The history of vodka explains that the word “vodka” was written for the first time in 1405 in the documents Akta Grodzkie recorder of deeds, in the court documents from the Palatinate of Sandomierz in Poland during the ruling of king Ladislas II Jagiello. The context referred to medicines and cosmetic products.
The first Russian vodka recipe was created by Isadore the Monk in 1430while being detained at the Chudov Monastery in Moscow ( The Monastery was founded in the Moscow Kremlin in 1358 by Metropolitan Alexius of Moscow), and it was a bread wine, which had a alcohol content (no more than 40% alcohol) and many people referred to it as “burning wine”.
A type of distilled liquor close to one that would later become generally designated by the Russian word vodka came to Russia in the late 14th century.
In 1386 the Genoese ambassadors brought the first aqua vitae (“the living water”) to Moscow and presented it to Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy, who previously had defeated Tatar-Mongols and their Genoese mercenaries in the remarkable large-scale Battle of Kulikovo in 1380.
The Genoese likely got this beverage with the help of the alchemists of Provence, France, who used the Arab-invented distillation apparatus to convert grape must into alcohol.
Since Islam prohibited the drinking of any alcoholic beverages for Arabs, they used alcohol mainly for the production of perfumes.
In Christian Europe, however, the aqua vitae became the predecessor of all modern strong alcoholic beverages, including brandy, whisky, schnapps and Russian vodka.
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 June 8, 1751, which regulated the ownership of vodka distilleries in Russia.
The liquid that was obtained as a result of distillation of grape must was thought to be a concentrate and a “spirit” of wine (spiritus vini in Latin).
The worldwide recognition of this drink did not come until World War II, the historic moment when vodka came into the hands of the Americans.
While the history of vodka shows that vodka production started in Sweden in the late 15th century, it wasn’t until the late 18th century that Swedish vodka production expanded. Potatoes became the main product used in the Swedish distillation process and distillery equipment also got better throughout the 19th century.
Poland also had a history of vodka around the same time period in the early 1400s. Vodka was commonly used as a medicine in the early days in Poland, but in the early 1500s, Polish writers discovered that vodka could be used for other purposes, such as for an increase in fertility and lust. There are many historic Polish vodka blends that are dated back to the 16th century, the 17th century, and the 18th century. Obviously, as time went on, vodka in Poland became more widely accepted as a casual drink and not just a medicinal remedy.
The Russian tsar Nicholas Pavlovich I asked for more purity and understood the great business that this drink could mean. Thanks to the new technique of column distillation, launched on the market in 1826 by Robert Stein and improved by Irish inventor and distiller Aeneas Coffey in 1831, due to obvious cost and installation issues, Vodka started to be produced exclusively by large houses. This allowed the production of more refined vodkas with a rectification close to today’s standards.
While most vodkas go unflavored, there is a flavoring process that has become a part of the history of vodka over time. Flavored vodka is a big side market in the vodka industry today.
In the early days, vodka flavoring was originally created to make vodka taste better when used for medicinal purposes. Some of the flavors that were added to home vodka mixtures included red pepper, ginger, and fruit flavors. Over time, flavored vodka has become a part of production with flavors being very varied from fruit to cinnamon to exotic fruits and more.
