Vodka is said to have been developed in the northern European region. The 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, which means water in Russian.

The distilling techniques 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 by that time was used to improve the aroma and the flavor of vodka. In the 18th century, it was 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 to which the Russians have been introduced, including vodka made out of wheat and potatoes, rye was considered to produce the finest taste.

In the eighth 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. This continued 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 percent tax was extracted.

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

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.

The U.S. Government definition of vodka reads as follows:

Sec. 5.22 The standards of identity.

Standards of identity for the several classes and types of distilled spirits set forth in this section shall be as follows (see also Sec. 5.35, class and type):

(a) Class 1: neutral spirits or alcohol. “Neutral spirits” or “alcohol” are distilled spirits produced from any material at or above 190[deg] proof, and, if bottled, bottled at not less than 80[deg] proof.

(1) “Vodka” is neutral spirits so distilled, or so treated after distillation with charcoal or other materials, as to be without distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color.

Made from any ingredient
Distilled at / above 190 degrees
Bottled at not less than 80 proof
Standards for making vodka vary in other parts of the world. For example, molasses are used in some countries.

From this basic definition, innovative and creative marketers have come up with all sorts of ways to try and differentiate their vodka, ranging from filtration through diamonds to placing a scorpion in the bottle. Some marketers don’t actually make any vodka, preferring just to buy on the open market and contract the bottling out.

While many folks believe all vodkas are alike, they are not, and it really does pay to get to know your vodka maker and its story.

In our humble opinion, what really makes the difference between vodkas lies in the quality and type of the raw materials used, the distillation technique and the quality of the bottling. For a more detailed story on one process we use, visit the Rain vodka section of this site.