Vodka, either spelled with the V or the W depending on where the spirit comes from, is a clear, colourless liquid with an ABV that varies from 35% until as high as 70%, although on average most vodkas will have an ABV around 40%. 

The word vodka originates from the Russian word for water: voda. Sources claim that it has been around since the 8th century and it has played a major role in history for many eastern european countries. Did you know that the Russian “Peter the Great” introduced a tradition called the penalty shot? This meant that whoever turned up late for a function, was required to drink a “penalty shot”:  a large glass of vodka in one go. Yikes. 

Some of the most common raw materials for vodka are grains such as rye, corn or wheat, but you can also use rice, potatoes, quinoa, apples, grapes, sugar beets.

Basically vodka can be produced from any source with a high enough concentration of sugars. These sugars are necessary to convert into alcohol during the fermentation process. If you are not familiar with fermentation, we invite you to watch our previous video about this subject. 

After fermentation, the liquid goes through a column still. We have videos on both fermentation and column still distillation to explain these processes in more detail.

After distillation, you are left with a “neutral spirit” of around 95% ABV - alcohol by volume.

Far from all vodka producers produce their own neutral spirits. Many distillers and brands opt to purchase their neutral spirit from bigger producers, and then rectify it in their own facilities. Rectifying is the process of correcting unwanted odours of flavours in the neutral spirit by a second distillation. Some brands choose to finish their neutral spirit with a pot still distillation, which can also impact the flavour. 

Water is then added to bring the ABV down to a drinkable level. Different vodka brands will opt for different types of water. This can be water from a specific well or mountain creek for example.

The next step is filtration to remove any remaining unwanted particles.

There are multiple ways to filter your spirit. In the old days spirit was just left alone and small particles would sink to the bottom. Sometimes egg white would be used. This egg white would solidify around the particles, making them sink to the bottom. Another option is to seep the liquid through a filter, which can be made from charcoal, fine rocks, sand, cloth or even diamonds. Many different options, which all lead to the same result, even though flashy marketing teams would like you to believe otherwise.

That’s it right, the vodka is done?

Not always. In a lot of vodkas, a trace amount of sweetener is added to take the edge off. This could be honey, sugar or glycerine. Glycerine does not only make the vodka sweeter, it also slightly affects the viscosity and the mouthfeel. In addition to this, some vodkas also use a trace amount of citric acid. This natural acid that is found in limes, lemons and other citrus fruit helps to give a fresh taste to vodka and also preserves it. 

In recent years a big trend in other countries such as the USA have been the consumption of vodka-based seltzers: ready to drink mixers with a low abv and often, but definitely not always low amounts of sugar and carbs, varying in classic flavours such lime and cherry all the way to out-there flavours such as pickle and poptart. To each their own.