Vodka

V

‘ Vodka seems to lose the battle but win the war.

The king of white spirits retains its throne in terms of sales.’

Trends shaping the alcohol industry, cheersonline.com

GUIDE

ISABEL BOONS

Frédéric Du Bois is a spirits connoisseur and the owner of Miraflor, the market leader in premium gin and vodka distribution in Belgium. He both supplies and advises some of gastronomy’s major names. Isabel Boons is a culinary journalist who has already published numerous books about drinks.

THE COMPLETE

WODKA

odka. Everyone’s got a bottle of it lying around, but who knows the secrets behind this mysterious spirit? Vodka has long since outgrown the image of just being the national drink of Russia and Poland.

From Asia via Great Britain to the United States, it’s the firewater that has conquered the whole world. In Russian, vodka is the diminutive of the word for water. The very term refers to its key quality: it is a neutral spirit, odourless and with a pure taste. Which instantly makes it any barman’s best friend.

Imagine a Cosmopolitan, Moscow Mule or Bloody Mary without vodka.

Vodka, the complete guide tells you everything about this ‘little water’ – from the origins, the production method and an overview of the innumerable vodka brands and tastiest cocktails to the best way to drink the spirit.

FRÉDÉRIC DU BOIS

VODKA

THE COMPLETE GUIDE

9 789401 451550

www.lannoo.com

FRÉDÉRIC DU BOIS & ISABEL BOONS

‘ I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade... And try to find somebody whose life has given them vodka, and have a party.’

Ron White, American comedian

what is vodka?

O T H E R “ E X O T I C ” R AW I N G R E D I E N T S

Nowadays vodka is no longer deemed to be odourless and tasteless. A lot of vodka brands do everything in their power to put a unique product on the market that stands out in terms of flavour and/or raw ingredients.

Encouraged by the success of vodkas based on grapes in North America, some northern European vodka-producing countries such as Poland, Finland, Sweden and the Baltic states recently tried to get the European authorities to limit the number of permitted ingredients to just grain and/or potatoes. This initiative failed and in January 2008 it was decreed that distillates from grapes, molasses and other sources could also be branded as vodka. The raw ingredient does have to be clearly indicated on the label, though.

Vodka can be made from any basic product, so the sky’s the limit as long as the producer is able to ferment the ingredient. For example, there are vodkas on the market based on quinoa, sherry, soybeans, carrots, fruit... and even cows’ milk.

WAT E R

Vodka consists of 60% water, so it makes sense that the liquid used during the production process is very important. Water plays a huge part in two of the phases: as an additive to the wort and later to dilute the alcohol that comes from the still. It is crucial for both the flavour and the mouthfeel of the vodka. Distillers often set up near a water source that is naturally low in dissolved salts and ions – glacier water or natural springs, for instance. A general rule is that softer water makes better vodka.

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vodka

There are often discussions about whether water should be used that has a high or low mineral content. If desired, the water used can be demineralised by reverse osmosis to create a pure and tasteless liquid that has little or no influence on the flavour of vodka. The downside is that this practically ‘dead’ water has little character any more, and that will be noticeable when you drink the vodka.

Water therefore has an undeniably large effect on the character of the final distillate.

ENZYMES

When vodka is made from starchy products, enzymes (e.g. from malt) must be added to convert the starch into the sugars that are later fermented into alcohol.

Malted grains are an exception to this and do not need enzymes. The enzymes in these grains are activated when the grain bursts open and is exposed to water for a short time.

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france

40 %

CÎROC VODKA

ORIGINS

BR AND OWNER

Master distiller and oenologist Jean-Sébastien Robicquet used his knowhow to produce this ultra-premium vodka in 2003. The Maison Villevert distillery has now been in the hands of the Robicquet family for more than five hundred years, which means that Jean-Sébastien grew up with distilling in his blood. Cîroc Vodka is made from French grapes (Mauzac Blanc and Ugni Blanc) that are processed into wine. That wine is then distilled four times in distillation columns.

During the next distillation, the fifth, the vodka is heated in a traditional, custom-made copper kettle that is still standing there in the historic Distillerie de Chevanceaux in the south of France. In 2007, the brand entered a mould-breaking alliance with Sean Combs (better known as Puff Daddy), together with the drinks giant Diageo. This was a brilliant move by the drinks giant, given the way the sales figures skyrocketed. The combination of image and high quality let Cîroc grow to become a genuine luxury vodka, which is precisely what the brand was aiming for when they brought Sean Combs on board.

Diageo WEBSITE

www.ciroc.com AVA I L A B I L I T Y

Widely available F L AVO U R A N D A R O M A

Soft in character, with a potent aroma and taste.

O T H E R VA R I A N T S Amaretto-37.5% Apple-37.5% Cîroc Ten-40% Coconut-37.5% French Vanilla-37.5% Mango-37.5% Peach-37.5% Pineapple-37.5% Red Berry-37.5%

BAL AN C ED/ VEG E TAL Fruity/fresh

Clean

Citric Crisp Sweet

Bready/grainy Floral

Silky

Herbal Medicinal

Rich

Creamy/buttery

FU LL /M I N ER AL

france

40 %

GREY GOOSE VODKA

ORIGINS

BR AND OWNER

Grey Goose takes its name from the geese in the French cognac region. The man who came up with this spirit is Sydney Frank, who is also behind the success of Jägermeister.

This super-premium vodka is now owned by Bacardi and it is highly popular throughout the world.

The vodka is made from the best French winter wheat from the Picardy region and mineral water from the Gensac springs. The vodka is distilled in five stages in a distillation column and then mixed with the mineral water, which is filtered through the chalky soil. It is noteworthy that the bottle is stoppered with a cork, an ode to the centuries-old traditions of the cognac district. Grey Goose is distilled once and then subjected to daily quality checks in order to guarantee its characteristic taste.

Bacardi WEBSITE

www.greygoose.com AVA I L A B I L I T Y

Widely available F L AVO U R A N D A R O M A

Elegant with an aroma of citrus. Soft sweetness in the mouth, with a hint of almonds. Fresh finish.

O T H E R VA R I A N T S Le Citron-40% L’Orange-40% La Poire-40%

BAL AN C ED/ VEG E TAL Fruity/fresh

Clean

Citric Crisp Sweet

Bready/grainy Floral

Silky

Herbal Medicinal

Creamy/buttery

FU LL /M I N ER AL

111

Rich

united kingdom

40 %

SACRED ­ORGANIC VODKA

OPEN TO VISITORS

ORIGINS

BR AND OWNER

The Sacred Spirits Company built up a reputation with Sacred Gin as one of the leading lights in the micro-distillery scene. Its unique vacuum production process was developed single-handedly by the chemist and former head-hunter Ian Hart. These days, Ian and Hillary produce various kinds of gin, vermouth, whisky and vodka from their home in Highgate Hill in London.

Like their gin, Sacred Vodka is produced at very low pressure with rye, wheat and seven other botanicals, including nutmeg, cubeb and angelica.

Production is largely by hand and the bottles even have unique individual serial numbers. The name ‘Sacred’ comes from one of the botanicals: frankincense, or Boswellia sacra in Latin. The vodka acquired an organic label in 2009.

Sacred Spirits Company WEBSITE

www.sacredspiritscompany. com AVA I L A B I L I T Y

Specialist F L AVO U R A N D A R O M A

Creamy mouthfeel, herbal flavour and peppery aftertaste.

O T H E R VA R I A N T S Sacred London Dry-40%

BAL AN C ED/ VEG E TAL Fruity/fresh

Clean

Citric Crisp Sweet

Bready/grainy Floral

Silky

Herbal Medicinal

Creamy/buttery

FU LL /M I N ER AL

158

Rich

france

40 %

THE CULT ONE

ED HARDY VODKA

ORIGINS

BR AND OWNER

Cool, cool... ultra-cool: the bottle is a real piece of art, enough in its own right to make you want to own this object. This super-premium vodka is a spin-off from a commercial collaboration between two true cult figures: the late French top designer Christian Audigier, the man behind the successful Naf Naf and Von Dutch clothing line, and the famous American tattoo artist (Donald) Ed Hardy.

Audigier often used designs by Hardy for his clothing line, but in this case the stately hand-made bottle is decorated with Japanese-inspired tattoos by the latter. Ed previously decorated the bottles for Montpeyroux Estates wines. The vodka is based on wheat and produced in the French cognac region by the local Distilleries de Matha, primarily known for Meukow cognac. It is distilled five times in as many serial columns. The vodka brand was put on the market at the end of 2007 and was a big hit in discos and trendy clubs for a short time. Today this vodka is a true collector’s item, so you will have to make quite an effort to obtain one.

Christian Audigier († 2015) & Ed Hardy WEBSITE

Offline AVA I L A B I L I T Y

Collector’s item F L AVO U R A N D A R O M A

Extremely soft and supple vodka with light citrus notes.

BAL AN C ED/ VEG E TAL Fruity/fresh

Clean

Citric Crisp Sweet

Bready/grainy Floral

Silky

Herbal Medicinal

Creamy/buttery

FU LL /M I N ER AL

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Rich

vodka

FUN FACTS The word ‘vodka’ comes from the Slavic word ‘voda’ which means ‘water’. Yes, you read that correctly: vodka really is water...

 Vodka only became popular in the fourteenth century. Before that, the distillate was mainly used as a medicine.

 Vodka is the most popular and the most widespread spirit in the world, ahead of rum, whisky, gin and tequila.

 Russians are still the biggest drinkers of vodka in the world, followed by the Poles, Ukrainians, Bulgarians and Slovaks. We are talking about the average consumption per inhabitant there. After these “historically classic” consumers, Americans guzzle it most.

Followed by the Irish, Finns, English, Canadians and Israelis.

 In terms of the total volume of consumption, Russia and the United States take the crown. Furthermore, we also see the United Kingdom, Brazil and Germany popping up in the global top ten, which points to the growing popularity of vodka in those specific markets.

 268

tips, tricks & fun facts

Vodka is one of the purest drinks in the world: it contains little or no fusel oil and is extensively filtered to remove impurities.

 Vodka is traditionally drunk neat, without water or ice. In the “vodka belt” countries of Russia, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Greenland, the Baltic states, Poland, Belarus and Ukraine, the spirit is mostly drunk ice cold.

 The best selling brands globally include Smirnoff, Absolut, Khortytsa, Khlibnyi Dar and Z·ubrówka.

 Spirytus Polish Vodka has the highest alcohol percentage of all alcoholic beverages, namely 96%.

 In 1998, teachers in parts of Siberia and Russia were paid in vodka due to a temporary lack of cash. More than eight thousand teachers got fifteen bottles of vodka for two months of teaching.

 25% of the Russian population die before they reach the age of 55. The culprit? Way too much vodka.



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tips, tricks & fun facts

THE MOST EXPENSIVE VODKAS IN THE WORLD B I LLI O N A I R E VO D K A $ 7. 2 5 M I L L I O N / € 5 . 9 M I L L I O N

Showing off is undoubtedly what this bottle is about.

This version from 2015 is a creation by Leon Verres that is decorated with almost two thousand diamonds, set in gold. The bottle is also decorated with rich black faux fur and the contents were filtered through – you guessed it – diamonds. This crazy price gets you a bottle of 18 litres of vodka, fortunately...

TH E E Y E O F TH E D R AG O N $ 5 . 5 M I L L I O N / €4 . 4 5 M I L L I O N

This vodka is a real eye-catcher, to put it mildly. Dragons are a symbol for wealth and luck, so it’s no surprise that the Hong Kong-based Dutch producer of Royal Dragon Vodka chose to create a bottle with a carefully crafted dragon covered with diamonds. In addition to a 50-carat yellow diamond, the six-litre bottle is also decorated with no less than 15,000 diamonds and over 2 kilograms of gold. The vodka itself is made from the best winter rye.

B I LLI O N A I R E VO D K A $ 3 . 7 M I L L I O N / €3 M I L L I O N

In the third place is a bottle from Leon Verres again – this time the first version, developed in 2012 – filled with just five litres of vodka made according to a secret Russian recipe. The spirit was filtered three times: through ice, then through birch charcoal and finally through crushed diamonds and gemstones.

The bottle is covered with peta-friendly white faux fur, has a golden label and is decorated with almost three thousand diamonds and Swarovski crystals.

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R U S S O - B A LT I Q U E V O D K A $1 . 3 M I LLI O N / €1 .05 M I LLI O N

The bottle of this vodka is made from old car radiator metal and bulletproof glass. It contains about three kilograms of gold and three kilograms of silver and has a diamond-encrusted stopper. In addition, they used leather from a rally car that starred at Monte Carlo in 1912. This bottle was created to celebrate the former Russian automotive company Russo-Baltique’s hundredth anniversary. It even had a cameo in Season 3 of the popular TV series House of Cards. At the beginning of 2018 the unique bottle was stolen from a Danish bar − it had been lent by the Russian owner − only to be found a few days later at a construction site.

Empty, but the bottle itself was intact.

D I VA P R E M I U M V O D K A $ 1 M I L L I O N / €0 . 8 0 M I L L I O N

To obtain a soft flavour, this English premium vodka is distilled several times and filtered through gemstones. That does not fully explain its high price tag, however. The standard diva Premium Vodka ­bottle (see p. 218) – marketed by Blackwoods Distillers for around €250 (or $290) – has Swarovski crystals in the central tube of the bottle. In this luxury variant they were replaced by diamonds, which greatly increased its value. It was an individual initiative, by the way, so don’t go looking for a bottle at your local drinks shop or diamond dealer.

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A WORD OF THANKS

Producing a book is always a question of teamwork and so I would therefore like to thank all the project staff and producers for their efforts. I hope we’re all equally pleased with the final result. In particular, I would like to thank my girlfriend and daughter for their endless patience. I hope that this, the end result, will be able to convert many readers on both sides of The Pond.

Frédéric ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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Authors: Frédéric Du Bois & Isabel Boons Translation: Tessera Translations (Mike Wilkinson and Mariëlle Kakebeen) Editing: Asterisk*, Amsterdam Photography: Thomas Vanhaute, except p. 10 Artem Shadrin/Shutterstock, p. 22-23 itor/Shutterstock, p. 42-43 Rybalchenko Nadezhda/Shutterstock, p. 232 Kira Garmashova/Shutterstock, p. 244-245 5PH/Shutterstock, p. 264 Vania Zhukevych/Shutterstock, p. 276 Pravda Vodka Bar, p. 277 OUR/Vodka Berlin, p. 278 Dom Wodki Bar, p. 279 Ladies & Gents Bar, p. 280 Shutterstock/Brent Hofacker, p. 281 Creative Entourage, p. 286 Vania Zhukevych/ Shutterstock Illustrations: Emma Thyssen Graphic design: KIET Lay out: Asterisk*, Amsterdam If you have any questions or comments about the material in this book, please do not hesitate to contact our editorial team: redactiestijl@lannoo.com.

If you have any questions about Wodka - the complete guide, send an email to info@miraflor.be. © Lannoo Publishers, Tielt, Belgium, 2018 D/2018/45/532 – NUR 440/447 ISBN: 978 94 014 5155 0 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.