) but buying the ones I actually do like works better. They are between 30-50 USD but again, maybe 5 or 6 bottles a year at most.
Liquor - I have favorites but they are mostly not high end stuff. Evan Williams bottled-in-bond is fantastic and so cheap. ABK6 cognac and vodka are great. Tequila, I like a few and none are too spendy.
Liqueurs though, and mezcal- paying more does seem to make a huge difference in these. The good ones are better than the cheaper analogues.
My father fancies himself a wine connoisseur, and 75% of what he buys are in the $20-30 range if not less.
See The Judgment of Paris or Brochet’s study.