{"id":18341,"date":"2019-10-23T01:22:13","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T01:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=18341"},"modified":"2019-10-24T06:15:04","modified_gmt":"2019-10-24T06:15:04","slug":"3-questions-about-vodka-answered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/3-questions-about-vodka-answered\/","title":{"rendered":"3 questions about vodka, answered"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jeffrey Miller<\/a>, Colorado State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Towards the end of Ian Fleming\u2019s spy novel \u201cDr. No,\u201d James Bond orders a vodka dry martini \u2013 \u201cShaken and not stirred please.\u201d<\/p>\n

The novel was published in 1958, at the height of the Cold War. But four decades before the Berlin Wall would crumble, vodka had already bridged the East-West divide.<\/p>\n

Between 1950 and 1975, vodka went from being a statistical blip to America\u2019s best selling spirit<\/a>. In addition to the martini, it\u2019s become the base spirit in popular cocktails like the Cosmopolitan, the Moscow Mule and the Vodka Red Bull<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With National Vodka Day taking place on Oct. 4, here are the answers to a few questions I sometimes hear in my classes on food and beverage management.<\/p>\n

1. What\u2019s vodka made from?<\/h2>\n

You might think that all vodka is distilled from potatoes, but only a handful of today\u2019s brands use the root vegetable.<\/p>\n

Russia and Poland each claim to the be the birthplace of vodka, which is a Slavonic diminutive term meaning \u201clittle water.\u201d There are mentions of vodka in Polish records as early as 1500<\/a>, but the drink was probably around for at least 300 years prior \u2013 maybe even longer.<\/p>\n

Potatoes, however, weren\u2019t brought from South America to Europe until the 1570s<\/a>. And before 1700, it\u2019s unlikely that they were grown in quantities large enough<\/a> in Poland or Russia to sustain any sort of commercial enterprise.<\/p>\n

Instead, vodka was originally a grain distillate, with rye as the primary constituent. This makes sense: Rye grows better than other grains in the cool, damp climates<\/a> of northern Eurasia.<\/p>\n

While some vodka is made from potatoes, most vodkas<\/a> are made from whatever grain the distiller prefers to use, with sorghum, rye, wheat and corn leading the pack. Grapes, plums and sugar cane are even used by some brands.<\/p>\n

2. Why is some vodka so expensive?<\/h2>\n

A bottle of Crystal Head vodka retails for around US$50<\/a>, while a bottle of Romanoff goes for roughly $10<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But the cheapest vodka should taste just like the most expensive one \u2013 at least in theory. According to the U.S. Federal Standard of Identity<\/a>, in order for a spirit to be marketed as \u201cvodka,\u201d \u201cit must be odorless, colorless and tasteless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Every vodka does have its own mashbill<\/a>, which is the word for its own recipe. What\u2019s in the mashbill can create minor differences in the flavor of finished vodka.<\/p>\n

Whether a grain or fruit is used to make the vodka, each has a number of flavoring ingredients known as \u201ccongeners<\/a>\u201d that give the final product its unique taste.<\/p>\n

The primary flavor, however, is ethanol, which has a taste that evokes the smell of rubbing alcohol. Many would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between different brands of vodka in a blindfold test.<\/p>\n

In fact, a taste test conducted for The New York Times by journalist Eric Asimov and a group of vodka experts concluded that America\u2019s old favorite, Smirnoff vodka, retailing at under $15 a bottle, beat out all the fancy high-priced brands for flavor and value<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are two real reasons that some vodkas cost so much more than others. First, some brands spend a small fortune on marketing and celebrity endorsements \u2013 think Ciroc<\/a> and its $100 million endorsement deal with Sean \u201cDiddy\u201d Combs.<\/p>\n

Other brands, like Grey Goose or Hangar One, simply sell their vodka at a high price point to make their brand seem luxurious and exclusive.<\/p>\n

3. Is there really vodka in that dish of pasta?<\/h2>\n

Most American Italian restaurants feature \u201cpenne alla vodka\u201d on the menu. There is, in fact, actual vodka in the sauce: Most recipes use around a quarter of a cup, though Food Network star Ree Drummond uses a whole cup in her version<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While vodka was probably first added to a creamy pasta sauce for promotional or novelty purposes, some cooks claim<\/a> that the vodka helps stabilize the cream and tomato mixture and that the alcohol helps extract flavors from the tomatoes and herbs.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Penne alla vodka features a small amount of vodka, though Ree Drummond\u2019s version might make you a little tipsy.<\/span>
\nBokey\/Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Vodka can be used in other courses as well. A vodka-watermelon sorbet<\/a> is an excellent intermezzo<\/a>, or palate cleanser, while the authoritative Cook\u2019s Illustrated recommends<\/a> using some vodka when making pie crust, since it adds moisture without activating as much gluten, keeping the pie crust tender and flaky.<\/p>\n

Whatever the logic, a dish with a dash of vodka \u2013 accompanied by a vodka dry martini, of course \u2013 might be the best way to celebrate National Vodka Day.<\/p>\n

As they say in Russia when toasting with vodka, \u201cvashe zdorovie<\/a>\u201d \u2013 \u201cto your health!\u201d<\/p>\n

[ Like what you\u2019ve read? Want more?<\/em> Sign up for The Conversation\u2019s daily newsletter<\/a>. ]\"The<\/p>\n

Jeffrey Miller<\/a>, Associate Professor, Hospitality Management, Colorado State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jeffrey Miller, Colorado State University Towards the end of Ian Fleming\u2019s spy novel \u201cDr. No,\u201d James Bond orders a vodka dry martini \u2013 \u201cShaken and not stirred please.\u201d The novel was published in 1958, at the height of the Cold War. But four decades before the Berlin Wall would crumble, vodka had already bridged the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":18339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[293],"tags":[165,251,3337,3965,7116,336,1850,7117,234,3604],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18341"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18341"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18345,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18341\/revisions\/18345"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}