Vodka is a neutral spirit with no distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color. It can be made from almost anything high in starch or sugar. Rye and wheat grain are the most common sources but barley, oats, potatoes, molasses, beets, sugar cane, corn, fruit, soybeans, rice, and grapes are also used. Most of the best Russian vodkas are made from wheat; in Poland vodka is made mostly from rye.
To make vodka, source ingredients are first ground into a mash. The mash is heated, yeast is added, and the subsequent fermentation process continues until the alcohol level is around 15%. The yeast dies at this point so distillation is required to increase the alcohol content.
Alcohol boils at 173°F. If a copper pot still is used, vapor from boiling mash is captured and condensed into a liquid that is about 30% alcohol. The liquid retains some of the delicate aromatics, chemicals, and flavors of the base product so is redistilled one or more times to purify it and increase the alcohol level. In a more efficient column still — a tall cylinder filled with a series of perforated plates — steam entering from the bottom of the column vaporizes liquid slowly dripping through the plates from the top. When the vapor condenses into liquid again, its alcohol content has risen to 70%. Rectification through several purifying cylinders takes place after distillation to remove impurities, then water is added to reduce alcohol content to 40%.
Vodka is not put in wooden casks or aged for any extensive period of time. It can be flavored or colored with a wide variety of fruits, herbs, and spices. Because it is a neutral spirit, there are only subtle differences between vodka brands. It is primarily used as a mixer for cocktails which emphasize the taste of other ingredients rather than the alcohol.
The first documented production of vodka was in Russia in the late 800s. The first known vodka distillery was in Khylnovsk 200 years later. Vodka was produced commercially in Russia in the 1500s. The first experiments in multiple distillations were conducted in Russia and charcoal filtration was invented there in 1780. By the 1800s Russia had the most technologically advanced vodka production. Russian vodkas, an integral part of the country’s society, are flavored with everything from acorns to horseradish to mint and constitute 70% of all alcohol consumed in Russia.
Vodka first appeared in Poland in the 11th century. Poland began producing vodka in the 1400s as a beverage and for medicinal use. Commercial vodka distilleries were well established in Poland in the 1700s. A thriving export trade developed by the mid-1800s which shipped Polish vodkas throughout northern Europe.
Vodka was first imported into the US about 1900 largely for Eastern European immigrants. After Prohibition repeal in 1933, the Heublein Company bought the rights to the Smirnoff brand from its Russian owners and relaunched vodka in the US. Sales were slow until an enterprising liquor salesman in South Carolina started promoting it as “Smirnoff White Whiskey — no taste, no smell.”
By 1975, sales of vodka in the US overtook bourbon, the country’s native spirit. Vodka is the dominant spirit in the US today and outsells rum, tequila, gin, and cognac combined. It is a versatile mixer, it is a “safer” spirit due to its low level of impurities, and it leaves no trace on your breath. According to Smirnoff’s famous tag line, “It leaves you breathless.”
The first popular vodka cocktail was the Moscow Mule, a combination of vodka and ginger beer with a slice of lime, created in 1946 at the Cock ‘n’ Bull restaurant in Los Angeles and served in a copper mug. Popular vodka cocktails today include Bloody Mary, Vodka Martini, Cosmopolitan, White Russian, Gimlet, Sex on the Beach, and dozens more.