As each Taste Test is completed, I will post the results here
#01 – Homemade vs McCormick
The first taste test ventures into dangerous territory: pitting Homemade Vanilla Extract made from a very inexpensive Vodka against the one Vanilla Extract everyone can name. The Homemade Vanilla Extract is from the bottle that sits in the cabinet here at the house and was originally created over two years ago using Smirnoff Vodka. It’s been replenished a few times with whatever Vodka was at hand, and never a “top shelf” brand.
The competition was a 2 ounce bottle of McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract purchased at Kroger the week of the test for $8.99 plus tax.
The field of battle is a pan of marshmallows. Using the recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction, one recipe of marshmallows was made, split in half, and the first half given McCormick Vanilla Extract plus green food coloring, and the other half given the Homemade Vanilla Extract plus blue and red food coloring. This was an attempt to make two pans that differed only in color and Vanilla Extract.
Ballots were created to give to the testers and the taste test was conducted on the customers of the Nolensville Farmers’ Market. 39 customers participated. Of those, four did not rate BOTH of the marshmallows (4 McCormick, 1 Homemade). The remaining 33 preferred the Homemade (20) over McCormick (13). That is, 60% preferred Homemade Vanilla Extract made with very cheap Vodka.
Furthermore, customers were given the chance to rate each of the marshmallows on a scale of 0 to 5. Totaling those scores, Homemade earned 159 points (average 4.2) and McCormick earned 139 points (average 3.9). Eliminating the ties brings the scores to 133 for Homemade (average 4.2)and 113 for McCormick(average 3.8).
Under every metric, Homemade outperformed McCormick.
In reality, this was merely a test run to figure out how to run a survey. But it’s nice to win.
#02 – Skol vs Absolut
Going into this taste test, I was reasonably sure that the brand of Vodka would not matter too much. If that is the case, then the results should be mixed, at best.
WRONG!
The results of this test have completely blown me away. As before, we made one pan of marshmallow using the recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction, split the recipe in half, put a Vanilla Extract using Absolut Vodka and green food coloring in one, and a Vanilla Extract using Skol Vodka and blue and red food coloring in the other. The result is two pans of marshmallow that should be absolutely identical.
The customers at the Nolensville Farmers’ Market served as taste testers and the results are as follows:
Overall, of 43 respondents, 7 (16%) rated the two equally; 12 (28%) rated Skol higher, and 24 (56%) rated Absolut higher. The Skol Vodka Vanilla Extract accumulated a total of 159 points overall with an average score of 3.8. The Absolut accumulated 176 points with an average of 4.1.
If you eliminate the tie scores, of those who expressed a preference, 67% preferred the Vanilla Extract made from Absolut Vodka vs 33% who preferred the Vanilla Extract using Skol Vodka.
The difference in scores are not very significant, but there is no question that most people prefer the Vanilla Extract made from the higher cost Vodka. Today, a standard 750 ml bottle of Absolut costs $18.99 while Skol costs $6.99. As noted in Question #02, the cost of the alcohol does not have a significant effect on the overall cost of your Vanilla Extract. Moving from Skol to Absolut would increase the cost of your Vanilla Extract by less than 50¢ per ounce. And if you buy 1.75 litre bottles, the cost difference is just 22¢ per ounce. Practically insignificant.
To reiterate, I find these results surprising, but not something that will break the bank should I choose to change my base alcohol.
