From its humble beginnings on the farms of Russia, vodka is now among the world's most popular spirits. While the Poles and the Russians still wrangle over who created vodka, it was the Russians who formulated a standard for it.
The history of vodka is very hazy. It's thought to date from anything from the 9th to the 12th centuries. At this time, the discovery of distillation allowed the creation of strong spirits for medicinal purposes. Later it was used for religious and recreational purposes. Spirits were popular because wines and beers would freeze easily in the chill climate.
Later distilling licences were restricted to the aristocracy which resulted in a lot of moonshine stills. This home-style vodka produced on estates was flavoured with everything from acorns to horseradish to mint, spices and fruits.
Vodka was standardised in 1894 on the order of Alexander III. The Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev had ascertained the optimum alcohol content to be 38 degrees. The figure was rounded up to 40 to facilitate tax calculation which was based on alcohol content. So to this day, classic Russian, Lithuanian and Polish vodkas are all 40% (80 proof).
The big day for vodka in the USA was 1934, the place Connecticut. That's when immigrant Rudolph Kunett began distilling vodka using the licensed formula of a Russian family named Smirnoff.
Until the 1950s, vodka was not really popular outside of Europe. Yet within 20 years vodka sales in the US had overtaken those of bourbon. A number of factors contributed to its surge in popularity. Firstly, its odourless quality that left no trace of consumption on the breath proved very desirable for many, especially women. Also, vodka's neutral flavour made it the perfect cocktail base, and it began to replace gin in such American staples as the Martini.
The history of vodka is very hazy. It's thought to date from anything from the 9th to the 12th centuries. At this time, the discovery of distillation allowed the creation of strong spirits for medicinal purposes. Later it was used for religious and recreational purposes. Spirits were popular because wines and beers would freeze easily in the chill climate.
Later distilling licences were restricted to the aristocracy which resulted in a lot of moonshine stills. This home-style vodka produced on estates was flavoured with everything from acorns to horseradish to mint, spices and fruits.
Vodka was standardised in 1894 on the order of Alexander III. The Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev had ascertained the optimum alcohol content to be 38 degrees. The figure was rounded up to 40 to facilitate tax calculation which was based on alcohol content. So to this day, classic Russian, Lithuanian and Polish vodkas are all 40% (80 proof).
The big day for vodka in the USA was 1934, the place Connecticut. That's when immigrant Rudolph Kunett began distilling vodka using the licensed formula of a Russian family named Smirnoff.
Until the 1950s, vodka was not really popular outside of Europe. Yet within 20 years vodka sales in the US had overtaken those of bourbon. A number of factors contributed to its surge in popularity. Firstly, its odourless quality that left no trace of consumption on the breath proved very desirable for many, especially women. Also, vodka's neutral flavour made it the perfect cocktail base, and it began to replace gin in such American staples as the Martini.