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Black vodka is an exotic drink. In most cases, it is purchased to create a special atmosphere at a party or used in cocktails. The drink differs from traditional vodka only in color, as manufacturers try to maintain standard organoleptic indicators, and a dark shade is achieved using vegetable dyes with a neutral taste.
History of black vodka
The idea of creating black vodka came from the British marketer Mark Dorman during his business trip to San Francisco. The businessman himself said that the idea came to him while visiting one of the city bars, where there was a choice of about thirty varieties of vodka and only two types of coffee – black or with cream. Then the entrepreneur decided to develop a strong drink, which, with its unusual color, will surely attract the attention of visitors to drinking establishments.
Mark Dorman invested 500 thousand pounds of savings in his own independent company, which began experimenting with the coloring of alcohol. The difficulty in working on a new product was that ordinary vegetable dyes changed the taste of the drink, which did not satisfy the entrepreneur. The question was solved by an extract from the bark of the Burmese acacia catechu, which has been used for centuries by the natives for tanning leather. The herbal additive stained ethanol black, but did not affect its organoleptic characteristics in any way.
The presentation of the new Blavod vodka (short for Black vodka) took place in 1998. The company immediately managed to conclude contracts with major UK pub chains and for some time the brand remained a bestseller even without serious investments in advertising.
However, a small independent company with one product could not compete with the giants of the industry. Mark Dorman tried to attract investment to expand production, but ended up in debt and left his post in 2002 to pursue other projects. Now the brand is owned by the British company Distil plc.
The premium vodka is based on double-filtered grain alcohol, which has undergone a triple distillation. The taste is sweetish, without alcohol sharpness, with a slightly noticeable herbal tint. When mixed with other ingredients, Blavod gives unusual and vibrant colors to cocktails. The product is produced in small batches.
The peak of popularity of black vodka falls on Halloween.
Other famous brands of black vodka
Black Forty
Inspired by the success of the British, the Italian company Allied Brands has released its version of Black Forty black vodka, which is also colored with catechu bark extract. The distillate is made from durum wheat grown in southern Italy. Alcohol is obtained by triple distillation of grain raw materials. A drink with a characteristic vodka aroma has a smooth taste without aggressive notes.
Alexander Pushkin Black Vodka
At the heart of Alexander Pushkin Black Vodka is a dye made from humic acids and premium-class vodka “Alexander Pushkin”, created according to a family recipe of the direct descendants of the poet. Dark-colored substances are found in peat and are used in folk medicine to cleanse the body. The method of staining ethanol with humins is patented by the Czech company Fruko-Schulz, a well-known manufacturer of absinthe. Vodka has a slightly bitter aftertaste.
Russian black vodka is produced at the Khlebnaya Sleza LLC plant in Nizhny Novgorod. As part of the forty-degree tincture – alcohol “Lux”, black carrot juice and milk thistle extract, it was not without food coloring. Each bottle is assigned an individual number. The taste of the drink is mild, so the vodka is easy to drink and complements cocktails well.
How to drink black vodka
The taste of black vodka is not much different from the usual, so you can drink it chilled with a classic snack. Since the release of the first batch of Blavod, the company has developed about a dozen types of cocktails, the recipes of which are posted on the official website of the brand.
The most popular is Blavod Manhattan: add 100 ml of vodka and 50 ml of cherry bitter to 20 ml of vermouth, then mix in a shaker and pour into a martini glass. The result is a drink with a rich reddish hue, reminiscent of blood.