The Big History of 'Little Water'

If vodka is Russia's national drink, its moment of glory is surely New Year's Eve, when oceans of the liquid are downed with gusto.


Whether you favor pricey Absolut or traditional Stolichnaya, or even if alcohol-induced frivolity is not what you are after, you should not greet the New Year without knowing a few basics about vodka. Hence, a brief primer.


It does not take a Ph.D. in etymology to guess that vodka is a diminutive of voda, literally meaning "little water."


After all, both water and vodka are colorless, odorless and tasteless -- at least in theory, although Moscow city water doesn't match the description too well in practice.


The relationship to water may be why the author of the Soviet-era publication "History of Russian Vodka" blithely states that "Russian vodka is a drink for those who wish to stay sober even after a few drinks of this strong liquor."


But it is not vodka's effects that make it a cousin of water. It is the fact that water is essential to its preparation and contributes to its lack of taste.


Russia's favorite drink is made from grain, berries or potato alcohol distilled several times, and then cut with enough water to give a 40 proof concoction.


"Vodka is made from aqua vitae, the water that gives life," says Sergei Borisov, commercial director of Peter Smirnov and Descendants, referring to the 70-proof alcohol which, cut with water, produces vodka.


Today, it seems as if Russia never existed without vodka. But it was not always what is now recognized as the national beverage. According to the "History of Russian Vodka," the term vodka was used to refer to "a top quality beverage, a liquor of home production, based on lengthy and thorough refinement." Regular grain alcohols were commonly known as bread wine (khlebnoye vino), or table wine (stolovoye vino), as still advertised on bottles of the Russian Smirnoff vodka.


The Dictionary of the Russian Language of the 11th to 12th Century defines vodka not just as an alcoholic drink, but also as a medicinal infusion made from herbs or berries.


So when was vodka as we know it called vodka?


One story, heard from Russian acquaintances who swear by it, harks back to the time of Peter the Great. During a meal he had with German guests, the tsar raised his glass of zele, an alcohol made from herbs, pronounced the traditional "to your health," drank, and put his glass back on the table with a loud "Vot kak!" Instead of understanding that he had said, "That's how it should be done," the Germans thought the tsar was repeating the name of the drink, and then started using the word "vodka" for Russian alcohol.


A version more truthful to history says that the word "vodka" was not widely used in Russia until the late 19th century. In 1884, according to the "History of Russian Vodka," the Russian government set up a committee of scientists to control the quality of the potent drink.


The committee introduced production norms, including the obligation for vodka makers to produce a 40-proof drink. Dmitry Mendeleyev, a committee member, suggested using the name vodka for all grain alcohol.


By the end of the 19th century, vodka production was standardized, and most distilleries had adopted the term vodka. So it has only been a century since vodka become the official name of the drink.


Whatever it has been called, however, the effects of the powerful potion have always been the same. And so, in anticipation of the holiday times ahead, do not forget the first treatment for over-imbibing: Drink copious amounts of water -- the real stuff, not the little version.