From its humble medieval origins as a medicinal agent, vodka has conquered the world. In 2020, the worldwide sales of vodka earned around $45 billion, and U.S. customers alone guzzled 189.7 million gallons (862.4 million liters) of the potent alcoholic beverage, based on Beverage Dynamics, a nationwide journal centered on retail alcohol gross sales.
However what’s vodka made out of?
To provide vodka, it’s essential to first ferment any foodstuff that incorporates sugar or starch, then distill the product to extend its alcohol content material. (Fermentation means feeding sugar to yeast, in order that the yeast can produce alcohol.) Vodka can made out of fermented grains equivalent to sorghum, corn, rice, rye or wheat, tor from potatoes, sugar beet molasses and even fruit, based on “Vodka: A Global History,” (Reaktion Books, 2012).
The fermentation step creates a product with solely about 16% alcohol by quantity (ABV) — too low for spirits. Upping that quantity requires distillation, or heating in a container often called a nonetheless. Alcohol’s boiling temperature is decrease than that of water, which implies the alcohol evaporates and could be collected individually from the water. Most vodka is 30% to 40% ABV. “Rectified spirits,” just like the American model Everclear, attain 95% ABV.
Associated: Why is fermentation used to preserve things?
The primary data of a distilled vodka-like spirit come from Islamic alchemist and chemist Jabir ibn Hayyan, who invented a distilling gadget to seize the vapor from heated wine for scientific functions, based on “Vodka: How a Colorless, Odorless, Flavorless Spirit Conquered America,” (Lyons Press, 2014). Vodka reached Russia by the 1430s century, when a monk named Isidore tailored the Italian drink aqua vitae, based on the guide. This primary vodka doubtless smelled dangerous, tasted even worse, and was used primarily for medicinal functions.
Over the course of some centuries, distillers bought higher at their apply, the flavour improved, and “voda” ultimately grew to become the popular beverage of the Russian empire, based on the guide.
Vodka’s reputation unfold with Russian Troopers, gaining a foothold throughout Europe through the Napoleonic Wars. Within the 1860s, former serf Pyotr Smirnov perfected the distillation course of and commenced promoting one thing that resembled the odorless, clear beverage acquainted at the moment. Following the civil warfare that established the Soviet Union, Smirnov’s son Vladimir moved the distillery to Paris and used a French spelling of his title: Smirnoff, based on the guide.
Initially printed on Dwell Science.
