Mixology Expert Robert Hess Explains the Importance of Making Good Product Choices for the Best Cocktail

On the most recent episode of “The Cocktail Spirit” on the Small Screen Network, mixology expert and historian Robert Hess (previously) explains the importance of making good choices and questions if cost is the true measure of the quality of a spirit and if so, to what extent. Robert tests his theory with two different Sidecar cocktails: one made with Courvoisier VSOP and the other with the less expensive Courvoisier VS.

This isn’t to say that all of the good spirit choices have to be expensive ones. There are lower-cost products that you can use which can make cocktails as good, if not better than, their costlier counterparts. And sometimes, even if a more expensive product will make a better cocktail, is the difference noticeable enough to warrant the expense? Courvoisier, is a great cognac. Their VSOP costs, say $45 per bottle, but their VS is more like $25. A sidecar made with the VSOP will be a better drink, but will it be twice as good? If you were to compare them side by side, you’d probably pick the VSOP as the better drink, but you’d still really enjoy the VS as well. So in this case there is nothing wrong with going with the less expensive Courvoisier VS.