Chapter 15

Vodka
In This Chapter
▶ Distilling vodka from potatoes, grains, and beets
▶ Sampling vodka brands from all over the world
▶ Having fun with fruity flavors

V odka, a clear, almost flavorless spirit, is usually thought

of as the national spirit of Russia and other Slavic
nations. Both Russia and Poland claim the invention of vodka
and explain that the name is a diminutive of the word voda,
meaning little water. Slavic countries have been producing
vodka for more than 600 years.

How Vodka Is Made

Vodka was originally distilled only from potatoes, but today,
it’s also made from grain — mostly wheat, rye, and corn. But
distillers don’t seem at all hindered by tradition — in Turkey,
they use beets! Vodkas are distilled at a very high proof (190
or higher), and most are filtered through activated charcoal.
Certain charcoals are so important to the making of vodka
that distillers patent them. High-end vodkas are triple- and
even quadruple-distilled, and some are filtered through fine
quartz sand.

Popular Brands
Vodka is now produced in almost every country in the world,
and each location tends to put its spin on the classic. You
may want to sample some of the following brands to see
whether you can find differences:

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✓ 42Below: An award-winning, 84-proof vodka from New

Zealand.
✓ 360 Vodka: An eco-friendly, green-packaged vodka that’s
quadruple-distilled.
✓ Absolut: From Sweden.
✓ Artic: Wheat vodka from Italy.
✓ Belvedere: From Poland.
✓ Blavod: 80-proof black vodka distilled in the United
Kingdom.
✓ Boru: Made in Ireland from grain and pure Irish water.
✓ Chopin: From Poland; made with potatoes.
✓ Cîroc: Made from snap-frost grapes in southwestern
France and distilled five times.
✓ Crystal Head: Made with water from a deep aquifer in
Newfoundland and sold in a cool skull-shaped bottle.
✓ Danzka: Made with wheat from Denmark.
✓ Double Cross: An award-winning, seven-time distilled
vodka produced in the Slovak Republic.
✓ Ed Hardy: Made with wheat from France.
✓ EFFEN: A Dutch vodka. In a bar, if you order a cocktail
made with EFFEN, you’re supposed to say, “Give me an
EFFEN Screwdriver,” or, “I’d like an EFFEN Cape Cod.”
Get it?
✓ Finlandia: Classic Finlandia is imported from Finland. It’s
made from spring water and barley.
✓ Fris: Produced in Scandinavia.
✓ Gilbey’s: An American vodka.
✓ Glacier: Distilled in Rigby, Idaho, using Idaho potatoes
and water from the Rocky Mountains.
✓ Gordon’s: Has been distilled in the United States since
1957.
✓ Grey Goose: From France, made from fine grain and
mineral water that’s naturally filtered with champagne
limestone.
✓ Hamptons: From the Hamptons in New York.

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 Chapter 15: Vodka 103
✓ Hangar One: An 80-proof vodka made with American
wheat and Viognier grapes (a white wine grape).
✓ Iceberg Vodka: Made from the waters of icebergs from
the coast of Greenland.
✓ Jewel of Russia: Made with only natural ingredients from
an ancient recipe.
✓ Ketel One: From Holland, Ketel One is handmade in
small batches according to the techniques and secret
family recipe developed by the Nolet family more than
300 years ago.
✓ Kremlyovskaya: “Kremly” is made in the Vladimir region
of Russia.
✓ Level Vodka: An ultra-premium vodka from the makers
of Absolut.
✓ Luksusowa: An original potato vodka (unlike most
vodkas, which are grain-based), made in Poland.
✓ McCormick Vodka: Quadruple-distilled vodka made from
American grain.
✓ Nikoli: A very inexpensive vodka made in the United States.
✓ Pearl: Made from Canadian Rocky Mountain spring water
and distilled from Canadian winter wheat.
✓ Pink: Made with wheat from the Netherlands.
✓ Rain Organics: 80-proof organic vodka distilled seven
times, made with organic white corn.
✓ Reyka: From Iceland.
✓ Russian Standard: The number-one premium brand in
Russia. Employing a unique blend of century-old tradition
and a passionate attention to detail, it’s made using only
the finest Russian ingredients.
✓ Seagram’s Vodka: A very popular vodka from Canada.
✓ SKYY: An American vodka made with 100-percent pure
mountain water.
✓ Smirnoff: From the United States, the largest-selling
vodka in the world.
✓ Snow Leopard: Made from spelt grain from Poland.
✓ Snow Queen: Made with organic wheat from Kazakhstan.

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 104 Part II: Short Shots from American Whiskey to Wine

How that Russian drink got going

in the United States
American John Martin of Heublein and John mixed the two, added a
Inc. is credited with encouraging dash of lime juice, and thus created
Americans to drink vodka. In the the Moscow Mule. It spread rapidly,
summer of 1946, he and his friend promoted by Heublein (“It leaves
Jack Morgan, the owner of the Cock you breathless!”), who had it served
‘n’ Bull Restaurant in Los Angeles, in a copper mug. Smirnoff Vodka
were discussing his Smirnoff Vodka was in high demand and is still the
when Jack remembered that he had number-one-selling vodka in the
an overstock of ginger beer. Jack United States.

✓ Sobieski: The number-one premium vodka in Poland.

Made with Dankowski rye.
✓ Square One: A certified organic, 80-proof vodka made
with organically grown America rye.
✓ Stolichnaya: A Russian vodka also known as “Stoli.”
✓ Svedka: Imported from Sweden.
✓ Tanqueray Sterling: An English vodka from the makers
of Tanqueray gin.
✓ Three Olives Vodka: Imported from England.
✓ Tito’s Handmade Vodka: Produced in Texas’s first and
oldest legal distillery, Tito’s Handmade Vodka is distilled
six times.
✓ Ultimat: A rich, smooth-tasting, ultra-premium vodka
made from wheat, rye, and potatoes.
✓ UV Vodka: A four-time distilled corn vodka made in the
United States.
✓ Vermont Vodka: Available in a Gold variety distilled from
the sugar of maple sap and a White variety distilled from
pure milk sugar.
✓ Vincent Van Gogh Vodka: From Holland, handcrafted
using small batches of the finest grains.

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 Chapter 15: Vodka 105
✓ VOX: Distilled five times in the Netherlands from
100-percent wheat.
✓ Wyborowa: From Poland.
✓ Xellent: A Swiss vodka.

Flavored Vodkas
Flavored vodkas, which have become quite popular, are made
with the addition of natural flavoring ingredients. Scores of
flavored vodkas are available, from apple to Zubrowka. (Once
sold with a single blade of grass in each bottle, Zubrowka is
no longer available with grass in the United States, as some
believed the grass contained a toxic compound, but you can
still get it sans flora.) New flavors of vodka come out seemingly
every day. The following is a list of some of the most popular
flavored vodkas:

✓ 4 Orange Premium Vodka is the world’s first and

only super-premium vodka distilled from pure Florida
oranges.
✓ Absolut offers these flavors: Apeach, Berri Açaí, Citron,
Kurant, Mandrin, Mango, Pears, Peppar, Raspberri, Ruby
Red, and Vanilia.
✓ Bakon Vodka is a bacon-flavored vodka made from
potatoes and the essence of bacon.
✓ EFFEN Black Cherry combines natural black cherry and
vanilla flavors.
✓ Finlandia offers Cranberry, Lime, and Tangerine.
✓ Firefly offers Lemon Tea, Mint Tea, Peach Tea, Raspberry
Tea, and Sweet Tea Vodka.
✓ Gordon’s offers Citrus and Wildberry.
✓ Grey Goose offers Le Citron, L’Orange, and La Poire.
✓ Ketel One offers Citroen and Oranje.
✓ Seagram’s offers Peach Tea and Sweet Tea.
✓ SKYY offers Cherry, Citrus, Ginger, Grape, Passion Fruit,
Pineapple, and Raspberry flavors.

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✓ Smirnoff offers Black Cherry, Black Ice, Blueberry,

Cranberry, Green Apple, Raspberry, Strawberry, Vanilla,
and Watermelon.
✓ Sobieski offers Karamel, Cytron, Vanilia, Raspberry, and
Orange.
✓ Square One offers Cucumber and Botanical vodkas.
✓ Stoli offers Blakberi, Blue (a sweet vodka with a hint of
vanilla), Blueberi, Citros, Cranberi, Gala Applik, Ohranj,
Peachik, Razberi, Strasberi, and Vanil.
✓ Three Olives is offered in Berry, Cherry, Chocolate, Citrus,
Grape, Green Apple, Orange, Raspberry, and more.
✓ UV Vodka offers Apple, Blue, Citruv, Cherry, Lemonade,
Grape, Orange, and Vanilla.
✓ Vincent Van Gogh offers Acai-Blueberry, Banana, Black
Cherry, Double Espresso, Dutch Chocolate, Espresso,
Grape, Mango, Mojito Mint, Pineapple, Pomegranate,
and more.
✓ VOX Raspberry has the flavor of fresh raspberries.

Storing and Serving Vodka

Store at least one bottle in the freezer or refrigerator. It won’t
freeze because of the high alcohol content. Serve vodka neat
(aka straight up) in a small cordial glass, especially with caviar,
smoked fish, salmon, sardines, steak tartare, and spicy foods.

Vodka is one of the most mixable and versatile of spirits and

is used in hundreds of cocktail recipes. When an opened
bottle is refrigerated or stored in a cool, dry place, it should
last up to three years.

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