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When I asked this question, the first thought came: “Lord, I found something to think about, vodka is vodka!” Then I decided to go deeper anyway, because the process of making this drink is very different from the rest.
Plus aroma and taste, after all. So I knew perfectly well that the manufacturer simply takes alcohol and dilutes it with water.
And how is it made, from what, why is it called “Lux” on one bottle, and “Extra” on the other? Often come across vodka, where certain properties are also attributed to water.
In some cases, the differences are expressed very clearly, for example, if you take wine. In others, you have to understand the intricacies.
For example, to distinguish vodka with fruit additives from liquor or the same product on pine nuts from tincture. Useful to read articles and watch videos.
Why vodka is different than all other alcohol
The main ingredient of any alcoholic drink, as we know, is ethyl alcohol – C2H5OH.
When we make wine, we throw sugar, fruits or berries into the same jar, wine (some people prefer baker’s) yeast is often added to start a chemical reaction.
The mixture begins to ferment, resulting in alcohol. If the resulting strength of the wine is not enough for us, we add more alcohol. As a rule, in home production, people pour just vodka.
Cognac differs from vodka both in chemical composition and in the preparation process. In the first case, the main raw material for obtaining a drink is grapes, in the latter, cereals, wheat or rye.
Cognac is made practically by distilling wine. The original component is called cognac spirit, which is then poured into oak barrels to age for several years. So it is enough for us to take absolutely any alcoholic drink and each of them cannot be compared with vodka.
In some places there are still old distilleries, although most of these buildings are becoming historical sites. This is the city of Cheboksary.
So, vodka is an aqueous solution of ethyl alcohol obtained as a result of the distillation of mash. To prepare this drink, alcohol is first extracted, and only then water is added – this is a clear line between vodka and everything else that is almost ready to be expelled.
Sometimes flavorings, extracts of fruits, berries or even nuts (cedar) are added when it comes to special vodka.
How is alcohol produced in industry?
In order not to deviate from the topic, I will try to tell you exactly how food alcohol is made – the production of technical C2H5OH is not personally interesting to me. About everything is the same as if we were preparing moonshine at home, only hundreds of times larger – an industrial scale.
In the USSR, the stage of diluting alcohol with water could be taken over!
The ingredients, of course, are selected strictly according to the standard, and not as in moonshine – they threw in everything that will ferment. For the production of food ethanol, components such as:
- grain – wheat, rye;
- molasses is a waste of sugar beets (when sugar is made, everything superfluous is cut off from the beets and goes to mash;
- potatoes and other starchy foods.
In some villages of Ukraine and Moldova, beet moonshine is so common that it has its own name. Residents of border villages call it “buryachanka”, and the modern advanced population even calls it “beetroot”, hinting that good moonshine will put anyone on their feet.
The highest quality alcohol is made from grain; molasses and potatoes are used in the manufacture of ethanol, the quality of which is an order of magnitude lower. It also depends on the degree of purification. Yes, yes, yes, as a result, the same brands “Extra”, “Lux”, “Alpha” and “Higher Purification” are obtained.
Modern distillery, cleaning department. Every year more and more automated devices are installed at such enterprises. Soon this industry will include only robots …
Braga is cooked in huge vats. Since the times of the USSR, instead of malt, various preparations have been used to facilitate fermentation and microorganisms.
The temperature is controlled, other conditions – the mash is distilled on sophisticated equipment (now almost everything is automated there), then filtration takes place.
How are other drinks prepared?
Further, the resulting alcohol is diluted with water of various qualities (melt, spring, “silver” water) until a certain percentage of C2H5OH is reached. Usually “our standard” is 40%, but there are less and more.
For example, in Russia since 2018, a new standard has appeared: vodka has become known as such if the drink contains from 37,5 to 56% ethanol. Then the mixture goes to bottling.
Whatever the alcohol, now they are prepared mainly in large factories. Like these!
Alcohol is also made in a different way. Wine ferments, if necessary – it is fortified, poured. Sparkling wines simply carbonate.
Cognac – wine is distilled and aged in oak barrels. Liqueurs – take alcohol, drive (or insist) through the ingredients, and then swell a large amount of sugar into it.
For the preparation of whiskey, other components are used, from which alcohol is also obtained (similar to vodka, but alcohol is expelled already close in concentration to 40-50%), the same applies to tequila, sambuca.
In short, the production of the rest of the alcohol does not follow the principle of “alcohol (one of the listed brands) + water = finished drink.”
Tinctures are already made by insisting vodka on pine nuts, birch buds, spices. Or insist on this alcohol, and then add water. All this is the subtleties of technology and “secrets of production” that technologists keep like a Coca-Cola recipe and carefully protect from competitors.
And how vodka really differs in its impact
Here it is important to focus on two criteria: what is different from (with what to compare) and what specific impact is in question. If we take wine for comparison, then the differences are as follows:
- intoxication vodka is stronger;
- to taste, it does not have pronounced fruit or berry flavors, unsweetened and non-sour;
- vodka burns the mucous membrane of the mouth, throat, esophagus and so on more strongly.
Vodka differs from brandy only in its effect on taste buds: we will not feel any “oak” and something “fruity-vanilla” from vodka, although the strength is the same.
Some resourceful citizens do not use oak barrels, but simply take chips, making, in fact, a kind of tincture with similar taste
The liquor can, of course, have the same strength, but we remember: the effect on the taste buds will be different due to the ingredients and the huge amount of sugar in the drink.
And finally, when compared with moonshine, then:
- the smell and taste of moonshine is more pronounced, since we will not be able to thoroughly clean the alcohol at home;
- the fortress of moonshine is higher; even if we dilute it with water, then vodka will still not work (see point 1).
And now I would like to raise the following question with you: what is safer (in terms of effects on the body), to buy vodka or make moonshine?
Personally, I have always bought only budget vodka and have never come across a “scorched” drink, although I have heard a lot of stories where people got poisoned even from homemade moonshine. After all, the principle “if you want to do it well, do it yourself” does not disappear anywhere!