Russian Vodka

• There cannot be not enough snacks, there can only be not enough vodka.
  - Russian saying


• There can be no silly jokes, there can only be not enough vodka.
  - Russian saying


• There can be no ugly women, there can only be not enough vodka.
  - Russian saying


• There cannot be too much vodka, there can only be not enough vodka.
  - Russian saying

There is no doubt that most people today think of Russia when they think of
vodka. There is an anthropological, emotional and almost mythological
association of these two nouns. But, despite such successful brand awareness,
did the Russians actually invent vodka1? And how did vodka come to be such an
integral part of the Russian consciousness... or unconsciousness?

How to Drink Russian Vodka

The romance and ritual surrounding the imbibing of Russian vodka is part of
the mysterious attraction of this drink. A traditional Russian drinking bout is
generally preceded by toasts, during which it is considered rude not to drain
your glass 'bottoms up' as a sign of respect to whomever is being toasted.

The practice of drinking vodka with mixers and ice is a wholly Western one. This
is due to the popularity of cocktails in the 1920s, when vodka was introduced to
the American public by Russian immigrant Vladimir Smirnoff. Russian vodka should
in fact be served neat, and very cold - preferably straight from the freezer.
The exception to this is when vodka is mixed with beer, a popular Russian
combination for those intent on getting absolutely mashed.

Russians love vodka for the same reason that the French love wine: it is a
social drink that goes extremely well with food. A typical Russian meal is very
structured, and vodka plays an important role. Russian starters, or zakusky,
include pickles, salted fish and other such savoury bites designed to accompany
the first shots of vodka. As one proceeds through the rest of the meal, the food
helps to neutralize a large proportion of the alcohol, allowing one to push on
through till dawn if necessary.

The Life of the Spirit

Vodka is a clear spirit, usually distilled from grain. The best vodka is
distilled from wheat, rye and barley malt, but the cheaper ingredients, maize
and potatoes, are commonly employed. The grain mash is fermented, distilled to a
high proof2, then filtered through charcoal and diluted with water.

Distillation is a method of separating a liquid into its components by utilising
the difference in boiling point of each component. The distillation of wine into
a spiritus vini (spirit of wine) began with the Alchemists. They had all the
right equipment, after all. Back in the 13th Century, when a truly liberal
education allowed you to be chemist, medic, philosopher and mystic all at the
same time, such scientific experimentation with the substance which would come
to be known as alcohol was undertaken in the interests of Hermetic medicine3.


Perhaps because they were so keen to discover it, medieval alchemists speedily
identified this distillation as aqua vitae or the 'water of life'. In fact, 13th
Century alchemist Arnaud de Villeneuve of Montpellier enthusiastically wrote
that this substance 'strengthens the body and lengthens life'.

By the end of the 14th Century, distilled alcohol was well known around Europe
as a medicine - an efficient antiseptic, a reliable anaesthetic (gradually
replacing the low-tech mallet) and a lifespan enhancer. Always alive to
commercial opportunities, the monasteries were soon producing the stuff and
selling it through pharmacies for a high price.

To Russia With Love

It is thought that aqua vitae was first brought to Russia by Genoese
merchants, who swung by Moscow on their way to Lithuania in the late 14th
Century4, and presented vessels of aqua vitae as a gift to Prince Dmitri
Ivanovich. He was later canonised, not - as you might think - for being the
first Russian to sup the forerunner of vodka, but for being the first Russian
ruler to defeat the Tartars5.

The Russians didn't have many grapes, but what they did have a lot of was grain.
Distilled grain wine was easy to produce and could therefore be sold at low
prices, competing with popular drinks such as beer and mead. Like her Catholic
cousins, the Russian Orthodox Church moved eagerly into the business6.

Although initially consumed as medicine, vodka (a diminutive of voda, the
Russian word for 'water') had grown in popularity so much that by the end of the
15th Century, Grand Duke Ivan III, Tsar of all the Russians, imposed a state
monopoly on the production and sale of vodka, as well as other alcoholic drinks,
thus considerably swelling the state's coffers7.

A Growth Industry

By the 17th Century, vodka was established in Russia as a ceremonial drink,
both at court and in the church, presumably owing to its reputation for being
good for one's health. The Russian authorities were by this time granting
concessions for vodka distillation to the nobility and rich merchants, who
exported all over Europe. These noble families and merchants consequently became
even wealthier. This also led to a certain standardisation of what constituted
quality vodka.

It became fashionable for aristocratic distillers to add to their vodka as many
different types of herbs, berries, roots and other fruits of the forest as they
could think of. Trendy gimmicks for a noble feast might include a selection of
vodkas whose flavours started with every letter of the Russian alphabet.

But while the state-sanctioned production of vodka was being carried out by
those who could afford it, the illegal distilling of samogon, home-made vodka,
was booming in the country towns and villages. By the 19th Century, vodka could
be distilled from potatoes, an even cheaper alternative to grain. It was also
increasing in strength, from the 40 proof of the 16th and 17th Centuries, to the
modern strength of 80 or 100 proof by the 1930s.

The Appliance of Science

In the late 19th Century, a certain chemist named Dmitri Mendeleev spent a
year and a half searching for the ideal volume and weight ratio of alcohol and
water. He solved the problem, and published his findings in his doctoral
dissertation, On Combining Alcohol and Water. From this was established the
national standard for vodka production8. For all Mendeleev's hard work and
dedication to the pursuit of the ideal alcoholic beverage, a nation is eternally
grateful. Oh yes, and for the Periodic Law as well9.

Political Ideologies...

As Seen Through a Bottle of Vodka

It is interesting to note that, as with many other aspects of Russian life,
vodka policy tends to reflect the political and ideological affiliations of the
man in charge.

During the First World War, there was a prohibition on alcohol, to keep the
troops sober enough to fight. After 1917, Lenin extended the wartime prohibition
on ideological grounds. He claimed that Tsarist Russia had been attempting to
subdue the population by ensuring that it was too drunk to argue, and that
alcohol abuse was holding the Russian people back from attaining a true
Communist society.

Stalin, by contrast, did all he could to expand the production of vodka and
increase its strength, perhaps for the same reasons as above. Vodka was even
issued to Russian Second World War troops as part of their standard rations.

Gorbachev, who hardly ever drank spirits, considered heavy drinking (growing by
epidemic proportions in the Soviet Union of the 1980s) as a sign of personal
weakness and lack of moral rectitude. In 1985, he instituted an anti-alcohol
campaign. Unfortunately, this was so unpopular with the public, not to mention
damaging to the state's treasury, that it had to be ignominiously abandoned.
(The infamous campaign later proved to have had a moderate amount of success in
tackling Russia's extreme alcohol problem.)

Yeltsin's market reforms in the early 1990s were just as unsuccessful at prising
Russians from their vodka. Yeltsin's decree On the Abolition of the State
Monopoly on Vodka caused the country to be flooded with low quality, and often
hazardous products. The mortality rate rose, and so did the budget deficit.
Yeltsin tried again to re-establish state control over alcohol, but was opposed
by regional politicians and other vested interests.

Putin's hand was firmer. Just over a month after becoming president (May 2000),
Putin succeeded in establishing a state holding company for all Russian
producers of alcohol, thus transferring control from the regions to the centre.

However, this state of affairs might not be allowed to continue, as one of the
conditions of Russia's accession to the World Trade Organisation is the
revocation of the state monopoly for vodka. The political battle continues.