Vodka From
Our Village
Vodka Explained
Vodka is the number one internationally distributed spirit in the world today. Let’s look at how it’s typically made.
There are three key factors to consider:
― The raw ingredients used to make the product
― The water used and how it’s treated
― How it’s produced
Raw Ingredients
You can make vodka from pretty much anything with a starch or carbohydrate content. That used to be mainly potatoes, wheat or rye but in recent years we’ve seen a rise in grape vodka, corn vodka and even quinoa vodka.
Whatever you use, the raw ingredient, where it’s from and how it’s grown will dictate the taste and flavor profile of your vodka, not to mention how it’s made.
Water
Most of what’s in a bottle of vodka is actually water. So the quality of that water makes a big difference. What do we mean by water quality? Well, without breaking out the lab coats and safety goggles, simply this – the less pure or more polluted by human hand the water is, the more treatment will be needed to make crystal clear vodka.
Water also dictates mouthfeel, which is pretty crucial to vodka enjoyment, though some providers get around this artificially, by adding an oil or rounder.
The best water for making vodka comes from places far away from mankind. You might have to go to the ends of the earth or at least deep below the earth where the water is untouched by humankind and naturally pure.
Production Methods
Originally, the only way to distill spirits was using a pot still. For vodka, though, you need to dial up the alcohol content to a minimum of 96% ABV, which isn’t economical with a pot still. Some brands do still make a small percentage of their vodka this way, but by far the most widely used method for distilling vodka is Continuous Distillation in column stills.
As the name suggests, this involves a continual process of refining – or purifying – the spirit until it reaches exactly the strength the master distiller is aiming for, up to 96% ABV.
Typically, this is done using three or four columns, but the number varies. What’s more important is not to confuse the number of columns with the number of times the product is distilled. The liquid is actually distilled thousands of times.
Filtration is another area that requires clarity, literally. Vodka producers generally have a choice between: barrier or inert filters, which simply ensure no unwanted particles end up in the finished product; and active filters, such as activated charcoal, which work at the molecular level, actively removing certain chemicals from the spirit.
We say ‘certain chemicals’ but active filtration is a lot less selective than that – more trawl net, less rod and reel. Along with unwanted compounds, it also scoops up subtle flavors and textures from the original ingredients, which others value. For this reason, charcoal filtration can be used as a quick fix to mask poorly distilled spirit.
Producing a spirit of such a high quality that it doesn’t need any charcoal filtration requires much more skill.
Some vodka producers play around with their product in other ways, such as adding sugars, citrus acid or glycerin to give a different dimension. More common among cheaper brands, this ‘rounding’ is another way of masking poorly distilled vodka.
Made with love in Åhus
How and where we make Absolut Vodka truly sets it apart.
Every drop of Absolut is made in the small village of Åhus in Skåne, in southern Sweden.
Why here? Because this region provides the perfect environment for growing one of the two key ingredients in our vodka – winter wheat.
