Vodka

Vodka (Russian: во́дка; Polish: wódka) is a strong, clear, typically colorless liquor, usually distilled from fermented grain. It is commonly thought that the term is a diminutive of the Slavic word "voda" (woda, вода) for "water," although there exists another opinion (see below).

History

The origins of vodka (and of its name) cannot be traced definitively, but it is believed to have originated in the grain-growing region that now embraces Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, and western Russia. It also has a long tradition in Scandinavia.

Related Topics:
Poland - Belarus - Ukraine - Russia - Scandinavia

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Little is known about the early history of the drink in Europe. The first written record of vodka in Poland dates from 1405 in the Sandomierz Court Registry, although it is uncertain whether this refers to the drink of today. In Russia, the first written usage of the word vodka in an official document in its modern meaning is dated by the decree of Empress Catherine I of June 8, 1751 that regulated the ownership of vodka distilleries.

Related Topics:
1405 - Sandomierz - Empress - Catherine I - June 8 - 1751

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Another possible origin of the word can be found in the Novgorod chronicle in records dated 1533, where the term "vodka" is used in the context of herbal alcoholic tinctures. A number of pharmaceutical lists contain the terms "vodka of bread wine" (водка хлебного вина), "vodka in half of bread wine" (водка вполу хлебного вина) was used. As alcohol had long been used as a basis for medicines, this implies that the term vodka is a noun derived from the verb "vodit,'" "razvodit'" ("водить", "разводить"), "to dilute with water." Hence "vodka of bread wine" would be a water dilution of a distilled spirit.

Related Topics:
Novgorod - 1533 - Tincture - Pharmaceutical

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While the word could be found in manuscripts and in lubok (лубок, pictures with text explaining the plot, a Russian predecessor of the comic), it began to appear in Russian dictionaries in the mid-19th century.

Related Topics:
Comic - 19th century

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Vodka is now one of the world's most popular spirits. It was rarely drunk outside Europe before the 1950s, but its popularity spread to the New World by way of post-war France. (Pablo Picasso once defined the most notable features of post-war France as "Brigitte Bardot, modern jazz, Polish vodka.") By 1975 vodka sales in the United States overtook those of bourbon whiskey, previously the most popular hard liquor. In the second half of the 20th century, vodka owed its popularity in part to its reputation as an alcoholic beverage that "leaves you breathless," as one ad put it — no smell of liquor remaining detectable on the breath.

Related Topics:
1950s - France - Pablo Picasso - Brigitte Bardot - Jazz - 1975 - United States - Bourbon whiskey

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According to The Penguin Book of Spirits and Liqueurs, "Its low level of fusel oils and congenerics — impurities that flavor spirits but that can contribute to the after-effects of heavy consumption — led to its being considered among the 'safer' spirits, though not in terms of its powers of intoxication, which, depending on strength, may be considerable." (Pamela Vandyke Price, , pp. 196ff.)

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Interestingly, other peoples in the area of probable origination of vodka have the names for vodka with roots meaning "to burn": (Ukrainian: горілка, horilka; Belarusian: гар?лка, harelka; Lithuanian: degtin?).

Related Topics:
Ukrainian - Horilka - Belarusian - Lithuanian

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