The History of Vodka

Vodka is said to be developed in the Northern European region. Polish claim it was their discovery. The Russians will tell you it was theirs. Despite the speculation, we will try to summarize it in a couple of paragraphs, using its background in the three countries that played the biggest role in its development - Russia, Poland, and Sweden.

Vodka came to be a huge part of the Russian culture, as it was being distilled even before the word vodka came into general use. Although it has been described by many other names, the word vodka is a diminutive of the word voda; in Russia, meaning water. 

The distilling techniques had significantly emerged in Russia from the 12th century, when they had to redistill the vodka mix to get rid of the fused oils that were used, to the 15th century, when distilling techniques were learned from foreigners, as honey now was used to improve the aroma and the flavor of vodka. In the 18th century, it was later discovered that charcoal was a great method to filtrate the mix, to get rid of the unnecessary by-products, even though the spirit had to be diluted before it was filtered. 

Distilling techniques and strategies further improved with the introduction of different herbs and spices. In spite of the multiple vodka varieties that the Russians have been introduced to, including vodka made out of wheat and potatoes, rye was considered to produce the finest taste. 

Over the years, Russia experienced problems with vodka, namely moral issues, as drunkenness became an issue. In 1917, vodka was banned from the markets and, until 1936, beverages over 20% of alcohol content could not be sold. Since the culture's attitude resembled a degree of depression, the ban on vodka was removed. Drunkenness, again, became an issue with the Russian culture. Consequently, Gorbachev tried to take control of this fact, increasing prices and imposing various policies, but that only forced the Russians to take the operation underground, creating an alcoholic mix called samogon, meaning self-brew.

Currently, vodka is mainly distilled in Moscow under various companies like IDV, the owners of Smirnoff, and still serves as a comforter for Russians from some of the horrors of daily life. 

In the 8th century, strong alcohol was discovered in Poland, when wine was left over during the winter to freeze; however, the solution produced was used for medicinal purposes, as opposed to drinking. It was used for these purposes up until the 15th century, when gorzalka, or burnt wine, was produced, as a result of the knowledge of distilling spirit from wine spreading to Poland. Moreover, Polish historians claim that vodka was first produced in 1405 and is said to have reached Russia from Poland.

By the first half of the 16th century, King Jan Obracht of Poland allowed the production and sales of alcohol. Later, in 1572 he limited the production and sales of alcohol to the gentry, from which a 10% tax was extracted. 

It was not until the 17th century, that vodka was established as a national drink. In this period of time, Polish also started exporting their production to Northern European countries like Russia. By the 18th century, their techniques had consequently advanced, resulting in such practices as triple distillation.

Currently, Polmos, the largest vodka distiller in Poland, encompasses 25 independent distilleries and holds the domestic market rights with a "no fee" license to produce the classic vodka brands.

Sweden did not play as huge a role as Russia and Poland have in the vodka movement, partly because of the strong temperance movement that took place before the 19th century. However, It is interesting to note that Sweden, like Poland, also used vodka for medicinal benefits, at first. 

By the 16th century, vodka was officially sold as a liquor beverage. There were multiple attempts to ban its production for health reasons, judging from the condition of the Swedish culture, but it was decided that its resulting revenue was far more significant than the culture's health.

These temperance movements reappeared throughout the Swedish history, but evidently, did not affect the success of the company Vin & Spirit, known for their Absolut brand vodka. 

Source: Classic Vodka by Nicholas Faith & Ian Wisniewski: London, Prion Books: 1997.
Source used with permission from the publisher.