SC - Vodka

[Nanna Rögnvaldardóttir]

Bjarni wrote:

>True, if all we're looking for the the English use of the word.  I don't
>have an historical Russian dictionary, but the earliest quote in OED (where
>Ras probably got his info) is from a traveler's account, reporting on
>extant Russian usage, that must predate the publication.  Any linguists out
>there?


Well, no, but the following is taken from a book on spirits and liqueurs by
wine writer Stuart Walton:

The word vodka is a Russian endearment meaning "little water" from their
word for water, voda. It doesn´t denote the flavourlessness of the spirit,
however, but derives from the widespread linguistic practice in Europe of
referring to all distillates originally as a form of water (as in the Latin
aqua vitae and French eau de vie).

Precisely because it is such a simple drink, it is almost impossible to
pinpoint the origins of vodka historically. A potent spirit distilled from
various grains ... has been made in Poland, Russia and the Baltic states of
Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia since the very early days of distillation in
Europe. But as to were a drink specificially recognizable as vodka first
arose is a matter for the Poles and the Russians to sort out between
themselves. (Most outsiders, it should be said, tend to come down on the
Polish side of the fence these days.)

The discovery of rectification techniques did not take plade until the
beginning of the 19th century, and so these early distillates would have
tasted pretty unclean, to say the least.* Any herbs, seeds or berries that
were to hand would be steeped in the spirit to mask its rankness. So the
first vodkas were not the anonymous products preferred today, but the true
ancestors of the flavoured vodkas that are sometimes greeted as nothing more
than novelty items by modern drinkers.

*) I can vouch for that, having drunk my share of moonshine Icelandic vodka
in my tender youth.

The following is taken from the website of a White Russian vodka importer:

Vodka was created sometime in the twelfth century, probably in Russia,
possibly Poland, perhaps even Persia. Starting out as a crude, rye-based
spirit used for medical purposes, vodka was known in Russian as zhiznennia
voda.

In the 1540s the Russian tsar Ivan 'the Terrible' established his own
network of distilling taverns and ensured that the profits went straight
into the imperial treasury. He outlawed taverns that were outside his
control and put a ban on distilling by potential rivals. He kept his options
open, however! He was always in need of the support of the nobility, so he
allowed them to continue distilling Vodka.

Restrictions and threats of savage punishment didn't dampen the enthusiasm
of people for vodka-making. Secret distilling survived through the next
century. At the same time the tsar's taverns flourished and grew in number
to such an extent that, by the late seventeenth century, a visitor to Russia
remarked that they outnumbered bath-houses.

Successive rulers tightened their monopoly on Vodka distilling but continued
to curry favor with the nobility, gentry and government officials by
granting them distilling rights. Thus, in addition to its social role, Vodka
had considerable political and economic significance in Russia.

>From the beginning of the seventeenth century it had become customary for
Vodka to be served at Russian imperial banquets. All formal meals began with
bread and Vodka. Vodka was also drunk ceremonially at religious festivals
and in church ritual, and to refuse to partake could be considered impious.

Nanna


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