Knowing and Understanding Vodka

As is the case with many distilled spirits categories, when and where vodka was first produced is a matter of some debate. According to a number of sources, vodka originated in Russia during the 14th century and gets its name from the Russian diminutive, voda, meaning little water. The spirit was mainly popular in Russia, Poland and the Baltic states until after World War II, when worldwide consumption began to rise dramatically, first in the U.S. and then in Europe. In the lands of its origin, vodka is usually consumed chilled and unmixed in small glasses accompanied by appetizers. In the rest of the world, it is a component of mixed drinks.

Vodka Today

It should come as no surprise to off-premise retailers that vodka is the most popular spirit category in America today, accounting for more than one out of every five bottles of distilled spirits sold. With a volume of more than 35 million cases last year it outsold the combined total of Scotch, Canadian and Irish whiskies. Quite an accomplishment for a product that the federal government didn't even classify as a separate category until as late as 1951.

According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms (BATF) definition, it is a spirit without any distinctive character, aroma, taste or color and that has been one of the secrets of its success, since vodka's chameleon-like nature allows it to mix well with just about anything.

And, while for years vodka benefited from the movement of consumers towards lighter, less flavorful beverages, it is now a beneficiary of a new movement returning to the flavorful cocktails of the past, many of which have been reincarnated with a vodka base for the '90s. There has also been a strong movement towards giving this by definition, flavorless spirit, flavor. This has been accomplished by suppliers who are marketing flavored vodkas.

Vodka Production & Distillation

Because vodkas is highly neutral, with flavoring substances largely removed during processing, it is possible to make it from a mash of the cheapest and most readily available raw ingredients. Potatoes were traditionally employed in Russia and Poland but have largely been supplanted there and in other vodka-producing countries by cereal grains. Most brands today, including the best-known imports, are made from grains - sometimes rye, wheat and barley, but principally corn.

The production of vodkas begins with the distillation of a fermented mash of grain at a very high proof (about 190), which effectively eliminates any of the congeners that usually lend distinctive flavors to whiskies, which are distilled at lower proofs (about 160). The absence of these congeners is what lends vodka its flavorless, odorless qualities.

Vodkas is further purified by undergoing a process that treats the spirit with vegetal charcoal. The process consists of a continuous flow of the neutral spirits through tanks containing at least 1 ˝ pounds of vegetal charcoal for each gallon of spirits. The spirits must be in contact with the charcoal for at least eight hours. Another requirement is that 10% of the charcoal be replaced after every 40 hours of operation.

A second method keeps the spirits in constant movement by mechanical means, and in contact for a minimum of eight hours with at least six pounds of new charcoal for every 100 gallons of spirits. In addition, the government has said that it is okay to produce vodka by any other method that results in a product without distinctive character, aroma or taste.

With modern distilling technology, alcohol comes from the still already about 95% pure. In the vodka-making process, the charcoal removes some, if not all, of the remaining 5% of impurities.

Of course, it is also a fact that while the primary purpose of the charcoal is to remove things, it also imparts a trace of flavor from the wood used to make the charcoal. The source of water, too, is an important factor in the final product, since over half of what is in the bottle is water. Distilled water or any highly treated water will not taste as good as water fresh from a virgin spring.

So, the eventual quality of the vodka is often determined by the finishing process - the varieties of charcoal used, the method of distillation, the equipment used, the water source and other factors.

Edited from:
Knowing and Understanding Distilled Spirits
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