International Vodka Day 2022: The Bottle Club reveals top 7 vodkas to sip- including Ciroc, Crystal Head, Elf
If you want to skip straight to the actual gallery of vodkas, fair enough - we would. However, if you’ve even been curious, here’s a potted history of the spirit.
Vodka is a Russian word, derived from ‘voda’ - their word for water. It’s a distilled spirit, made from water and ethanol. It’s manufactured by fermenting, distilling, then filtering almost anything that can be transformed into. While traditionally, vodka was made using rye, these days there are plenty of alternative base materials that undergo the alcoholic alchemy.
That means grain, potatoes, fruits, roots, sugar - if it can be fermented, it can be used to make vodka. Once fermented, the solids are strained off, then the remaining liquid is distilled - initially to 90% - to eradicate undesired smells and tastes. The more times you distill the liquid, the ‘cleaner’ or more ‘pure’ it is. Finally, the spirit is diluted to make it both more palatable and less lethal - then filtered again for balance and taste.
While straight vodka is in essence tasteless and odorless, it tend to have distinct textures in terms of mouthfeel. It’s flexibility is it’s selling point - you can add flavours to it ahead of bottling, or for standard vodka, you can choose to serve it neat, on the rocks, or mixed into a delectable cocktail.