To create a tasty vodka that is balanced in both flavor and alcohol content, Joshua Safeek says that the ingredients used in the process are the most important part. Here, he explains the four most commonly used vodka distilling ingredients and how they can affect the end product.
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| Joshua Safeek |
- Water is a crucial element to the vodka distillation process, and the quality of that water will have a profound impact on the end resulting spirit. Though the water is inevitably flavored by fermentation and other chemical or flavor changes, the type of water used at the beginning can be deciphered in the end. For example, natural spring fed water that has spent greater time underground will have larger contents of minerals that impart their own flavors.
- The creation of alcohol is not possible without the act of fermentation. This fermentation occurs when sugary or starchy vegetables are allowed to break down in a controlled environment. When vodka was first invented centuries ago, the potato was the vegetable of choice as it was prevalent in certain areas of Europe. Today, there are vodkas made from wheat, corn, and rye as well as potatoes.
- If the chosen vegetable for fermentation does not have a knack for releasing its own sugars or converting starches to sucrose, malt meal is introduced into the process.
- Yeast is important to all alcohol production, including vodka. As the yeast eats the sugars from the fermented vegetable and grain sources, they transform those sugars into alcohol says Joshua Safeek.
