Vodka Flashcards
Where is vodka from?
You can find vodka made anywhere and made from virtually anything. Russia and Poland were the most renowned and historically important early producers of vodka in large volumes. Russian and Polish filtration techniques, adopted in the late 1800s and early 1900s, has a great influence on the world’s other vodka producers, even if not practiced as rigorously in most other countries.
What is vodka?
Vodka is a spirit that has generally been distilled to higher than 95 percent alcohol by volume and then filtered.
What is flavored vodka?
Flavored vodkas are neutral spirits that have been flavored, usually through the addition of flavor extracts purchased from a synthetic flavor and aroma manufacturer. Few producers use the real ingredients pictured on the label to gain their flavors and aromas because it is more challenging to produce a quality flavored vodka from natural ingredients than by procuring a vial of concentrated flavor. Natural ingredients are more expensive.
What is vodka made out of?
There are no limits on the raw materials that can be utilized to make vodka. Most people use common grains, like corn, rye and wheat, as well as vegetables and fruits, including potatoes, grapes and sugar beets, to distil to a very high proof (often 195-proof) and then cut the distillate with distilled water to 80-proof, or 40 percent alcohol by volume. Lately, higher proof vodkas are emerging in some markets. Their greater weight and intensity offers a talented bartender a chance to create more textured cocktails while retaining the sleek, congener-light character that was vodka’s original reason to exist.
What is used to filter vodka?
Gunnysacks, diamonds, silver, quartz, sand, paper, tightly woven cloth and, of course, charcoal (maple, birch) filters are often utilized to filter the distillate in an attempt to mellow or shape it, or for some merely an attempt to offer the marketing group more talking points in a sales meeting. Bear this in mind: the more distillations and filtrations, the more the characteristics of the base materials are stripped away.
Where does the term “vodka” originate?
Vodka, the word, appears to be a Russian diminutive of a Polish phrase, woda zycia, which means “water of life”
Fun Fact: Water of Life
The term “water of life” appears over and over again in the history of spirits: Eau de Vie (in French), Akvavit (in Danish), aqua vitae (in Latin) and even in the word “whiskey,” which derives from a Celtic term, uisce beatha. That “uisce” word was eventually slurred by English-speakers into the word “whiskey,” but remains an echo of the earlier “water of life”
What made vodka popular in the US? What decade?
Vodka began seeping into the global mainstream first through Bohemian circles in Paris, London and New York, among which it had been growing in popularity since the turn of the twentieth century. In the 1940s, however, the exotic eastern European firewater captured the imagination of the Hollywood set and the rest is history. The stars had vodka parties, the Jet Set attended, and vodka became chic.
What was first major vodka campaign in the US?
In the mid-1950s, John Martin of Heublein, a major beverage supplier/distiller based in Connecticut, pushed vodka forward in the U. S. with Smirnoff Vodka, which was originally Russian. One of the most successful campaigns for their brand was, “Smirnoff…it will leave you breathless.” In the era of the three-martini lunch, this was a good thing if you planned to go back to work that afternoon.
Tasting vodka:
Clean or _____?
Dry or _____ _____?
_____ or aggressive?
Gentle or _____?
_____, _____, or _____?
Rich or _____?
Soft, _____, or _____?
- Clean or dirty
- Dry or slightly sweet
- Smooth or aggressive
- Gentle or powerful
- Oily, grainy or soapy
- Rich or thin
- Soft, sharp or burning
It should taste like its ingredients, and that means it may smell and taste of bread dough (yeast, grain, nuttiness). It may taste even of minerals or of earthiness.
Brand: Tito’s
light bodied, slight breadiness, alcohol
Brand: Absolut
light-bodied, clean, neutral
Brand: Ciroc
clean, slight yeastiness, sweet on the palate
Brand: Belvedere
vanilla, cream, full flavor
Brand: Luksusuwa
clear, grassy, vanilla, full flavor
