Vodka (Russian: водка) is a distilled liquor composed solely of water and ethyl alcohol with possible traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made from a fermented substance of either grain, rye, wheat, potatoes, or sugar beet molasses.
Vodka’s alcoholic content usually ranges between 35 to 50 per cent by volume; the standard Russian, Lithuanian, and Polish vodkas are 40 per cent alcohol by volume (80 proof).
Historically, this alcoholic-pr...
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Vodka (Russian: водка) is a distilled liquor composed solely of water and ethyl alcohol with possible traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made from a fermented substance of either grain, rye, wheat, potatoes, or sugar beet molasses.
Vodka’s alcoholic content usually ranges between 35 to 50 per cent by volume; the standard Russian, Lithuanian, and Polish vodkas are 40 per cent alcohol by volume (80 proof).
Historically, this alcoholic-proof standard derives from the Russian vodka quality standards established by Tsar Alexander III in 1894. The Muscovite Vodka Museum reports that chemist Dmitri Mendeleev determined the ideal alcohol content as 38 per cent; however because in that time distilled spirits were taxed per their alcoholic strength, that percentage was rounded upwards to 40 per cent for simplified taxation calculations.
For such a liquor to be denominated “vodka,” governments establish a minimal alcoholic proof; the European Union established 37.5 percent alcohol by...
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