Brief Guide to Vodka

When James Bond wants a dry martini - 'shaken, not stirred' - he's talking about a vodka martini: four parts vodka and a half-part dry martini (dry vermouth). Like James Bond, in the UK and the USA, we tend to think of vodka as an alcohol to mix with other ingredients to make a cocktail. But that's not the way in its homelands, Russia and Poland - in both of which vodka is cited reverentially as the 'national drink' - and in many other east European and Scandinavian countries.

Vodka is a strong spirit, typically with 40% alcohol by volume (70° proof) - i.e. the same strength as whisky and gin. It is usually distilled from grain: rye or wheat make the best vodka, but it can also be made from barley, corn, sorghum and rice. Some respectable vodka is also made of potatoes. In fact, vodka can be made from any material which is rich in starch or sugar, and is sometimes made from fruit, or molasses, or just sugar. (There is a campaign within the industry, however, to restrict the name 'vodka' to spirits distilled from grain or potatoes.) The strength of vodka can be ratcheted up to as much as 70% alcohol by volume (ABV) in bottled commercial vodka, and even to 95% ABV to make 'pure spirit', or 'rectified spirit', which is mixed with water as an ingredient for home-concocted flavoured vodka (see below).

What sets vodka apart is its purity. A process of repeated distillation and filtration, usually over charcoal, removes most of the impurities. In other drinks, such as whisky and rum, the impurities (called congeners, or congenerics) provide the distinctive flavour. Pure vodka has virtually no flavour, and consequently virtually no smell - which is why people believe (mistakenly) that by drinking vodka their breath will not betray them.

Many international brands of vodka produce a pure, colourless liquid, designed for mixing in cocktails. But in Russia, Poland, eastern Europe and Scandinavia, vodka is traditionally flavoured with fruit, herbs and spices is drunk neat, in small glasses. These flavoured vodkas can be dry and fiery, or sweet and liqueur-like, and anything in between. A vast range of flavourings is used: lemons, limes, plums, morello cherries, rowan berries, cranberries, mangoes, green walnuts, red peppers, honey, vanilla, chocolate, cinnamon, juniper, angelica, mint, black pepper, to name but a few. Polish distillers produce a celebrated potato vodka called Zubrówka, which is flavoured with the essence of a sweet herb called bison grass, and has a blade of bison grass in the bottle. And one vodka from Gdansk, called Goldwasser, even has 22-carat gold flakes floating in it. Many such flavoured vodkas are produced commercially; many more are mixed, bottled and aged at home, according to precious family recipes handed down through the generations. There's a recipe for one of these - for Krupnik, or honey vodka - at the end of this article.

Because well-made vodka is very pure, a mixture of ethanol (alcohol) and water and little else, it has the reputation of being less harmful than almost any other comparable strong spirit. In other words, it is less likely to cause you a hangover. Tests, as well as anecdotal evidence, have shown that on the hangover-ometer, vodka is on the far left, with gin, white wine, whisky, rum and (cheap) red wine all lined up to the right of it, in increasing order of perniciousness. It is the congeners (impurities) that are the prime suspects for causing hangovers, and the absence of congeners that gives vodka its virtue. Needless to say, none of this applies if vodka is not drunk in moderation. Vodka also has a terrible reputation, especially where it is drunk to excess. In Russia, where half a litre is drunk per week per head of population, it is blamed for high rates of alcoholism, and as a contributing factor to low fertility and a declining birthrate, and a relatively low national life-expectancy. Also, cheap or home-distilled, bootleg or 'bathtub' vodka - widely available in the big-vodka-drinking countries - can have dire side effects, because of the presence of additives, or impurities that would normally be removed by repeated distillation and filtration, such as methanol. In a notorious case in Estonia in 2001, 58 people died of methanol poisoning from illicit vodka.

Both Russia and Poland claim to be the original source of vodka. The earliest suggestions of vodka distillation date back to the 8th or 9th century, but it does not really appear on the records until the 11th century. During the Middle Ages, it was mainly used medicinally, and sold by apothecaries. This accounts for one theory for the origin of the word 'vodka', a diminutive of the Russian or Polish words for water, and derived from 'water of life'. (The same connection applies to the origin of the word whisky, from Gaelic uisga beatha (water of life); Italian aquavite; and the French eau de vie.) By the 16th century, vodka had become a popular drink in Russia and Poland and had spread to Scandinavia; it came to western Europe with the military in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. An epidemic of alcoholism in Russia persuaded the authorities to turn vodka production into a state monopoly in 1894, and it remained so after the Russian Revolution of 1917. At that time, a number of vodka manufacturers fled Russia, and set up distilleries abroad - like Vladimir Smirnoff, in Istanbul and Paris. The Smirnoff company transferred to the USA in 1934. However, vodka was not widely drunk in western Europe and the USA until the 1960s and 1970s, when the fashion for cocktails re-emerged: flavourless vodka proved the perfect alcohol for the purpose. Now vodka is produced in just about every country in the world.

You certainly can. Because of its high alcohol content, vodka has a lower freezing point than domestic freezers, so will remain liquid. So, if you like your vodka super-cold - neat or mixed - you can just pour it straight from the freezer.

• Vodkatini. This is another name for the dry martini, distinguishing it from a dry martini made with gin. 4 parts vodka, one-half part dry martini. No ice: chill by shaking or stirring; garnish with a green olive.
• Bloody Mary. The famous pick-me-up and appetiser. 2 parts vodka, 3 parts tomato juice, one-half part lemon juice, a seasoning (to taste) of black pepper, salt (or celery salt), Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco.
• Bloody Caesar. A variant of the Bloody Mary, substituting the tomato juice with Clamato (clam broth and tomato juice).
• Bull Shot. Like the Bloody Mary, but using beef consommé or beef stock instead of the tomato juice.
• White Russian. 2 parts vodka, 1 part Kahlúa (Mexican coffee liqueur), 1 part single cream, with plenty of ice.
• Black Russian. A White Russian without the cream.
• Screwdriver (Vodka and Orange). 2 parts vodka, 5 parts orange juice, orange slice, ice.
• Harvey Wallbanger. 1 part vodka, 3 parts orange juice, 1 part Galliano (yellow Italian vanilla-based liqueur), ice.
• Moscow mule. 2 parts vodka, 4 parts ginger beer (or ginger ale), 1 part lime juice, ice.
• Vodka and Cranberry. 1 part vodka, 5 parts cranberry juice, ice.

½ vanilla pod
6 cloves
5 juniper berries
½ stick of cinnamon
5 allspice berries
½ nutmeg
1½ litres water
½ litre honey
½ litre pure spirit (95% ABV) vodka (available from Polish delicatessens)

Mix the spices and honey with the water, and bring to the boil. Allow to cool, then repeat the process (to allow the flavours to infuse). When cold, strain the liquid, add the vodka, then bottle. When sediment has formed after a few days, decant the liquid to remove the sediment, and rebottle. Keep the mixture for as long as possible before drinking: a year is good, longer is better.

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