White Paper: Spirits Assignment
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White Paper: Spirits Assignment
Chosen Spirit
Vodka is the chosen spirit that will be analyzed in this paper. It is a spirit that is associated with three countries-Russia, Sweden, and Poland. It is a clear distilled alcohol with various varieties originating from these countries. The alcohol components include ethanol and water, even though some poor qualities have traces of flavorings or impurities. The alcoholic beverage is made through the distillation of liquid from fermented cereal grains. However, there has been the use of fermented potatoes in distilling the alcohol as it is a substitute for making the alcoholic beverage. There may also be a distillation of fruits, maple sap, and fruits in the present times, as these also offer an essential substitute. Since its introduction in the 1890s, the standard alcohol by volume (ABV) content has been 40 percent or 80 US proof. The EU also established that the required alcohol content for beverage should be thirty-seven and a half percent. However, the minimum alcohol content for the United States vodka should be forty percent. In conventional times, alcohol is taken neat, which implies that it should not be mixed with ice, water, or any other mixer. It also served freezer chilled in countries like Poland, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Iceland, Finland, Estonia, and Belarus. However, it can also be used as a cocktail and mixed with other drinks like a vodka tonic, vodka martini, screwdriver, cosmopolitan, greyhound, white/black Russian, blood Mary, Caesar, and Moscow mule.
The vodka drink was previously being used as a medicinal agent. However, it has been turned into an alcoholic beverage and became one of the world’s selling beverages. In 2012, more than 4.44 billion liters of the drink were sold, making it the most popular brand. For the product’s production, there is a need to ferment food products that contain sugar and starch. The product obtained from the fermentation will be distilled, which will be critically important for improving the alcoholic content. Fermentation is a process that feeds sugar to yeast, which will ensure the production of the alcoholic content. The alcoholic beverage is currently made from corn, sorghum, rye, rice, wheat, and the previously mentioned products. The manufacturing policies use them as the primary source of producing alcohol. When these products had been fermented, the alcohol content made is sixteen percent alcohol by volume, significantly a low level of alcohol in the products. For the level of alcohol content to be improved, there is a need for upping it. This requires various distillation, or the spirit is being heated in a container known as a still. Because it has a low boiling point than water, there can be a collection of the evaporated alcohol, making it easy to be separated from the water content. The final product will be between 30% and 40% ABV. Other brands known as rectified spirits even reach between 95 and 96% ABV in the United States.
Manufacturers
The first brands of vodka were produced between the 8th and 9th centuries in Poland and Russia. During the Napoleon wars, the popularity of the product spread through the Russian soldiers. After the Russian revolution, there was a relocation of one manufacturer who moved to Paris, France and started producing the product in the capital. He started making a brand known as Smirnoff.
Historians have not provided the exact origin of the product. It is thought to have been established between the 8th and 9th centuries in Poland and Russia. The old brands of the product were fermented, which provided a 14 percent ABV. Sometimes, there is the addition of flavors to ensure an increased flavor and had medicinal purposes. After the invention of still, there is an improved alcohol proof and purity. Some will have an ABV of between 95 and 96%. Between the 12th and 13th centuries, there was spirit production in Russia, Scandinavia, and Poland. In the eighteenth century, Russians became the first group of people to involve charcoal in filtering the product. This was essential in removing the impurities and improving its qualities.
During the pre-prohibition period, the alcoholic beverage was unknown to the residents of the United States. The main products offered in bars included flavored gin, whiskey, and brandy. However, Smirnoff created the first vodka in the United States in 1934 as it launched a campaign that increased its customer base in the country. Besides, there was also the creation of a ginger beer cocktail known as Moscow Mule. They used a campaign, “Smirnoff will leave you breathless.” In 1967, it became the number one selling spirit in the United States, surpassing the gin spirit. Vodka can be made from any product that has fermentable sugars. However, when potatoes have been used, there will be a production of creamier vodkas. Rye will produce a spicy spirit, and grapes will provide a delicate floral spirit.
There are a few regulations for the manufacturing companies producing vodka. The use of still has enabled manufacturing companies to create a high production level because of the increased alcohol content. The premium version of the product can also be made by using a pot still. In this regard, the brand’s filtration will occur on various occasions while being tested until the needed alcohol content is reached. The flirtation is also essential in removing the product’s impurities, which has been an effective way the manufacturing companies are using to market their products. The base materials useful for the distillation of the product will also be determining the flavor, aroma, and overall style. The number of times that the product is being filtered will be choosing the aroma and flavors. After filtration, it will be bottled unaged and must have forty percent alcohol by volume (80 proof), as required in the United States (Wiśniewska et al., 2015). Because of no regulations, it is known as a neutral grain spirit; besides, the primary method that is used in making the brand is through fermentation and distillation of products like rye, corn, wheat, and other grains that can provide starch, fermented using yeast. The potato vodka has mainly been produced among polish manufacturers and also other Scandinavian countries, as provided by Ciepielowski et al. (2019). Any grain can be used in the distillation of the product.
It is a rectified spirit, which implies that it is distilled at least three times during the manufacturing process, depending on the manufacturing company’s desirable qualities. Some companies carry distillation from five or more times, which has become a common practice as the manufacturing companies use this in broadcasting their products. It is assumed that the increased distillation makes the product to be smoother and cleaner. It is also essential in removing purity and increasing alcohol content. As the vodka product is made to go through the still system, there is removing heads and tails. It refers to parts that of the distillate located on the bottom and top of the produced batch. By removing the distillate’s heart, there are fewer impurities, making the final product become cleaner.
After the distillation process, there will be filtration where charcoal is useful. The alcoholic beverage does not age, and it can be taken as long as there is the spirit’s production. However, the water still gives in the bottling proof where the final product should be 40%, as provided by Prentice & Handsjuk (2016). Even though it is challenging for manufacturing companies to produce 100-proof vodka or higher proof, they are available.
Description of the Product Available
Vodka is defined as an unaged, clear spirit produced when there is the fermentation of sugars. The sugars are sourced from rye, wheat, barley, which are the common forms of products. However, it can also be sourced from grapes, potatoes, honey. The legal definition of vodka provides that it is an odorless, colorless, and flavorless alcoholic beverage. However, it can have different tastes and aromas depending on the flavors added by manufacturing companies. Besides, most of the time, vodka is made from neutral bulk spirits and water. Quality vodka is subtle compared to the other spirits. Again, it has a citrusy and creamy taste and even malty.
Vodka alcoholic beverage has a neutral taste. It relies on water, as this is one of the components of the product. The manufacturing companies may use different brand brags and some ultra-clean source of water to create the product. It cannot be substituted when manufacturing, as it is only essential during distillation and the bottling process. Vodka has no distinct taste, as the stylistic difference of the alcoholic beverages when used in terms of tongues texture, known as mouthfeel. There are various brands like Absolut, which is a silky, oily, and sweet taste. There are others like Stolichnaya are clean-watery and have medicinal value. The current brands of vodka tastes are challenging to be pinpointed.
Because of the various brands, others are not entirely odorless/tasteless, making them have differences. It has a subtle flavor and often looks like a clear grain. When a drunkard uses various brands of the product, they will start identifying multiple tastes. Besides, the vodka heat is also a common term that is useful in describing the taste of the alcoholic beverage, as it refers to the burn that one feels at the back on the tongue/throat when they drink it straight. It is an indication of the smoothness of the alcoholic beverage. The care will only create the heat that the manufacturing companies take to ensure clean vodka products. It is determined by the number of distillation and filtration product that the product is made to undergo. Less expensive brands of the product will burn the mouth and throat of users. The premium brands are different, as they will be not only subtle but also smooth.
The most common flavor of the spirit is citrus (regardless of if it’s single fruit or blended). The spirit also has a vanilla flavor. Berries, pineapples, melons, pomegranate, and various types of fruits provide flavor to the spirit. In recent times, there have been chocolate flavors, which is becoming a new category of tastes. There are other flavors like bacon, salmon, tobacco, and hemp, even though these flavors are not long-lasting in the market. The traditional infusion method is used in giving the flavors of the spirits. However, natural and artificial flavors can be used in providing the vodka flavors. Because of the additive use, the bottled spirits are supposed to be 70 proof, as Ellis et al. (2019) provided. It is also possible to make the product and give it flavor, as fresh fruits, spices, or herbs can be used.
References
Ciepielowski, G., Pacholczyk‐Sienicka, B., Frączek, T., Klajman, K., Paneth, P., & Albrecht, Ł. (2019). Comparison of quantitative NMR and IRMS for the authentication of ‘Polish Vodka.’ Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 99(1), 263-268.
Ellis, D. I., Muhamadali, H., Xu, Y., Eccles, R., Goodall, I., & Goodacre, R. (2019). Rapid through-container detection of fake spirits and methanol quantification with handheld Raman spectroscopy. Analyst, 144(1), 324-330.
Prentice, C., & Handsjuk, N. (2016). Insights into Vodka consumer attitude and purchasing behaviors. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 32, 7-14.
Wiśniewska, P., Śliwińska, M., Dymerski, T., Wardencki, W., & Namieśnik, J. (2015). The analysis of vodka: a review paper. Food Analytical Methods, 8(8), 2000-2010.