That's some serious cost! It's a sad day when a Norwegian vodka is too expensive to sell in the country of its origin. Sad indeed. You guys should only pay $20 for your own products.... or less!

"First I served frozen shots to the group in a blind test."
 
That's the opening last paragraph... freeze any alcohol and it dulls the taste. This is also true of white wines, you can chill a white and make it taste better than another higher branded white at room temperate. This is a huge problem, the blind tasting should be done under equal conditions unchilled and unfrozen.
 
Taking a bunch of brands of fairly equal value and comparing them together in a mixed drink will probably result in mixed opinions. But, taking a low grade vs. a high grade will be easier to distinguish. But, I'll be the first to say I'm not a huge vodka drinker - I can't really tell the difference between many brands as I find vodka to all "taste the same."
 
To me, it comes down to the smoothness and the tastelessness of the vodka. A pure multi-filtered vodka will taste cleaner and more refined than one that's still got impurities and such. But, personally, I like to mix it to get rid of the vodka taste all together and stuff it in the freezer to kill anything that may linger behind :-)
 
Still, I prefer Tito's because its cheap, well crafted (and highly filtered) and a US brand.
 
 
 
 

Nothing makes me happier than knowing you're going to give these a try! Although I'd not limit myself to just a birthday party :-)

If you give a blind tasting to typical people, they may not tell the difference between high class and middle class vodka. This is probably because they're palate isn't trained to tell the difference. It would be like telling the difference between a foreign language spoken good and bad -- if you don't speak it well, how would you know? Practice practice practice!

 

However, you can use that against me as well. If an "everyday drinker" cannot tell the difference between a $12.00 bottle of vodka and a $60.00 bottle of vodka, why would you mix with the $60? When I'm entertaining for guests I try to use a nice middle-of-the-line alcohol branding, something that's obviously better than the basic stuff yet not super expensive and top-shelf.

 

I also find a big difference between a top shelf gin (G'Vine) and a basic bottle of London Dry gin. The same with Tequila, a Cuervo Gold vs. a Partida Reposado is like day and night; the ingredients aren't even close to the same and even an unexperienced drinker will know the difference in a Margarita between the two.

 

Whiskey follows the same ideas, there is good and bad and you'll know the difference. But, for a schnapps or sweet alcohol I'm just as willing to buy a $6.00 bottle compared to a $15.00 because the sweet overpowers any uniqueness between them (in most cases)