Absolut!!

“You up for a drink?” Er, yes. “Sure. I’d love a vodka. In fact, make it a double…”

What is this universally-desired nectar which seems to inspire jolity and merriment among its imbibers?

Vodka in most Slavic languages means water, and translates literally as “dear little water”, an affectionate diminutive for this clean, tasteless spirit that blends with virtually any beverage (especially the fruity ones!) 

Voda Bar, Zabeel Saray The Palm, Dubai: NIKON D3000 f/4.5; Exposure 1/60sec; ISO-200

Vodka is defined by government regulations as a spirit without any distinctive character, aroma, taste or color. Essentially an un-aged neutral spirit, it can be distilled from just about anything fermentable: potato, grain, rice, corn.

Back in 988 the Grand Prince of Kiev was told by his ambassadors that Islam forbade strong drink. Consequently the Prince became a Christian and was sent plentiful supplies of communion wine from Byzantium, the then seat of orthodox Christianity. But weak fermented drink was not enough to satisfy him. His loyal servants discovered that the extremes of temperature in Poland enabled them to produce a beverage with a higher alcoholic strength. Enter vodka.

You see, the key to distillation is the separation of alcohol from the water content of fermented liquid. Because water freezes at a higher temperature than alcohol, the Eastern Europeans were able to separate the alcohol by freezing fermented liquid during the winter months. As a result they were left with a drink with a higher strength than that produced by fermentation alone. The techniques of distillation didn’t spread until the 15th century. From that time to the mid-19th century all Vodka was made in a pot, using those good old local natural food staples. What a smashing way to recycle last week’s potatoes!