The Deep History: The Creation Story of Vodka
The creation story of vodka begins with one of its most important and well-known ingredients: alcohol. In order create alcohol, yeast, bacteria, or mold is needed in order utilize sugars, amongst other nutrients and oxygen, to create ethyl alcohol as a by-product. Therefore, the story of vodka begins with the first life on earth, bacteria. According to Professor Stephen Smith, the earliest known bacterial fossils are found 3.7 billion years ago (citation). It is from this biological tree that the formation of descendants through DNA and dRNA mutations occur, resulting in the biological life that we recognize today [9][10].
Evidence suggests that humans are believed to have first discovered the fermentation properties of organic material as early as the Neolithic period (9,000-3,000 years before common era) [4] . The ceramics found are thought to have held an early type of beer, making beer the oldest known surviving alcoholic beverage [4]. By 4,000 BCE, wine had been established in Egypt [4]. It is not until the 11th century that first production of vodka is recorded [3]. According to this documentation, known as the Vyatka Chronicle of 1174, the first distilling of vodka occurred at Khylnovsk, Russia [3].
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Known to its early makers as "hot wine", vodka spent its first 500 years of existence as a crude beverage, often containing impurities. To resolve this, berries, herbs and spices were used to flavor the vodka [3]. By the 14th century, vodka had become so popular in Russia that the British had classified vodka as the national drink of Russia [3]. A century later, two major changes occurred that would forever change the economic landscape of the beverage known as "hot wine". Russia began its first pot distillation in 1450 and sold its first exports to Sweden in 1505, beginning a market that is internationally recognized today [3].
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By 1716, owning distilleries in Russia became a privilege only accessible to those of nobility [3]. The process of distillation was often complex, time consuming, and expensive, making exportation of the product difficult [3]. The relatively standardized process at the time included distilling the alcohol twice to remove impurities, adding milk, distilling again, adding more milk or water to bring it to a desired strength and flavor, and distilling it again for a fourth time.
The result of the Napoleonic Wars of the 19th century resulted in vodka's first major appearance at a continental level [3]. News of the beverage surfaced and its demand rose at incredible rates. As a result the Russian market looked to provide the most inexpensive, poor quality vodka at premium prices, resulting in potato mash distilling [3]. In 1894, the Russian government wrote legislation declaring vodka to be a state-run monopoly, forcing businesses to hand over their distilleries to the government [7]. In doing this, the Russian government looked to create capital gains and cut back on the mass-production of vodka, which had left the country in a state of drunken disarray.
Although the name "vodka" was used for almost nine centuries, the name "vodka" and standardization of its creation and distillation didn't occur until the end of the 19th century [3]. As stated earlier, it was at this point that the government took over distilleries, forcing Russians to leave their homeland in order to continue to use their recipes to create vodka. One such family that left Russia was the Smirnoff family. In 1934, the Smirnoff family moved to the United States to continue to make vodka. This company was responsible for the manufacturing and sale of 26.1 million 9 liter cases worldwide in 2013. [11]
Sources Used: [3] [4] [7] [9] [10]