Dear God
In this country, vodka gives white a bad name. It's an odorless, insipid mixer that only serves as a means to an end or a dull cohort for cranberry juice. There is so much more to the clear-spirits rainbow than this underachiever. Spiced, luscious, and primed for food, aquavit is the anti-vodka. The word aquavit, and its language-specific variations (such as the French eau de vie), comes from the Latin aqua vitae, "water of life." The liquor we know as "aquavit" is a unique Scandinavian treat, oilier and richer than vodka but nowhere near as sweet as schnapps. All booze starts out as vodka—"neutral grain spirits" if you want to split hairs—a clear spirit distilled from any variety of grain, fruit, or starch. Schnapps is just vodka with intense flavorings added, like mint or licorice. Gin is just vodka with a certain flavor profile of herbs and spices. Even bourbon is just vodka, made from certain grains and then aged in wood. Aquavit can share characteristics with all of these. I've had a few aquavits the color of bourbon, some that smelled like gin, and a few that made German schnapps seem shy and unassuming. - Seattle Weekly "Search & Distill" column, July 16, 2008 (emphasis mine)Yes, that's right: bourbon, scotch, cognac, tequila—they all start out as neutral grain spirits.
Wow.
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posted at 10:48 PM
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