Vodka (Polish: wódka [ˈvutka]; Russian: водка [ˈvotkə]) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Its varieties originated in Poland and Russia. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol (alcohol), sometimes with traces of impurities and flavourings. Traditionally it is made by distilling liquid from fermented cereal grains and potatoes since the latter was introduced in Europe in the 18th century. Some modern brands use maize, sugar cane, fruit, honey, or maple sap as the base. Since the 1890s, standard vodkas have been 40% alcohol by volume (ABV), or 80 U.S. proof. The European Union has established a minimum alcohol content of 37.5% for vodka. Vodka in the United States must have a minimum alcohol content of 40%. Vodka is traditionally drunk "neat" (not mixed with water, ice, or other mixers), and it is often served freezer chilled in the so-called "vodka belt" of Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and Ukraine. It is also used in cocktails and mixed drinks, such as the vodka martini, Cosmopolitan, vodka tonic, screwdriver, greyhound, Black or White Russian, Moscow mule, Bloody Mary, Caesar and Red Bull Vodka. Since 1960s, the unflavoured Swedish brännvin has also been called vodka.
Etymology The word vodka in English was borrowed from Russian and it can be literally translated as 'little water'; it is a diminutive of the Russian word voda ('water'). In English literature, the word vodka first appeared around the late 18th century. In a book of travels published in English in 1780 (presumably, a translation from German), Johann Gottlieb Georgi said that "kabak in the Russian language signifies a public house for the common people to drink vodka (a sort of brandy) in". In 1799, William Tooke glossed vodka as "rectified corn-spirits", using the traditional English sense of the word corn to refer to any grain, not just maize. In 1800, the French poet Théophile Gautier glossed it as a "grain liquor" served with meals in Poland (eau-de-vie de grain). Another possible connection of vodka with water is the name of the medieval alcoholic beverage aqua vitae (Latin, literally, 'water of life'), which is reflected in Polish okowita, Ukrainian оковита, Belarusian акавіта, and Scandinavian akvavit. Whiskey has a similar etymology, from Irish and Scottish Gaelic uisce beatha / uisge-beatha. People in the area of vodka's probable origin have names for vodka with roots meaning 'to burn': Polish: gorzała; Ukrainian: горілка, romanized: horilka; Belarusian: гарэлка, romanized: harelka; Lithuanian: degtinė; Samogitian: degtėnė is also in use, colloquially and in proverbs; Latvian: degvīns; Finnish: paloviina. In Russian during the 17th and 18th centuries, горящѣе вино or горячее вино (goryashchee vino 'burning wine' or 'hot wine') was widely used. Others languages include German Branntwein, Danish brændevin, Dutch: brandewijn, Swedish: brännvin, and Norwegian: brennevin (although the latter terms refer to any strong alcoholic beverage).
History
Scholars debate the beginnings of vodka. There is little historical material available, but it has been linked to the Slavic world for centuries, with Poles and Russians disputing its creation. For many centuries, beverages differed significantly compared to the vodka of today, as the spirit at that time had a different flavor, color, and smell, and was originally used as medicine. It contained little alcohol, an estimated maximum of about 14%. Distillation techniques were developed in Roman Egypt by the 3rd century, but the description of aqua ardens ("burning water", i.e., alcohol) made by distilling wine with salt appears in Latin works only by the 12th century. The process was well known among European medieval chemists by about 1300.
Poland The world's first written mention of the word wódka was in 1405 from Akta Grodzkie recorder of deeds, in the court documents from the Palatinate of Sandomierz in Poland. At the time, the word wódka referred to chemical compounds such as medicines and cosmetics' cleansers. The production of liquor begins in the mid-15th century, with varied local traditions emerging throughout Europe, in Poland as vodka (Polish: wódka or gorzałka). In the 16th century, the Polish word for the beverage was gorzałka (from the Old Polish verb gorzeć meaning "to burn"), which is also the source of Ukrainian horilka (горілка). The word written in Cyrillic appeared first in 1533, about a medicinal drink brought from Poland to Russia by the Russian merchants. In these early days, the spirits were used mostly as medicines. Stefan Falimierz asserted in his 1534 works on herbs that vodka could serve "to increase fertility and awaken lust". Wodka lub gorzałka (1614), by Jerzy Potański, contains valuable information on the production of vodka. Jakub Kazimierz Haur, in his book Skład albo skarbiec znakomitych sekretów ekonomii ziemiańskiej (A Treasury of Excellent Secrets about Landed Gentry's Economy, Kraków, 1693), gave detailed recipes for making vodka from rye.
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