The beloved apparatus of the heroes of the film comedy 'The Moonshiners'
Why exactly is vodka the Russian national drink? First of all, because of the production technology. It is made from grain, predominantly rye, not from potatoes like schnapps, or from fruits and berries like grappa, rakia, Passover vodka, and other national products.
Yes, grapes and figs do not grow in Russia, at least not in such quantities to make strong drinks from them. And there is no talk of agave (from which Mexicans make tequila) at all. The second component is water. It is the soft water of the Moscow region rivers that makes vodka what it is.
In the foreseeable historical past, people always wanted to drink a little and relax. Moreover, any people, not just Russians. And the principle of distillation was not invented by Russians either, but the distiller in Russian is elementary simple. It is now called a moonshine still, it has no rectification columns, sometimes even no coil. A pot with mash is covered with another pot with a steam pipe passing through a tray with water for cooling, the seams are smeared with clay – that's the whole structure.
However, it was precisely the simplicity, which reduced the quality of the resulting product, that made it possible to produce real, the best vodka. How? By repeated repetition of the process. The resulting product was diluted twofold with river water and the process was repeated until the desired result was obtained.
Only in one period – the Catherine period – when nobles were allowed to distill for their own needs, the best vodka in history was produced. Free serf labor, their own grain, firewood, and the desire to obtain a high-quality product led to excellent vodka, although only 20-30 liters from a ton of grain. Real vodka did not involve diluting alcohol with water; it remained as it came out after distillation. There was no standard.
Read on the bottle what is included in modern vodka. The best case is alcohol and water. But if it contains glycerin, essences and flavorings, citric acid, sugar, soda and so on – you will find all this on the label – it is no longer vodka, but something else.
By the way, Ukrainian horilka is not vodka at all. Even originally, it was made from wheat, not rye. And the Yauza River never flowed through the territory of Ukraine.
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