It seems that Americans love vodka as much as they love mom, baseball, and apple pie. One out of three cocktails ordered at a bar has vodka in it, and there are more than a thousand brands in the market. Americans go through 66 million cases of the clear spirit every year—more than whiskey, Scotch, and bourbon combined.
Why is it that after a two centuries-long love affair with whiskey and rum, Americans fell in love with a neutral grain spirit with roots in medieval Russia that only arrived here in 1934? And how is it we not only love vodka as much as we do apple pie, but we’re happily drinking apple pie-flavored vodka?
Join Victorino Matus, author of Vodka: How a Colorless, Odorless, Flavorless Spirit Conquered America, as he examines the history of the American vodka phenomenon from its humble origins in the Smirnoff plant in Bethel, Connecticut, through the 1950s and ’60s (when we drank vodka because it “leaves you breathless”) to the 1980s and the arrival of a Swedish brand called Absolut that no major distributor wanted (one suggested a name change to Damn Swede Vodka). Absolut transformed vodka from a rail spirit to a luxury status symbol, and the ensuing years would also see vodka take its place among the products of trendy craft distillers.
But how did Grey Goose make it to the top of the shelf? Is vodka poured out of a crystal skull really any good? And will whiskey ever reclaim the number-one spot in the hearts (and glasses) of Americans? Learn the answers in a lively evening that explores our national intoxication with vodka, followed by a tasting provided by One Eight Distilling of Washington, D.C.
Other Connections
One Vermont distillery is putting a distinctive New England twist on traditional vodka making, using fermented sugars of maple sap instead of potatoes or grain.
