Maker's Mark to reduce alcohol content

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by GoWalrus

I admit to being completely clueless about booze...therefore I am asking.

Educate me, drunkard.

1) Freeze the glass - don't add water to a good (expensive) drink.

2) Learn blends. Malts. How many malts? Filters. Age. All plays in to the taste of the drink.

3) Play stupid and taste for free. You're in shape - find a gay bartender and ask him what the difference is. You won't have much difficulty selling yourself as a legitimate opportunity.

If you feel guilty remind yourself that women do this every single day and get drunk for free (I don't know what the kids call it now but it use to be "milking a man.")

[Just Passin' By]

One fewer brand to have to choose from.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by Rausch

1) Freeze the glass - don't add water to a good (expensive) drink.

2) Learn blends. Malts. How many malts? Filters. Age. All plays in to the taste of the drink.

3) Play stupid and taste for free. You're in shape - find a gay bartender and ask him what the difference is. You won't have much difficulty selling yourself as a legitimate opportunity.

If you feel guilty remind yourself that women do this every single day and get drunk for free (I don't know what the kids call it now but it use to be "milking a man.")

I'm not interested in drinking. I just want to know if you can REALLY tell the difference between 84 proof and 90 proof, especially when you're shitfaced.

It sounds like drunkard elitism.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by GoWalrus

I'm not interested in drinking. I just want to know if you can REALLY tell the difference between 84 proof and 90 proof, especially when you're shitfaced.

It sounds like drunkard elitism.

You'll find a lot of that.

I love a good scotch and I've kinda developed some of the drunkard elitism as well when it comes to scotches and red wines. Bourbons I don't drink enough of to really get riled up about, but I certainly recognize the breed.

I do think it's absurd that so many people are 'swearing off' Maker's Mark without even trying the new batch and I do think there's an excellent chance they'd have never known the difference had they not been told.

[Just Passin' By]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

You'll find a lot of that.

I love a good scotch and I've kinda developed some of the drunkard elitism as well when it comes to scotches and red wines. Bourbons I don't drink enough of to really get riled up about, but I certainly recognize the breed.

I do think it's absurd that so many people are 'swearing off' Maker's Mark without even trying the new batch and I do think there's an excellent chance they'd have never known the difference had they not been told.

When a company changes its formula, they face customer backlash. It's not snobbery. It's comfort, and faith in the product. This isn't shrinking the bottle by a few ounces, this is screwing with the drink itself. You've built up your brand by talking about its greatness, and you risk pissing away all of the accumulated goodwill and loyalty by changing what you claimed was great.

Coca Cola learned that.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

When a company changes its formula, they face customer backlash. It's not snobbery. It's comfort, and faith in the product. This isn't shrinking the bottle by a few ounces, this is screwing with the drink itself. You've built up your brand by talking about its greatness, and you risk pissing away all of the accumulated goodwill and loyalty by changing what you claimed was great.

Coca Cola learned that.

And one would think that those loyal customers that are subjecting you to such backlash would at least...I dunno...try it before flipping their shit.

And I see no way that Maker's doesn't make a 'premium' version that they do raise the price on so that folks that insist they can take the difference will have a way to spend more money on stuff that tastes the same.

It's just an odd rush to judgment with so many people already writing Makers off altogether without even seeing what they're going to produce.

[Just Passin' By]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

And one would think that those loyal customers that are subjecting you to such backlash would at least...I dunno...try it before flipping their shit.

Why would tasting it be necessary? Again, you've spent years pimping your product based upon its formula, and then you changed the formula.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

And I see no way that Maker's doesn't make a 'premium' version that they do raise the price on so that folks that insist they can take the difference will have a way to spend more money on stuff that tastes the same.

It's just an odd rush to judgment with so many people already writing Makers off altogether without even seeing what they're going to produce.

It's not a rush to judgment at all. It's leaving a brand that's no longer exactly that brand, and a company that cannot be trusted. Again, Coca Cola learned this. New Coke tested better with people than old Coke in blind tests, but people refused to accept it. Don't blame the people. Blame the company for pissing on customer loyalty to the product itself after the company has tried to build up precisely that. A company can sometimes get away with the "new, improved taste" type of move with lesser known products, but even that tends to fail.

This sort of move isn't a guaranteed failure, but it carries a high risk. For me, as someone who's not a devout drinker of the product, I now know how they are willing to treat their customers, so there's no reason for me to patronize that company when there are so many alternatives.

[LoneWolf]

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

Why would tasting it be necessary? Again, you've spent years pimping your product based upon its formula, and then you changed the formula.




It's not a rush to judgment at all. It's leaving a brand that's no longer exactly that brand, and a company that cannot be trusted. Again, Coca Cola learned this. New Coke tested better with people than old Coke in blind tests, but people refused to accept it. Don't blame the people. Blame the company for pissing on customer loyalty to the product itself after the company has tried to build up precisely that. A company can sometimes get away with the "new, improved taste" type of move with lesser known products, but even that tends to fail.

This sort of move isn't a guaranteed failure, but it carries a high risk. For me, as someone who's not a devout drinker of the product, I now know how they are willing to treat their customers, so there's no reason for me to patronize that company when there are so many alternatives.

FFS quit bringing up Coca Cola in your argument. They completely changed the taste of their product and even renamed it New Coke. Maker's is simply cutting their bourbon with more water which is going to lower the alcohol content as a percentage by volume. They are being very upfront about this and are taking action to make this change temporary. If you take the company at their word, the taste is the same.

Now I ask you, in what way is this the company "pissing on customer loyalty?"

[Fish]

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

Why would tasting it be necessary? Again, you've spent years pimping your product based upon its formula, and then you changed the formula.




It's not a rush to judgment at all. It's leaving a brand that's no longer exactly that brand, and a company that cannot be trusted. Again, Coca Cola learned this. New Coke tested better with people than old Coke in blind tests, but people refused to accept it. Don't blame the people. Blame the company for pissing on customer loyalty to the product itself after the company has tried to build up precisely that. A company can sometimes get away with the "new, improved taste" type of move with lesser known products, but even that tends to fail.

This sort of move isn't a guaranteed failure, but it carries a high risk. For me, as someone who's not a devout drinker of the product, I now know how they are willing to treat their customers, so there's no reason for me to patronize that company when there are so many alternatives.

... life will never be the same after the Great Maker's Mark failure of 2013. Whoa is me.....

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

Why would tasting it be necessary? Again, you've spent years pimping your product based upon its formula, and then you changed the formula.




It's not a rush to judgment at all. It's leaving a brand that's no longer exactly that brand, and a company that cannot be trusted. Again, Coca Cola learned this. New Coke tested better with people than old Coke in blind tests, but people refused to accept it. Don't blame the people. Blame the company for pissing on customer loyalty to the product itself after the company has tried to build up precisely that. A company can sometimes get away with the "new, improved taste" type of move with lesser known products, but even that tends to fail.

This sort of move isn't a guaranteed failure, but it carries a high risk. For me, as someone who's not a devout drinker of the product, I now know how they are willing to treat their customers, so there's no reason for me to patronize that company when there are so many alternatives.

How have they 'wronged' their customers? They've chosen to freeze the price point and try to produce a product that presents the same drinking experience without resorting to just jacking their prices up.

You're welcome to throw a bitch fit if you'd like, but don't call it something it's not. If you're going to stamp your feet and claim it's because they've 'wronged' their loyal drinkers without even trying it to see if they're still giving you the same experience, it's nothing more than a temper tantrum.

And it's nothing like 'new coke'. New coke failed because they made it taste like generic Pepsi. They were openly and obviously stating that they were trying to change their flavor to appeal to a new crowd and pissing on their loyal drinkers in the process. Maker's is doing the exact opposite, they're trying desperately to make sure that the taste is the same and they're trying to do so in a manner that prevents them from pricing some of their loyal drinkers out of the market.

I honestly think they should be applauded for taking the more gutsy approach and trying to please everyone by keeping the price the same while maintaining the same profile.

[|Zach|]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

It's just an odd rush to judgment with so many people already writing Makers off altogether without even seeing what they're going to produce.

People are so finicky on the internet.