There is an anecdote that it makes reference to a Prince of Kiev in what is now Ukrine, 988 A.D. He decide it was time for his people to convert from their pagan religion to one of the civilized countries down the south. After meeting with Jewish rabbis, Moslem mullahs and finally came the Christians priest who informed him that not only could good Christians drink alcohol, but that was actually required for church. That was enough good argument for the Prince.

The point of this historical anecdote is that the Slavic peoples of the north and their Scandinavian neighbors took alcoholic drinks very seriously. The extreme cold temperatures of winter could freeze the shipment of wines and beers as they are relatively low-proof beverages. Until the introduction of distilling into Eastern Europe in the 1400’s, strong drink was made by fermenting strong wines, meads, and beers, freezing them, and then drawing off the alcohol from the frozen water.

Vodka is the dominant spirit of Eastern Europe. It is made by fermenting and distilling the simple sugars from a mash of pale grain or vegetal matter.

Vodka is produce from grain, potatoes, molasses, beets, and a variety of other plants.

The choice of pot or column still has a fundamental effect on the final character of Vodka. Column stills produces usually a more neutral, characterless spirit.

Except for a few minor styles, Vodka is not put in wooden cask or aged for an extensive period of time. It can, however, be flavored or colored with a wide variety of fruits, herbs and spices.

There are no uniform classifications of Vodka.

In Poland, Vodkas are graded according to their degree of purity:

 -  zwykly standard

 -  wyborowy premium

 -  luksusowy deluxe

In Russia a superior quality product that can be exported is labeled

 - osobaya  special

 - while Krepkaya (strong) denotes an overproof Vodka.

Since Vodka tends to be a neutral spirit , it lends itself to blending with flavors and fortifying other beverages.

Flavored vodkas have been produced from the start, originally to mask the flavor of the first primitive Vodkas.

Limonnaya , Kubanskaya , Okhotnichiya , Pertsovka , Starka , Zubrovka

- Vodka is Poland’s national drink and the Polish word ‘wodka’ can be traced back to the 14^th century. Allegedly, during the period of soviet dominance, evidence of vodka’s Polish origin was covered up. Rye is the most popular grain from which Polish vodka is produced, but Poland is also noted for the distillation of vodka from potatoes. Most families prepared vodkas, often flavoring them with fruits and herbs.

Outstanding brands: Chopin, Belvedere, Cracovia, Cytrynowka, Starka, Wyborowa, Zubrowka.

- Russians are believed to have been producing a kind of spirit as early as the end of the 9^th century- like the Poles, probably by freezing wine or mead. Distillation appears to have reached Russia in the mid-15^th century, after a Russian delegation visited Italian monasteries to learn the secrets of the monks. The first quality Russian vodkas were produced in 1780 when the Russian Tsar hired a chemist, Theodore Lowitz, to make the national drink more hygienic. He invented a technique for purifying the spirit by filtration through charcoal.

Outstanding brands: Moskovskaya, Rodnik, Smirnoff, Stolichnaya, Stoli Razberri, Stoli Vanilla, Stoli Elite.

- Outstanding brands: Absolute, Absolute Citron, Absolute Mandarin, Svensk, Seriously.

- Outstanding brands: Grey Goose, Grey goose L’Orange, Vertical Vodka.

- Outstanding brands: Ketel One, Ketel One Citron.

- Outstanding brands: Finlandia.

- Outstanding brands: Polstar.

- Outstanding brands: Skyy, Hanger One, Ciroc, Mezzaluna, Rain.

- Outstanding brands: Danzka.

- Outstanding brands: Boru Vodka.

- Outstanding brands: Tanqueray Vodka, Blavod.