Vodka & Flavouring and colouring spirits

Question 1

Which raw material is used in the vodka production?

Answer 1

Mostly rye, malted barley, barley and wheat.
But you can use anything eatible, like grapes.

Question 2

What do they use in Poland in the vodka production? And how?

Answer 2

Potatoes
They’re boiled to unroll the starch until fully cooked, then adding bought-in enzymes to convert the starch in the water into suger

Question 3

How do you distill to get vodka?

Answer 3

In a column still, to 95 - USA or 96 - EU abv, to get a neutral spirit.

Question 4

Why do you sometimes filter the spirit through charcoal filtration?

Answer 4

finkelolja? om någon vet skriv gärna:)

Question 5

What’s the definition of a neutral vodka?

Answer 5

lightest flavour possible
smooth, light and dry

Question 6

What’s the common characteristics for a characterful vodka?

Answer 6

mouthfilling texture, smooth and light flavours

Question 7

If adding flavour to a spirit, you can choose between two different methods, which ones?

Answer 7

Natural flavouring: botanicals
Others: artificial flavours, man-made flavours

Question 8

Why is it not to prefer to take a bought-in neutral spirit and dilute it to get vodka?

Answer 8

Cause it will give you a slightly rough texture

Question 9

At what abv are most vodkas sold?

Answer 9

at 40% abv

Question 10

What does tincture means?

Answer 10

A spirit that has been flavoured using maceration is sometimes refferd to as a tincture

Question 11

How do you macerate botanicals in spirit?

Answer 11

the botanicals are placed in the chosen alcohol.
Then the distiller use time and temperature to get the wished result.

Question 12

What’s the difference between short and long macerations? In the vodka industri.

Answer 12

Short can last for a few hours, while long can last for several months.
longer maceration extracts more than short ones.

Question 13

What’s important to keep in mind when choosing between maceration or re-distillation?

Answer 13

Unlike distillation, maceration cannot be used to isolate particular aromas and therefore maceration can only be used to extract a fuller range of flavours from the botanicals.

Question 14

There are 4 different ways to re-distillate a spirit with botanical, which ones, and how do they work?

Answer 14

1. most common: botanicals and the diluted neutral spirit are places in a pot still. The most volatil aromas are to concentrate first, the distiller can then choose where to cut the heart to get what he wants.
2. the distiller allows the botanicals to macerate for a short period of time in the spirit before starting the process, to get a richer, fuller style of spirit.
3. using a botanical basket, even called vapour infusion. Which is when you place the botanicals in a vessel that is located on the lyne arm, it flavours the spirit as they go. Makes a lighter style of spirit.
4. Using vaccum, which allows the distiller to work in low temperaturs. It will protect the flavours from being damaged due to higher temperaturs.

Question 15

What is cold compounding?

Answer 15

It’s when the distiller blend the artificial flavours into the base spirit to create the final beverage.

Question 16

What do distillers use for colouring?

Answer 16

either natural plant extracts or artificial colours.

Question 17

Which colouring method is mostly used and why?

Answer 17

Mostly used is the artificial colours since they give the distiller an more even and reliable result.