News & guides · 27 October 2026 · 5 min read

Blind vodka tasting: compare Polish vodkas

For your first blind vodka tasting, try this: choose three unflavoured Polish vodkas, conceal the bottles and write down your impressions before revealing their names. Make the aim finding your favourite, not identifying every ingredient. This borrows a principle from professional judging: the [International Wine & Spirit Competition serves spirits in numbered glasses](https://www.iwsc.net/spirits/judging-process), keeping the bottles out of sight. The method below is a suggested small-group exercise, not a professional examination. For background on flavour itself, start with our guide to [what vodka tastes like](/news/what-does-vodka-taste-like/). Here, the job is more practical: setting up a comparison that gives each glass a fair hearing.

Three small tulip-shaped glasses of clear vodka beside covered bottles, water and a tasting notebook

Why taste vodka blind?

A familiar label brings expectations to the table. In the IWSC’s discussion of objective spirits evaluation, judge Dawn Davies explains that concealing a brand helps remove preconceptions about quality. She also makes an important qualification: blind tasting cannot remove every bias. It is a useful tool, not a machine for producing the correct opinion.

For this exercise, ask someone to pour the samples out of sight and mark the glasses A, B and C. Keep a separate record of which bottle belongs to each letter. Leave the bottles hidden until everyone has finished their notes.

I suggest keeping two decisions separate: what you notice and what you enjoy. A sample can be interesting without being your favourite. Equally, preferring the least assertive glass needs no defence. Nobody has to admire a vodka simply because it gives them more adjectives to write down.

Before starting, agree that uncertain answers are welcome. Write “little aroma” or “cannot distinguish these two” if that is your honest impression. Do not turn the bottle reveal into a test that somebody must lose.

Choose Polish vodkas with a clear comparison in mind

A useful starting set would be one potato, one rye and one wheat vodka. There is a ready-made example in Chopin’s core collection, which contains all three. The producer describes its potato vodka as full-bodied, its rye as peppery and its wheat as lighter and subtly sweet. Those are the producer’s descriptions, not results you are obliged to reproduce.

My suggestion is to keep those descriptions hidden alongside the bottles. After the reveal, compare your notes with the producer’s account. Agreement is interesting; disagreement is worth discussing too. Ask which words describe an actual sensation you noticed, rather than adopting the whole tasting note retrospectively.

For the first comparison, choose unflavoured bottles with the same labelled alcohol strength. Treat that as an exercise rule, not a definition of a good vodka. Keep fruit and herbal versions for a separate session so that you are asking one manageable question at a time.

Avoid declaring a winning ingredient after comparing just one example of each. Record a narrower conclusion: you preferred this particular potato, rye or wheat vodka in this tasting. That is a useful buying decision without pretending to settle the entire category.

Set up the glasses, water and tasting space

Use identical glasses. WSET’s guide to spirits glassware explains how glass shape affects the presentation of aromas, and includes a vodka educator’s recommendation for a standard ISO tasting glass. For this exercise, matching small wine-tasting glasses would be a sensible choice. Avoid giving one sample a broad tumbler and another a narrow shot glass.

Pour equally small measures and serve the samples at the same temperature. I would leave ice out of this first comparison and keep the bottles together beforehand. The purpose is consistency, rather than declaring one serving ritual superior to another.

Put drinking water, plain bread, pencils and a discreet spittoon on the table. Keep scented candles away and avoid tasting immediately after coffee, chewing gum or strongly flavoured food. These preparations follow WSET’s advice on preparing your palate, which also recommends removing strong room smells and having a spittoon ready.

Give everyone their own sheet of paper. My suggested rule is silence until the first notes are written. There will be plenty of time for the person who has discovered seventeen aromas to explain them afterwards.

How to taste vodka and write useful notes

Begin with gentle sniffs rather than vigorous swirling. WSET gives this advice for nosing spirits in its tasting guide to gin: aggressive swirling releases more alcohol vapour, while gentle sniffing lets you build an impression gradually. Apply that handling technique here, without expecting vodka to have gin’s botanical aromas.

Take a small sip if you choose to taste, then record the sensation rather than immediately guessing the brand. WSET’s Systematic Approach to Tasting Spirits separates aroma, flavour, texture and finish. Adapt that structure into a short worksheet:

Aroma: faint or noticeable; any specific association you can name.
Flavour: what you notice in the mouth, without borrowing someone else’s description.
Texture: your impression of weight, viscosity and alcoholic warmth.
Finish: what remains afterwards and how long it seems to last.
Preference: your favourite sample, with one concrete reason.

For an optional second comparison, add the same measured amount of water to equal remaining samples. WSET’s spirits tasting guidance explains that dilution can help release aromas and specifically advises consistent additions for fair comparison. Keep these diluted notes separate from the first set. You have changed the samples, so preserve both observations rather than overwriting one.

Reveal the bottles without rewriting your opinion

Ask each person to name their preferred glass and explain one reason before uncovering the bottles. Then reveal the ingredients and producer descriptions. I would keep the discussion focused on differences people actually recorded, including differences in preference.

Resist revising every note once you recognise a label. The point of hiding brands was to reduce their influence, as the IWSC explains in its account of blind evaluation. Leave the original sheet intact and add any later thoughts underneath.

Bring the more strongly flavoured food into the discussion after the initial comparison. WSET notes that lingering food flavours can distract from tasting. This is not an argument against eating. It is a reason to distinguish comparing samples on their own from enjoying them with food. For menu ideas, use our guide to traditional Polish vodka snacks.

Make a group vodka tasting work for everyone

Keep participation optional throughout. Make spitting, skipping a sample and leaving a glass unfinished entirely ordinary. WSET includes spittoons in its tasting preparation advice; there is no reason to turn a comparison into an obligation to swallow every pour.

For a mixed group, offer roles that do not involve drinking: keeping the bottle key, recording preferences or leading the reveal. Do not assign those jobs automatically to non-drinkers. Ask what they would enjoy.

At VodkaTasting.pl, non-drinkers are welcome, and the focus includes Polish history, culture and food, not getting drunk. Our group FAQ explains participation and dietary arrangements. Teams interested specifically in a blind format can also see our corporate vodka tasting options.

For a hosted version during a Warsaw visit, enquire about a private Warsaw vodka tasting and mention that you would like a blind comparison. Confirm the format and bottle selection when booking.