by Patrick Boniface

Created on: May 09, 2009

Quality vodka will, according to Russian folklore, leave you breathless and probably a little wobbly of foot as well. Vodka has, however, always suffered from a reputation of 'fireworks without flavor', something that distillers are working hard to discredit.

The effects of vodka are all too apparant, but ninety percent of drinkers dilute the crystal clear distillation with fruit juices, lemonades and colas to add some flavor. So why not buy the cheapest variety and be done with it?

Like wine and beer, you get what you pay for. Vodka comes in many varieties and qualities and the process of disillation is an expensive and complicated one to make a vodka that should be without distinctive character, aroma or taste. Furthermore, no two distillers can make the exact same taste, tiny subtle differences between regions, counties, water, grain and yeast all add to the complexities of taste.Contrary to popular opinion - vodka is not the preserve of Russia, although they do make a large proportion of the world's vodka production and drink most of it domestically. Vodka is distilled the world over and the methods of manufacture are just as varied. In Russia it's made from potato mash, whilst in America vodka is made from the finest corn, rye or wheat grains.

The pure neutral grain spirits are taken from the stills at 190 percent proof or higher. (The proof percentage number is the percentage of alcohol content, doubled). The process is extremely similar to making gin - but whereas Gin is flavored with juniper berries vodka is made to be flavorless as possible. There are two ways to achieve a colorless and flavorless drink. The first is to take only the smoothest, purist fraction f the spirits with the rest, quite wastefully being rejected. The second approach sees the liqour being sent through charcoal to remove any remaining impurities. The result is a satiny liquid that boasts a firework like finish on the palate. Yet even here some flavors persist; the different kinds of woods used to make the charcoal lend their own distinctiveness to the vodka. Most distillers use hickory, oak or cherry wood for the charcoal.

For all the effort to produce a flavorless liquor, it must be heartbreaking for some distillers to see flavors added such as lemon, orange, lime, mint and grape. Others sensing a sales opportunity exploit the demand. Perhaps the most distinctive of all the flavored vodkas is the one from Central Europe called zubrowka, flavored with buffalo grass.

Vodka is generally bottled at between 80 to 100 percent proof. The higher proofs are generally used in vodka martini's and the lower proof in bloody mary's and screwdrivers. The Scandiavians have developed a whole ritual around drinking vodka. The residents of Finland taking it to the extreme. They drink vodka straight as an aperitif. Ask for a vodka in Helsinki and the bartender could clutch the ice cold bottle before pouring it into a glass and 'suggesting' it goes down in one heart warming gulf. Then its time to nibble on a herring to clense the palate. After another shot of fire water a plate of smoked salmon or another or hot sausage on rye bread. Before long fish and vodka become companions

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