Vodka
Vodka is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Its varieties originated in Poland and Russia. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol, but sometimes with traces of impurities and flavourings. Traditionally, it is made by distilling liquid from fermented cereal grains and potatoes since the latter was introduced in Europe in the 18th century. Some modern brands use maize, sugar cane, fruit, honey, and maple sap as the base.
Since the 1890s, standard vodkas have been 40% alcohol by volume . The European Union has established a minimum alcohol content of 37.5% for vodka. Vodka in the United States must have a minimum alcohol content of 40%.
Vodka is traditionally drunk "neat", and it is often served freezer chilled in the so-called "vodka belt" of Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and Ukraine. It is also used in cocktails and mixed drinks, such as the vodka martini, Cosmopolitan, vodka tonic, screwdriver, greyhound, Black or White Russian, Moscow mule, Bloody Mary, Caesar and Red Bull Vodka.
Since 1960s, the unflavoured Swedish brännvin also came to be called vodka.
Etymology
The word vodka in English was borrowed from Russian and it can be literally translated as 'little water'; it is a diminutive of the Russian word voda.In English literature, the word vodka first appeared around the late 18th century. In a book of travels published in English in 1780, Johann Gottlieb Georgi correctly explained that "kabak in the Russian language signifies a public house for the common people to drink vodka in". In 1799, William Tooke glossed vodka as "rectified corn-spirits", using the traditional English sense of the word corn to refer to any grain, not just maize. In 1800, the French poet Théophile Gautier glossed it as a "grain liquor" served with meals in Poland.
Another possible connection of vodka with water is the name of the medieval alcoholic beverage aqua vitae, which is reflected in Polish okowita, Ukrainian оковита, Belarusian акавіта, and Scandinavian akvavit. Whiskey has a similar etymology, from Irish and Scottish Gaelic uisce beatha / uisge-beatha.
People in the area of vodka's probable origin have names for vodka with roots meaning 'to burn': ; ; ; ; is also in use, colloquially and in proverbs; ;. In Russian during the 17th and 18th centuries, горящѣе вино or горячее вино was widely used. Others languages include German Branntwein, Danish brændevin,,, and .
History
Scholars debate the beginnings of vodka because there is little historical material available. For many centuries, beverages differed significantly compared to the vodka of today, as the spirit at that time had a different flavor, color, and smell, and was originally used as medicine. It contained little alcohol, an estimated maximum of about 14%. Distillation techniques were developed in Roman Egypt by the 3rd century, but the description of aqua ardens made by distilling wine with salt appears in Latin works only by the 12th century. The process was well known among European medieval chemists by about 1300.Poland
The world's first written mention of the word wódka was in 1405 from Akta Grodzkie recorder of deeds, in the court documents from the Palatinate of Sandomierz in Poland. At the time, the word wódka referred to chemical compounds such as medicines and cosmetics' cleansers. The production of liquor begins in the mid-15th century, with varied local traditions emerging throughout Europe, in Poland as vodka. In the 16th century, the Polish word for the beverage was gorzałka, which is also the source of Ukrainian horilka. The word written in Cyrillic appeared first in 1533, about a medicinal drink brought from Poland to Russia by the Russian merchants.In these early days, the spirits were used mostly as medicines. Stefan Falimierz asserted in his 1534 works on herbs that vodka could serve "to increase fertility and awaken lust". Wodka lub gorzałka, by Jerzy Potański, contains valuable information on the production of vodka. Jakub Kazimierz Haur, in his book Skład albo skarbiec znakomitych sekretów ekonomii ziemiańskiej, gave detailed recipes for making vodka from rye.
Some Polish vodka blends go back centuries. Most notable are Żubrówka, from about the 16th century; Goldwasser, from the early 17th century; and aged Starka vodka, from the 16th century. In the mid-17th century, the szlachta were granted a monopoly on producing and selling vodka in their territories. This privilege was a source of substantial profits. One of the most famous distilleries of the aristocracy was established by Elżbieta Izabela Lubomirska and later operated by her grandson, Alfred Wojciech Potocki. The Vodka Industry Museum, located at the park of the Potocki country estate has an original document attesting that the distillery already existed in 1784. Today, it operates as "Polmos Łańcut".
Vodka production on a much larger scale began in Poland at the end of the 16th century, initially at Kraków, whence spirits were exported to Silesia before 1550. Silesian cities also bought vodka from Poznań, a city that in 1580 had 498 working spirits distilleries. Soon, however, Gdańsk outpaced both these cities. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Polish vodka was known in the Netherlands, Denmark, England, Russia, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria and the Black Sea basin.
Early production methods were rudimentary. The beverage was usually low-proof, and the distillation process had to be repeated several times. The first distillate was called brantówka, the second was szumówka, and the third was okowita, which generally contained 70–80% ABV. Then the beverage was watered down, yielding a simple vodka, or a stronger one if the watering was done using an alembic. The exact production methods were described in 1768 by Jan Paweł Biretowski and in 1774 by Jan Chryzostom Pasek. The late 18th century inaugurated the production of vodka from various unusual substances including even the carrot.
Though there was a substantial vodka cottage industry in Poland back to the 16th century, the end of the 18th century marked the start of real industrial production of vodka in Poland. Vodkas produced by the nobility and clergy became a mass product. The first industrial distillery was opened in 1782 in Lwów by J. A. Baczewski. He was soon followed by Jakub Haberfeld, who in 1804 established a factory at Oświęcim, and by Hartwig Kantorowicz, who started producing Wyborowa in 1823 at Poznań. The implementation of new technologies in the latter half of the 19th century, which allowed the production of clear vodkas, contributed to their success. The first rectification distillery was established in 1871. In 1925, the production of clear vodkas was made a Polish government monopoly.
After World War II, all vodka distilleries were taken over by Poland's Marxist–Leninist government. During the martial law of the 1980s, the sale of vodka was rationed. Following the success of the Solidarity movement and the abolition of single-party rule in Poland, many distilleries began struggling financially. Some filed for bankruptcy, but many were privatized, leading to the creation of various new brands.
Russia
Early history
A type of distilled liquor designated by the Russian word vodka came to Russia in the late 14th century. In 1386, the Genoese ambassadors brought the first aqua vitae to Moscow and presented it to Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy. The liquid obtained by distillation of grape must was thought to be a concentrate and a "spirit" of wine, whence came to the name of this substance in many European languages. As the Genoese passed through Moscow and brought with them aqua vitae, Russian monks transformed the practice of distilling wine into vodka production. Another theory is that the practice came to Russia through the trade routes of the Hanseatic League, with the earliest mention of imported wines being in 1436.Perhaps one of the earliest terms linked to vodka production was varenoe vino which appears in a 1399 document. Another term used was perevara, a precursor to vodka, which last appears in official documents in 1495. The term korchma is one of the oldest official terms used for vodka, which was used alongside varenoe vino, but later came to denote illegally produced vodka by the 16th century. Other terms that referred to vodka included goriachee vino, zhzhenoe vino, and khlebnoe vino.
This "bread wine", as it was initially known, was for a long time produced exclusively in the Grand Principality of Moscow and in no other Russian principality. Thus, this beverage was closely associated with Moscow. Ivan III created the first Russian state monopoly on vodka in 1474, and by 1505, the first exports of distilled Russian vodka had arrived in Sweden.
By the 16th century, the consumption of vodka was widespread in Russia, with Sigismund von Herberstein stating that nobles at the Russian court "at the beginning of the meal always drank aqua vitae", although Herberstein makes no further mention of the drink. Around the same time, government-run taverns known as kabaks replaced privately-run korchmas. Giles Fletcher, who was the English ambassador in Russia, wrote:
Russian Empire
Until the mid-18th century, the drink remained relatively low in alcohol content, not exceeding 40% ABV. Multiple terms for the drink were recorded, sometimes reflecting different levels of quality, alcohol concentration, filtering, and the number of distillations; most commonly, it was referred to as "burning wine", "bread wine", or even in some locations simply "wine". In some locations, grape wine may have been so expensive that it was a drink only for aristocrats. Burning wine was usually diluted with water to 24% ABV or less before drinking. It was mostly sold in taverns and was quite expensive. At the same time, the word vodka was already in use, but it described herbal tinctures, containing up to 75% ABV, and made for medicinal purposes.The first written usage of the word vodka in an official Russian document in its modern meaning is dated by the decree of Empress Elizabeth of 8 June 1751, which regulated the ownership of vodka distilleries. By the 1860s, a government policy of promoting the consumption of state-manufactured vodka made it the drink of choice for many Russians. In 1863, the government monopoly on vodka production was repealed, causing prices to plummet and making vodka available even to low-income citizens. The taxes on vodka became a key element of government finances in Tsarist Russia, providing at times up to 40% of state revenue. By 1911, vodka comprised 89% of all alcohol consumed in Russia. This level has fluctuated somewhat during the 20th century but remained quite high at all times. The most recent estimates put it at 70%.