UV BLUE? OR NOT?

[Andy Perrin]

I live above a liquor store, and for some time now this brand of vodka has been catching my eye, not because it looks tasty (it doesn't), but because of the branding:

 

 

UV BLUE, it says, but was it false advertising? There was only one way to find out. We must do the science. Having purchased the above bottle, I proceeded to my lab/apartment.

 

First I tested an empty glass of water for fluorescence under the Nemo torch (365nm), photo captured with iPhone 12 Pro Max:

 

Next, I poured out the water and added the vodka. A second photo was taken under the torch.

 

The conclusion follows: UV BLUE is indeed blue under UV. Consumers have not been cheated of fluorescence, although I can't vouch for the taste.

[Cadmium]

The last photo is much prettier than the first two. Artistic even. No place near me to buy it, so I can't easily sample the taste.

[dabateman]

Andy do you have some tonic water to compare with?

My guess is its bad vodka cut with tonic water and raspberry flavoring added so you don't know its bad vodka.

 

[Andy Perrin]

I don't have any tonic water, but one taste was enough to assure me it's bad vodka.

[Andrea B.]

That is really amazing! I had no idea that vodka fluoresced. And that name - "UV Blue"!! Did the vodka company name it that because they knew it fluoresced blue, I wonder?

 

The photo is quite pretty. So is the glass.

 

I'm going to go rustle around in the SigOth's liquor cabinet to see if there is any vodka. Usually there are only bitters for after-dinner sipping, like Campari or Amaro. But now I want to see if those fluoresce also.

[Andy Perrin]

I really doubt vodka fluoresces, more likely it is whatever flavoring they added (or quinine like david said).