Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Buckwheat bread machine recipe European Union has established a minimum alcohol content of 37. In English literature, the word vodka appeared in around the late 18th century.

The “vodka belt” countries of Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe are the historic home of vodka. These countries have the highest vodka consumption in the world. Scholars debate the beginnings of vodka because there is little historical material available. Middle Ages with local traditions as varied as the production of cognac in France, or Scottish whiskey.

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”. Jerzy Potański, contains valuable information on the production of vodka. Some Polish vodka blends go back centuries. Starka vodka, from the 16th century. Vodka production on a much larger scale began in Poland at the end of the 16th century, initially at Kraków, whence spirits were exported to Silesia before 1550.

Silesian cities also bought vodka from Poznań, a city that in 1580 had 498 working spirits distilleries. Vodkas produced by the nobility and clergy became a mass product. During the martial law of the 1980s, the sale of vodka was rationed. A type of distilled liquor designated by the Russian word vodka came to Russia in the late 14th century. Moscow and presented it to Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy. According to a legend, around 1430, a monk named Isidore from Chudov Monastery inside the Moscow Kremlin made a recipe of the first Russian vodka. In some locations, grape wine may have been so expensive that it was a drink only for aristocrats.

A Vodka museum in Russia, located in Verkhniye Mandrogi, Leningrad Oblast. The first written usage of the word vodka in an official Russian document in its modern meaning is dated by the decree of Empress Elizabeth of 8 June 1751, which regulated the ownership of vodka distilleries. By the 1860s, a government policy of promoting the consumption of state-manufactured vodka made it the drink of choice for many Russians. Dutch Brandewijn, which is the base for the word brandy. This beverage has been produced in Sweden since the late 15th century, although the total production was still small in the 17th century.

Progressively from the 1960s, unflavoured Swedish brännvin also came to be called vodka. The first Swedish product to use this term was Explorer Vodka, which was created in 1958 and initially was intended for the American export market. Although it ultimately failed to do so, it remains one of the most popular vodka brands in Sweden today. After Sweden joined the European Union in 1995, the regulations were changed so that privately owned companies could produce Vodka. Vodka has become popular among young people, with a flourishing black market. In 2013, the organizers of the so-called “vodka car” were jailed for two and a half years for having illegally provided thousands of liters to young people, some as young as 13.

This pure grain alcohol, also known as rectified spirit, neutral spirit, or ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin is also available directly to consumers in some areas, as products such as Everclear, Polmos spirytus rektyfikowany, and others. A study conducted on NPR’s Planet Money podcast revealed negligible differences in taste between various brands of vodka, leading to speculation as to how much branding contributes to the concept of “super-premium vodkas”. This section does not cite any sources. A common property of the vodkas produced in the United States and Europe is the extensive use of filtration before any additional processing including the addition of flavorants. The master distiller is in charge of distilling the vodka and directing its filtration, which includes the removal of the “fore-shots”, “heads” and “tails”.