GRAPES & GRAINS

A JOURNEY BEYOND THE “VODKA BELT” REVEALS A SPIRITED WORLD OF DESIGNER DISTILLERIES.

IN THE CLEAR

A journey beyond the “vodka belt” reveals a spirited world of designer distilleries.

The historic home of vodka lies in the “vodka belt” countries of Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. What unites Russia, Poland, Latvia, Ukraine, Estonia, Belarus, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden is an abiding love for the colorless distilled spirit. Traditionally drunk neat (served without ice, water or any other mixer), the spirit is primarily a mixture of water and ethanol made through the distillation of cereal grains or fermented potatoes.

The word “vodka” was first recorded in 1405 in the court documents of the Palatinate of Sandomierz in Poland. At the time, the term more commonly referred to medicines and other chemical solutions rather than to the drink we now know as vodka — known in Poland as gorzalka from the Old Polish verb gorzec, meaning “to burn.” The distilled spirit itself was long thought to have curative properties, however, with a mention as an aid to health and fertility in Stefan Falimierz’s 1534 herbal. Some Polish vodka blends such as Zubrowka, Goldwasser and Starka can trace a heritage back to the 16th and 17th centuries.

While Poland is often thought to be the likely birthplace of vodka, it has a comparable longevity in Russia. The folklore of the drink attributes the recipe for the first Russian vodka to a monk called Isidore from the Chudov Monastery inside the Moscow Kremlin. Originally known as “bread wine” or “burning wine,” this 1430 recipe was for a long time produced exclusively in Moscow and nowhere else, closely linking vodka with the city.

VODKA ETIQUETTE

Russians take their vodka seriously, and maintain many drinking traditions such as always removing the bottle from the table after the drinks have been poured. This tradition is thought to date back to the Napoleonic Wars when Russian Cossacks noticed that restaurants would charge for drinks based on the number of bottles on the table at the end of the night. Another tradition is that if the person pouring out the vodka is replaced by another pourer before the bottle is empty, it will portend arguments, drunkeness and quarrel.

“Washing the purchase” is another Russian drinking tradition, where it is considered good fortune to celebrate any expensive purchase such as a new car with friends and relatives by toasting the occasion with vodka, otherwise it will not bring joy. The origins of this tradition are rooted in beliefs about the evil eye, and the idea that buying something expensive might provoke a malefic envy in your friends and neighbors that would be like a curse. Such malign influence could be deflected by getting a priest to bless the new purchase with holy water, and this belief evolved into the more secular blessing with a sip of vodka.

Eating a raw egg before you start drinking is another Russian folk belief; it’s thought to line the stomach and lend a greater capacity for alcohol tolerance. Vodka is also traditionally served with snacks called zakusi, which serve to soak up the alcohol between shots. Typical zakusi include Russian staples such as stuffed dumplings or pickled vegetables with black bread. Once you begin drinking vodka, it is believed that you shouldn’t switch to any other drink. You should also never fill your own glass before pouring out to everyone else present, and always make sure that you finish the vodka that you have been given, or you could risk offending the host.

IT IS CONSIDERED GOOD FORTUNE TO CELEBRATE ANY EXPENSIVE PURCHASE SUCH AS A NEW CAR WITH FRIENDS AND RELATIVES BY TOASTING THE OCCASION WITH VODKA, OTHERWISE IT WILL NOT BRING JOY.

SPIRIT REBORN

While the popularity of vodka has never waned, it has also rarely been taken seriously among connoisseurs. The colorless, odorless and flavorless spirit is not valued with the same fervor as more complex sensory spirits such as whisky or rum. There are signs that this perception of the drink is changing, however, as more vodka producers focus on small-batch production methods and locally sourced ingredients. Tequila once held a similar reputation, but the popularity of agave-based spirits among craft cocktail enthusiasts served to rehabilitate a spirit that was once written off as cheap firewater.

Vodka is experiencing a similar rehabilitation, and in 2017 the Baltic country of Estonia was granted its first protected geographical indication (PGI) by the European Union for its production of Estonian vodka. The country has its own vodka heritage that stretches back to the 1400s, and it joins Poland, Lithuania, Finland and Sweden as EU countries that have PGI status for their vodka.

Craft vodka has also seen a surge in popularity, with new smallbatch vodka producers creating unique blends by utilizing diverse methods and ingredients. Reyka vodka from Iceland is made at the country’s only distillery using sustainable energy from geothermal heat. The vodka is heated into vapor that passes through porous volcanic rock, and when it returns to liquid is joined with pure Icelandic spring water to create a clean and easy-drinking vodka with a genuine sense of place.

Arbikie distillery in the Scottish Highlands claims to put all the passion of whisky making into its vodka. All of its ingredients, such as wheat, chipotle chilies, and Maris Piper and King Edwards potatoes, are farmed onsite. It offers a Haar wheat vodka, an award-winning potato vodka, and a Smoky Chilli vodka sourced from Scotland’s first chili farm.

Fair quinoa vodka is organic and gluten-free, and is distilled in the Cognac region of France using sustainably sourced fair-trade quinoa from Bolivia. The Fair brand claims to be the world’s first Fair Trade Certified spirits producer, and creates a smooth vodka with fruity and peppery accents.

Crystal Head Vodka is made with pure Newfoundland water and filtered through 500 million-year-old crystals known as Herkimer diamonds. The vodka’s unique skull-shaped bottle is inspired by the 13 crystal skulls that legend links to Native American tribes. The vodka and its eye-catching container are the result of a collaboration between Ghostbusters star Dan Aykroyd and U.S. artist John Alexander.