Vodka: What is it and how is it made?

Easily the most versatile spirit in your liquor cabinet, vodka has developed a reputation as a must-have bottle in your home collection. A bartender’s staple and an easy-to-use spirit for impressing guests, vodka is used in countless cocktails in North America.

Vodka’s ingredients stem from any number of plants, so long as they are rich in starch and sugar. Most vodka today is produced using grains such as corn, rye or wheat, although traditional favourites include vodka made from potatoes and corn. The ingredients are distilled or vapourized at very high temperatures in stills, which serves to separate the alcohol from water and other components in the liquid. This helps highlight the vodka’s taste and boost the alcohol content.

In its native region, a collection of Northern and Eastern European countries known popularly as the “Vodka Belt,” vodka is still favoured as a sipping drink. Both Russia and Poland will argue that they are the fathers of vodka, with the spirit’s popularity in these countries helping support both sides’ argument. Even today, the Vodka Belt produces more than 70% of the European Union’s vodka, where it is often enjoyed ice cold with a splash of water. Other countries producing vodka include Canada.

Among the many competing brands of vodka, most strive for perfection in a somewhat strange category: tastelessness. Touted as “the neutral spirit,” the world’s finest vodkas are those with the smoothest, least noticeable taste – perfect for adding some kick to your favourite cocktail. Of course, as its fathers would recommend, you can always enjoy a glass of vodka on its own with a little water and a couple of filtered ice cubes.