Vodka was born in Eastern Europe, between Poland and Russia, which compete for the paternity of the name and the first production. The term vodka comes from the diminutive of water in various Slavic languages, such as Russian voda or Polish woda, to indicate the clear and transparent appearance of the drink.
The first written trace of vodka dates back to 1405 in Poland, in a register from Sandomierz, where it speaks of a type of water with an alcohol content of over 50%.
Over the centuries, vodka spread throughout the Slavic area and became a national drink, so much so that in 1649 Tsar Alexei promulgated an imperial code for its production.
Later, Empress Catherine II used the term vodka in its modern sense for the first time in a decree regulating the ownership of certain distilleries. Vodka only came to Western Europe in the 19th century, thanks to Napoleon's Russian Campaign, which brought home large quantities of the distillate to help the troops. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, many vodka producers emigrated to other countries and spread their recipe around the world.
Vodka is an atypical distillate, which does not have a distinctive flavor or aroma, but seeks to achieve maximum purity and neutrality.
Vodka is obtained by distilling cereals or potatoes, which are fermented with yeast and water. The resulting product is then distilled several times to remove impurities and increase the alcohol content. Vodka must have a minimum strength of 37.5% ABV according to European regulations, but can reach 70% ABV or more. Vodka is then diluted with demineralized water until it reaches the desired strength and filtered with activated carbon or other materials to remove any residue.
