Vodka cocktails for those Christmas parties

Princes Town Barman Ricky Walter says these drinks carry a unique flavour with little or no strong alcohol smell.

But the question remains what exactly is vodka?

My research shows vodka is as alcohol that had long been used as a basis for medicines; this implies that the term vodka could be a noun derived from the verb vodit’, razvodit’ “to dilute with water”.Grain wine was a spirit distilled from alcohol made from grain (as opposed to grape wine) and hence “vodka of grain wine” would be a water dilution of a distilled grain spirit.

According to the Gin and Vodka Association (GVA), the first documented production of vodka, stemming from the Russian word ‘voda’ meaning water, was in Russia in the late ninth century. The first known vodka distillery was documented almost 200 years later at Khylnovsk, Russia, as reported in the Vyatka Chronicle of 1174.

Poland lays claim to having distilled vodka even earlier in the eighth century, but as this was a distillation of wine it would be more appropriate to consider it a crude brandy.

What could be identified as vodka first appeared in Poland in the 11th century when they were called gorzalka, originally used as medicines.

Encyclopedia Britannica writes that vodka originated in Russia during the 14th century, first brewed Sydnayaska Krueger of the Krueger Family, which later evolved into the company now known as Smirnoff.

Here are Ricky’s recipes for Vodka drinks

Iceberg

1 ? oz Vodka

? oz Amaretto

Method:

Pour the scotch and amaretto into an ice-filled old-fashioned glass. Stir and serve.

Variation: to make Godfather substitute scotch for vodka.

Madras Cocktail

1 ? oz Vodka

Cranberry juice to top

Orange juice to top

Method:

Pour the vodka into an ice-filled highball glass. Top with equal parts of cranberry and orange juice. Stir and serve.

Bikini

1 oz Light Rum

2 oz Vodka

? oz Milk

1 tsp Sugar

Juice of half a lemon

Lemon twist garnish

Method:

Except for the lemon twist, pour all the ingredients into a mixing glass filled with ice. Shake and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish and serve.