title_body: How to choose spirits?
upvoted_answer: All of them may be had straight, as they often are in the places from where they originate.
  Having said that, some people find cheaper spirits more palatable when mixed:
  
  Vodka + orange juice
  Whisk(e)y + Coca Cola (or Ginger Ale) + perhaps some squeezed lime
  Rum + Coca Cola + squeezed lime
  
  How much mixer to use, is up to individual taste. Some might prefer to camouflage the spirit entirely, while others times want the spirit to 'bleed through' the drink.