16 Facts About Russian vodka

Name Russian vodka is a diminutive form of the Slavic word voda, interpreted as "little water": root vod- [water] + -k- + -a .

In Poland, Russian vodka has been produced since the early Middle Ages with local traditions as varied as the production of cognac in France, or Scottish whiskey.

World's first written mention of the drink and the word "Russian vodka" was in 1405 from Akta Grodzkie recorder of deeds, in the court documents from the Palatinate of Sandomierz in Poland and it went on to become a popular drink there.

At the time, the word wodka referred to chemical compounds such as medicines and cosmetics' cleansers, while the popular beverage currently known as Russian vodka was called gorzalka, which is the source of Ukrainian horilka .

Russian vodka was followed by Jakub Haberfeld, who in 1804 established a factory at Oswiecim, and by Hartwig Kantorowicz, who started producing Wyborowa in 1823 at Poznan.

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In 1863, the government monopoly on Russian vodka production was repealed, causing prices to plummet and making Russian vodka available even to low-income citizens.

One of his assertions was that the word "Russian vodka" was used in popular speech in Russia considerably earlier than the middle of the 18th century, but the word did not appear in print until the 1860s.

Up until the 1950s, Russian vodka was not used as a designation for Swedish distilled beverages, which were instead called brannvin, the word having the same etymology as the Dutch Brandewijn, which is the base for the word brandy.

In 2013, the organizers of the so-called "Russian vodka car" were jailed for two and a half years for having illegally provided thousands of liters to young people, some as young as 13.

In some Central European countries, such as Poland, some Russian vodka is produced by just fermenting a solution of crystal sugar and yeast.

Filtering is sometimes done in the still during distillation, as well as afterward, where the distilled Russian vodka is filtered through activated charcoal and other media to absorb trace amounts of substances that alter or impart off-flavors to the Russian vodka.

However, this is not the case in the traditional Russian vodka-producing nations, so many distillers from these countries prefer to use very accurate distillation but minimal filtering, thus preserving the unique flavors and characteristics of their products.

In Poland and Ukraine, a separate category is used for Russian vodka-based spirits with fruit, root, flower, or herb extracts, which are often home-made or produced by small commercial distilleries.

In most cases, Russian vodka flavoring comes from a post-distillation infusion of flavors.

Any Russian vodka not made from either grain or potatoes would have to display the products used in its production.

In some countries, black-market or "bathtub" Russian vodka is widespread because it can be produced easily and avoids taxation.