Ingredients

Ingredients
Although most people tend to not concern themselves with the technicalities of alcohol production and its modernization, it is quite interesting to understand the basics. Below is a good, brief description provided by //Tulleeho Beverage Innovations// at http://www.tulleeho.com/cb/vodka/Section2.asp **Note that the information below was taken directly from the source mentioned herein**.

"Primary ingredients: Although most vodka around the world is made from **rye**, some are also made from **potatoes** and still others from **molasses**. As you would no doubt assume, the quality and type of the raw material has an important hand to play in what your vodka tastes like. In both Russia and Poland, the birthplaces of vodka, rye is mainly used in the production of vodka. Wheat is the other major competitor to rye, with it being the more traditional ingredient in the western world. Other parts of Eastern Europe use potatoes, while still other parts of the world use molasses. Apart from the main raw material, the other major constituent of your bottle of Vodka is **water**. Over 60% of your bottle is composed of water, so it's purity is of utmost importance to the taste of your vodka. Quite an elaborate purification process is undertaken, the details of which we shall not slog through here, for reasons of keeping this simple."1 "Essentially how it's made: The cornerstone of the production of most alcohol is the process of distillation, which involves the separation of the contents of the liquids and ensuring the extraction of alchohol from a low strength alcoholic liquid to make it into a stronger one. The first step in the production of vodka is the crushing or mixing of the ingredients at hand and their mixing with water. Subsequently this mixture is heated up, which converts the starch into sugar. The resultant liquid, which is thickish and sweet is called the wort. Yeast is then added to this liquid which then goes through a fermentation process and results in a further liquid, which possesses the unremarkable name of wash. This wash is then converted into raw spirit by distillation. Through repeated distillation of the spirit, the impurities in the liquid are decreased and the alcoholic level is raised."2

1. http://www.tulleeho.com/cb/vodka/Section2.asp 2. http://www.tulleeho.com/cb/vodka/Section2.asp

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