Vodka

Of all the spirits, vodka is the one I have the hardest time with and find difficult ever drinking for pleasure. It doesn't really taste of anything except alcohol, and any flavours it may have are masked by the alcohol's warming potency. The Diploma tasting did change my mind a little bit, and I learnt how its neutral flavours make it a great base for cocktails. If vodka turns up in the tasting exam, though, it's going to be a challenge.

what is vodka?

Vodka can come from absolutely anywhere and be made from absolutely anything. The one consistent rule is that it must be distilled to 96% ABV (in the EU; 95% in the US) in order to make the spirit as neutral as possible. For this reason, a continuous still has to be used. The traditional raw materials are grain (barley, wheat, and rye) and potatoes, but lots of other ingredients are now used, including grapes (for example, the premium vodka Cîroc).

what does it taste like?

Neutral vodkas such as Smirnoff are the most common and popular, but there are producers who want their vodka to have some character, reflecting the raw material. These will still be light in flavour, but discernible: wheat will give the vodka wine and anise characteristics, rye zest and spice, while a barley vodka will be clean and crisp, and one from potatoes full-bodied and creamy.

Flavoured vodkas are also becoming increasingly fashionable - which is how vodka used to be made before the neutral style took over in the mid- to late-twentieth century. These will usually be nature-identical rather than natural flavours and are added after distillation. Fruit is the most common flavouring, but anything and everything is being added to keep up with fashion.

Diploma tasting

Tasting vodka at ten in the morning was not something I ever imagined doing and it was with some dread that I took a sip of the first drink. The experience, though, was a lot more enjoyable that I'd feared.

spot the flavoured vodka

Wyborowa Vodka
A rye-based vodka that had delicate flavours of lemon and white pepper. Quite pleasant, without being especially exciting.

Zubrowka Bison Vodka
The most interesting vodka we tasted. Although Zubrowka are the only producer who flavour vodka with grass, doing so dates back to a time when all vodkas were flavoured - a traditional drink that now feels very modern. My tasting notes are on my general Diploma blog.

Chopin Potato Vodka
This was another very good vodka. It's only produced from September to December during the potato harvest (there are 3kg of potatoes needed for each bottle). The flavours were quite complex with a greater depth than one would expect from a vodka - a creamy mouthfeel of yoghurt and vanilla, as well as a fuller body from the potatoes.

Smirnoff
The very first sniff was an instant recall of a nightclub during university days. How can a drink that smells and tastes of so little be so resonant? Smirnoff was popular in Russia in the nineteenth century, but began its conquest of the world in the 1940s as part of the Moscow Mule cocktail. It's now the biggest selling international brand in the world. It tastes of absolutely nothing.