Russian vodka is presented today in any more or less decent store anywhere in Russia with at least 20-30 kinds. The drink is a mixture of alcohol obtained on a distillation column, and purified prepared water. But the drink called "vodka" has been known since 1386 (six years after the memorable Battle of Kulikovo), and the distillation column was invented by the French already in the 19th century.
So when did vodka appear in Russia, what was it like and what are we buying in the store now?
What our ancestors drank from ancient times
The process of sublimation was not always. But spirits have been known since writing. The tribes living in the vastness of South America and Africa, in order to cheer themselves up, ate the sweet fruits of some plants that began to roam.
It's all about microscopic fungi - yeast. In simple terms, these microorganisms feed on sugar, and produce ethyl alcohol C 2 H 5 (OH). Wild yeast lives on the skin of many types of berries and fruits. And when vodka appeared in Russia, the fermentation process was well known.
The Slavs used fermentation products without distillation, in its purest form. There was no sugar in those days either, so honey or sweet fruits were food for yeast. Today, however, not everyone knows the recipe for how to cook real drinking honey, how to ferment kvass.
Also in Russia, mainly in the agrarian regions, many drinks were made on the basis of grain malt - barley, rye. These are the same kvass. In addition, beer was brewed from germinated grain. Malt from millet was also used, on the basis of which they prepared a drink adopted from the Tatars - buzu.
Who invented to distill
The one who invented vodka in Russia did not make a revolution in the history of alcoholic beverages. The earliest mentions of the distillation process discovered by historians date back to the first century A.D. e. It was used, if you believe the hieroglyphs, not for drinking. Ancient Greek alchemists tried using it to boil gold, create philosophical stones.
Distillation was developed in the Ancient East in the XI-XII centuries. The East was famous for the achievements of medicine, the distillation product was used by aesculapius for the preparation of potions and medicines (alcohol dissolves various active substances much more effectively than water, with it you can prepare much more effective extracts from plants). That is, alcohol has already begun to be consumed, however, so far only for medicinal purposes.
Europe, cognac and perfumery
Around the middle of the 12th century, distillation became widespread in Europe. At first, distillation was used, like that of the Arabs, for the preparation of medicines and in chemical experiments. But the French would not be themselves if they did not give the distillate another use - the production of cosmetics. When vodka appeared in Russia, people in Europe already used alcohol with might and main, including for drinking inside.
An interesting story is the emergence of cognac - one of the most elite drinks of our time. Historians say that, strangely enough, the crisis was to blame.
The overproduction of wine in one of the French cities has led to the fact that huge stocks of this drink have accumulated in warehouses. The wine was sour, spoiled and promised the owner big losses. And then it was decided to distill it all into grape spirit.
Then another crisis, due to which grape spirit, which had not been in demand for a long time, lay forgotten in oak barrels for several years.
The liquid subsequently recovered from the barrels was striking in its properties. In addition to the unusual taste and aroma, it, unlike wines, could be stored for an arbitrarily long time and transported at any distance.
Who taught to "drive" Russian
It is not known exactly in which year vodka appeared in Russia, but chronicles have been preserved that for the first time the product of distillation, namely grape spirit, was donated to Dmitry Donskoy by Genoese merchants. The further fate of the gift is unknown, in any case, the drink did not receive distribution this time.
Repeatedly, merchants brought to Russia already a large shipment of alcohol, this was during the reign of Basil II of the Dark in 1429. It is curious that the second time, when vodka appeared in Russia, it did not cause the enthusiasm of the ruling class. Moreover, the drink was found to be harmful and banned for import into the Moscow Principality.
When did vodka become a Russian drink
The development of production and use of vodka in Moscow lands is usually associated with the name of Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible. In what century did vodka in Russia originate from its own production? The most likely period is the end of the XV - beginning of the XVI centuries. Despite the ban, noble nobles, as well as monks in monasteries, slowly drove her to the estates.
It is known for certain that John IV ordered the establishment of sovereign distilleries where vodka was produced and sold. Initially, institutions made a drink exclusively for the royal oprichnina and archers. However, soon, realizing the benefits of the sale of alcohol, Grozny ordered the establishment of taverns for all classes.
The domestic production of alcoholic beverages, including low-alcohol fermentation products, was strictly prohibited. And there were not many daredevils to disobey Ivan the Terrible.
What was the real “Russian vodka”?
As is already clear from the story, the history of the emergence of vodka in Russia, real vodka is the story of the emergence of refined grain moonshine, the very one that is still being driven somewhere in the villages. It was this drink that was the original Russian vodka.
Sugar in those days was unknown, so either sweet fruit (the middle strip is not so rich in it) or malt - sprouted and dried grain could serve as “food” for yeast, everything was fine with it in Muscovy during the harvest years.
The grain was scattered in an even layer and covered with a damp cloth. After a while, sprouts appeared, the grain acquired a sweet taste. After that, the material was dried in an oven, frayed by hands and sieved. Thus, the seeds were cleaned of sprouts and roots. This was followed by grinding in a mill.
Fermented berries were used instead of bread yeast. In general, in large enterprises, a part of the already working mash was simply taken and added to the fresh one.
They drove vodka, or "bread wine," blindly. This method of production can still be found. This is what happens when there is no moonshine still, but you really want to drink.
Russian vodka on the estates
Some Russian vodka is undeservedly considered a drink primitive, rough with low taste. But the history of the appearance of vodka in Russia is akin to the history of cognac. At first, when the distillation of grape raw materials was done in one go, they used the whole product for drinking without controlling the temperature regime. The quality of the drink was hardly better than the most nasty moonshine.
In the XVIII-XIX centuries, the Russian landlords made a completely different drink than the one that produced the terrible king’s distilleries. We note the appearance of vodka in Russia purified on charcoal, obtained on a device with a coil.
The distillation began to be done twice, and in the process itself they began to select only the middle, clean from both methyl impurities (“heads”) and heavy fusel oils (“tails”).
From generation to generation, recipes for tinctures on various herbs have been passed on. And if we take into account the fact that in those days the properties of plants were not better known than they are now (people knew when to pick herbs and how to store them), we can assume that the result was corresponding.
Ladies prepared a special "female" vodka. This drink has a lot of names: spotkach, cordial, rataphia. They made rataphia from all kinds of fruits and berries. The highest chic was to have liquids in the house:
- apricot;
- lingonberry,
- cherry;
- blueberry.
And so on throughout the alphabet to the letter “I”. Here's a drink, our vodka.
Russian vodka is one of the victims of the First World War
The production of vodka from grain is not cheap. At the beginning of the 19th century, a distillation column was invented in France. From any fermented raw material (sugar beets, frozen potatoes) it was possible to obtain ethanol of the highest purification. Nobody was going to use this alcohol for ingestion, they used it as a technical one.
In Russia, this equipment began to appear in the 1860s. And almost immediately, they began to use alcohol for the preparation of hard liquors, while in small batches and as an experiment.
Then the First World War broke out. On the battlefields, Russia equipped an army of many thousands. It was too wasteful to produce vodka for the front hundred grams from then scarce bread, and here the distillation column served as a real salvation of the tsarist budget. The Bolsheviks, having taken power, did not change anything. And why, such help to the budget!
Vodka and Mendeleev
Often you hear a lot of fables where vodka came from in Russia. Many of these absurd tales are associated with the name of the great Russian scientist Dmitry Mendeleev. For example, on many resources you can find "historical" evidence that Mendeleev:
- was a drunkard;
- by order of the government, he determined that vodka should have a fortress of 40%;
- once drunk to such an extent that in a dream he appeared to his famous periodic table of elements.
Dmitry Ivanovich is really related to 40%, but this figure has nothing to do with an alcoholic beverage. With this concentration of a solution of alcohol and water, the maximum mutual penetration of molecules is achieved.
As regards everything else - nothing more than fairy tales, often invented outside the territory of Russia, like the Potemkin villages or drunken Russian dances to the accordion with wild bears.