What kind of stories do not go around Russian vodka. And viruses kill everything, and can be found literally in every home in Russia. I decided to compare whether the famous Russian vodka, the fame of which goes ahead of the drink itself, is so different, for example, from the Finnish one, and approached this issue thoroughly.
What are similar
It should be noted right away that the basis of both Finnish and Russian vodka is absolutely the same – rectified ethyl alcohol. For example, in Russia they take “Lux”, “Premium”, “Alpha”, etc.
Grain alcohol is also used in both countries. The process for getting the base is similar. To do this, a continuous distillation of the liquid is carried out, with the help of which all salts are removed from it.
In Finland and Russia, alcohol is diluted with water, lowering its concentration. The strength of the drink in both countries is the same – from 38 to 56 percent.
And another common feature is the same culture of drinking vodka. Even as a snack, Finns and Russians choose the same products: pickles, tomatoes, bacon, rye bread, onions and other vegetables from the garden.
What is the difference
It was surprising for me to find out that in our country vodka is not diluted with plain water. It is taken from natural sources: lakes, rivers, springs, melt waters of mountain peaks. But the Finns have a simpler attitude to this ingredient, distilling it.
In Russia, different varieties of rye are used.
This is not so important, because its taste is practically not felt. But in Finland, a special variety of Vasa rye is grown. The price for it is higher than for the Russian analogue. This is due to the size and nutritional value of grains. A distinctive feature of such rye is the absence of taste and smell in the vodka itself.
For me, a Russian person, this is not a completely understandable moment – to spend so much money so that vodka has absolutely no additional flavor. And given that the smell of ethyl alcohol interrupts the rest, the idea seems doubly useless.
But the Finns try to make alcohol as pure as possible, without unnecessary impurities and tastes.
There is some difference in the price of these two types of drinks, but this has nothing to do with the features of the foreign version. This is only a surcharge in the form of taxes for transportation and delivery to the territory of the Russian Federation. If you buy a product in Finland itself, transferring the currency and taking into account the difference in living standards here and there, then the prices would be identical to domestic ones.
My opinion
Despite the recognized authority and the generally accepted opinion that there are no analogues to Russian vodka, I would note that the Finnish version is no worse than the domestic one.
Production technologies have been brought to perfection in both countries. Automation of production is maximum and robots have facilitated the process of making alcohol so much that there are practically no people on the conveyors. Therefore, the recipe, the quantity and ratio of ingredients, the temperature regime are observed with high accuracy, excluding the human factor.
The quality of vodka is monitored responsibly in both countries. In Russia, there is GOST, all products are subject to certification.
If you compare elite alcohol in Finland and ours, you will not feel a significant difference. Another thing, for example, is to compare wine, which can have hundreds of different flavors due to the grape variety. Here, one should make an error on the fact that the technology for the production of vodka is absolutely the same. And ethyl alcohol, as they say, is ethyl alcohol in Africa, which means that the base is the same everywhere.
I would make a small error if the rye varieties somehow influenced the taste of the drink. But this characteristic does not depend on the plant. Therefore, I see no reason to overpay for a foreign brand, because the quality of drinks is identical.