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Vodka the Spirit of Eastern Europe 
Vodka is the traditional spirit produced in Poland, Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe from fermented grain, potatoes, wheat, Rye. If made in a pot still, it has the gentle and often complex fragrances and flavours of the crop from which it was produced. If made in a continuous still, it is usually neutral spirit and devoid of any character. Vodka is a marketing dream, a clean spirit that mixes well in all situations. It is this image however that has led to plain neutral vodka being demanded, and therefore produced, at the expense of pot still vodkas that have more finesse and style. Today's mass produced vodkas have around 30 milligrams of flavouring elements per litre, whereas whiskies and cognacs have up to 2600. In truth international vodka is tasteless; They has nothing to do with the traditions Poland or Russia Vodka in some ways the typical house vodka dishonour the rich Vodka heritage of these great nations, showing little loyalty to their long traditions. Indeed, Smirnoff, former distiller to the Tsar, recently released its first vodka actually produced in Russia since the revolution. 
The Poles market a high strength neutral distillate called Polish Rectified Spirit (96%), which is basically what international vodka is, but they consider it to be in a different category to the wide range of vodkas they produce. Originally high strength spirit would have been produced to prevent it freezing during transportation, and it would be diluted prior to bottling or flavouring. Traditional vodka's are still produced in the old style, like malt whisky and cognac in pot stills that allow defining aromas and tastes to come over in the distillation. Such vodkas show gentle flavours and fragrances as well as a clean finish. The majority are clear and dry but others contain natural enhancers like herbs, berries, spices, grasses, fruits and honey. These flavours are not just tacked on but are well integrated into the spirit. 
Grain, predominantly wheat and rye, has long been the traditional raw material for vodka production, born out of the Russian grain surplus of the 15th century, today grain use indicates an aspiration towards a certain quality by the distiller. Potatoes have often been disregarded as a raw material, especially by the Russians, as a material used when grain cannot be afforded. But in recent years potatoes have produced some descent spirit. However, it is molasses that is usually used to mass-produce international brands. Molasses also has the advantage of allowing the distiller to skip the heating of the milled grist to break down starch in to fermentable sugar phase, as it is already rich in natural sugars. Mashing with hot water produces a sweet liquid called wort and, when yeasts are added, fermentation takes place and a kind of low-strength beer, or wash, is formed. This is double distilled using a pot still to around 60% that retains many flavour elements. In the past, third and even forth distillations gave purer, stronger spirit, but today if that is required a continuous still is used instead. Vodka is usually purified further by being filtered through charcoal before being diluted to bottling strength, which is a minimum 37.5% in the European Community. Before distillation was widespread the only way of producing strong alcohol was through freezing. This was distillation in reverse, because water has a lower freezing point than alcohol it would freeze in winter leaving a high strength alcoholic solution. 
To this day an argument rages between Poland and Russia over which country first produced vodka. The answer to which depends on how distillation arrived in Eastern Europe, did it arrive from North Africa via Western Europe, or from Persia in the south ? The answer is that no one really knows, it probably happened more or less simultaneously, sometime around the 15th century. To begin with single distillation would have been standard, but eventually double, triple and even quadruple distillation was tried in order to produce an increasingly stronger and purer spirit. The Romans used sand and felt in their filtration process, in the 18th century the eastern Europeans discovered that charcoal was perfect for the job. In Poland and Russia vodkas were flavoured with virtually everything and anything, from cherries to rowanberries, from honey to adders! Yes, as in the snake! 
Vodka's international success came via the United States, when a couple of entrepreneurs with an excess of Smirnoff and ginger beer created the Moscow Mule, and vodkas universal mixability took it from strength to strength, until eventually it became the largest selling spirit in the world.  |
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