One of the first things you learned about the freezer as a kid (besides "shut the door, you're letting all the cold air out!") is that it wasn't a good idea to put any kind of beverage in there. At best, you'd have to wait a long while for your frozen block of whatever it was to thaw out so you could drink it, while at worst you'd get a bursting-open can, big mess, yelling mom, etc.
When you got older and started buying booze, someone may have let you in on a little grown-up secret — you could stash your booze in the freezer and it wouldn't ever freeze solid. Instead, you could pour yourself an icy-cold shot anytime you wanted. People mostly do this with vodka, since who drinks freezing cold whiskey? Still, according to The Spruce Eats, it should be okay to store any alcohol that's at least 40 proof at sub-freezing temperatures.
But now, some bubble-bursting courtesy of Francois Thibault, the creator of Grey Goose vodka (that totally isn't the same as Costco's Kirkland brand). He broke the news to Business Insider that over-chilling your vodka can mask its delicate flavor.
Vodka's supposed to have a flavor?
Thibault claims that a premium vodka such as Grey Goose has "sophisticated aromas and flavours" that you wouldn't want to miss out on by serving it too cold, although this probably only applies if you're drinking the stuff straight up or in a vodka-forward cocktail such as a dry martini. According to Thibault, the optimum temperature for Grey Goose is 0 to 4 degrees Celsius (which translates to 32 to 39 in Fahrenheit). Coincidentally, this just happens to be the exact temperature of vodka served on the rocks — even he doesn't recommend drinking the stuff at room temperature.
But what if your vodka's not premium?
Thibault does admit that if you're drinking cheap, low-quality vodka (you barbarian, you!), then you'll probably want it served at sub-zero temps in order to hide any "aggressive, burning notes." Or, you know, you could always just have a vodka soda or something.
Plus, we've got one more hack for making sure than even the cheapest vodka doesn't ruin your — use a water filtration pitcher to replicate the filtration process that all the pricey brands boast of. To be on the safe side, you should run the vodka through the pitcher a few times (four is recommended), but the filtering should go a long way towards de-harshing your budget booze.
