Vodka - A Spirit from Russia

Prepared by The Food Club’s Technical Team

Vodka - One of the World’s Most Popular Drinks

One of the world’s most popular white spirit drinks is vodka. The word is derived from voda - the Russian word for water and there are many arguments as to whether it was the Poles or the Russians who were the first to distil it. It is unclear when the Russians started to distil vodka but some claim that it was 100 years before the Poles. However, whatever the truth may be, over 20 million litres of vodka are consumed annually in the UK. The brand leader is Smirnoff with about 40% of the market but there are a whole number of vodkas available, apart from those distilled in the UK. These range from Polish ‘Chopin’ and Dutch ‘Ketel One’ to Scandinavian ‘Absolut’. Russian vodka is also available but its distribution is less widespread.

Source: Checkout, July 2005

Russian Vodka

According to one historic version the Russians learnt the distillation techniques from the Italians. In the late 1430’s the Russian Episcopal Embassy did visit Italy to attend the 8th Ecumenical Council and it is thought that the monks showed them how they made ‘aqua vitae’ by distilling wine. In those days this spirit was only used for medicinal purposes. In another version, the Russians developed the distillation techniques after fermenting a traditional Russian soft drink, made from rye, called Kvas.

What is clear is that in the 1440’s the Russian Orthodox Church was struggling against beer drinking bouts associated with several pagan religions. To control this excessive drinking they started to distil vodka as a replacement for beer. However, vodka’s popularity was such that by the 1470’s the State had to impose a monopoly on the production and sales of it. Quality grading, to insure vodka’s uniformity, was then introduced in the late 15^th or early 16^th Century, once again by the State.

Traditionally vodka is drunk chilled, on its own and downed all at once rather than being sipped. Typically it is made from grain or potato alcohol but in Mongolia they also make vodka from fermented mare or camel’s milk.

Vodka Cocktails

Vodka is perfect with all mixers and James Bond is credited with popularising vodka in the 60’s when he asked for his vodka martini to be ‘shaken not stirred’. There are more vodka cocktails than there are days in the year eg a Black Russian is a cocktail made from vodka and a coffee liqueur which you might drink it in a kabak, a Russian drinking house or pub. However, it is also the name for a popular dog breed as well as being a type of tomato.

Flavoured vodkas are popular, especially in Poland and Russia. Zubrovka is vodka flavoured with bison grass, an aromatic grass favoured by the herds of the now rare European bison, and vodka flavoured with red peppers is also popular.

For More Information:-

Vodka - A Spirit from Russia.Oct 2002