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Need a vodka taster. •Vodka taster — about his work •Ru.net - informative! •Ru.net broadcasts•Catalog of articles•Atamanovka - Online•. The main question is what is the best vodka now

Many are sure that vodka is just alcohol diluted with water in a ratio of 40 to 60. But the head of the testing laboratory of the All-Russian Research Institute of Food Biotechnology, Marina Mandrish, knows that this is not so. And you can trust her, because Marina has been working as a vodka taster for 31 years ...

If vodka is just alcohol diluted with water, why do we see such a variety of different vodkas on store shelves? Vodka is not just alcohol and water. Of course, the main components are 40% alcohol and 60% water. But at the same time there is a whole technology of vodka production. Let's start with water. There is a strict standard for the maximum content of various chemical elements in vodka water, so vodka water undergoes special preparation to bring it into line with the requirements for ionic composition.

Since each enterprise has its own water, each company also has its own water treatment. But as a result, the organoleptic properties of water, that is, the taste, also differ.

Representatives of various enterprises come to us, bring their own spirits and their own water. And we show at seminars how much the taste of various water-alcohol mixtures differs. That is why, when we hold a competition for the best alcohol of the year, we use distilled water in the water-alcohol mixture. Because undistilled water radically changes the organoleptic characteristics.

Moreover, the taste and aroma of alcohol, which is used in the production of vodka, also varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Each company has its own alcohol quality standard, which, of course, meets state standards.

That is, the taste of a particular vodka is made up of the taste of a particular alcohol and a particular water?

Yes, but not only. Because water treatment is only the first stage of technology. The second stage is the developed recipe, because many additional ingredients are usually added to the water-alcohol mixture. It can be various types of sugar, aromatic spirits, infusions. It is a specific recipe that plays a key role for a vodka brand.

The third stage is the purification of the water-alcohol mixture with added ingredients. In professional language, this mixture is called sorting. The classic technology is that sorting is passed through coal columns.

Purification also significantly affects the organoleptic properties of vodka, because not only purification takes place, but also the formation of various esters that ennoble the taste and aroma of the water-alcohol mixture. In particular, the taste of vodka is significantly affected by how long ago the coal in the columns was last changed. And only after cleaning we get vodka.

Desktop of an employee of the All-Russian Research Institute of Food Biotechnology

There are two types of vodka - vodka and special vodka, which has a specific aroma and taste of ingredients added according to the recipe. Usually these are aromatic components, as a result of which they turn ordinary vodka, for example, into cranberry, lemon or some other.

Producers of vodka often write on labels that this vodka is purified with milk, or in some other special way. Is it real technology or just a marketing gimmick?

Real technologies. Moreover, the processing of an alcohol mixture with milk or, for example, egg white is an ancient method that was very widely used before. So it's not just a marketing gimmick, it's the refinement that really gives the vodka a special flavor. Why are the prices for different brands of vodka so different, and is it true that expensive vodka is fundamentally different from cheap?

The high price is partly due to technology, but in many ways, of course, this is a matter of marketing. We can say that among premium vodkas there are no bad ones, because the competition in this segment is very high. But at the same time, there are vodkas from, as we say, the popular segment, which, in terms of their taste properties, are not inferior to premium brands.

According to experts, 30-40% of the vodka sold in Russia is counterfeit. Is it possible to visually distinguish real vodka from fake? It is very difficult. If only a completely hacky fake falls into your hands, in which the label is crookedly pasted, the closure is bad - the cork scrolls. But now this is very rare. We work very closely with law enforcement agencies to identify counterfeit products - confiscated counterfeit vodka is brought to us. And as a rule, it is well designed, the labels contain all the information required by the standard. Therefore, in appearance it is very difficult to determine a fake.

Sales of vodka in Russia, mln decaliters LiveJournal Media, Rosstat. 2016

We have developed special scientific methods that allow us to determine whether vodka is made at an enterprise or in artisanal conditions. For this, ion analysis of water is used. Because if vodka is made at the enterprise, it uses specially prepared water, the ionic composition of which corresponds to the technological regulations. If the ionic composition does not comply with the regulations, you can be sure that the vodka is made in artisanal conditions.

True, there are violations of the composition as a result of problems that the enterprise itself does not know about. Representatives of one of the factories once came to us and brought their vodka for tasting. It passed in terms of quality at a minimum rating, which surprised the manufacturers very much. Then we analyzed the ionic composition, and found a large amount of nitrates in vodka.

Plant technologists urgently examined all their wells, and found one in which fertilizers from a neighboring field had leaked, which led to an increased content of nitrates. But that was a few years ago, and now almost all water treatment plants use reverse osmosis technology, which eliminates the ingress of impurities.

And what about alcohol? Is it possible to determine by taste that vodka is made from technical alcohol?

You can, because the taste of such vodka, of course, is different. But it is quite difficult to do this, especially if the producers have added some aromatic ingredients and made the vodka special - lemon, cranberry, and so on. Therefore, only a chemical analysis can give an exact answer.

As for food alcohol, it is divided into categories - "alpha", "extra", "lux", "highest purification". Alcohol of each of these categories has its own special aroma and taste, therefore, a special tasting assessment is applied to vodka from a certain alcohol.

The highest tasting score is assigned to vodka made from “lux” alcohol - 9.2 points. Then there are vodkas from alcohol "alpha" and "extra" - from 9.0 points. At the same time, alpha alcohol has the lowest methanol content. Currently, vodka is practically not produced from the highest purity alcohol.

Today, in addition to wheat, rye and corn are widely used as raw materials for alcohol. Many enterprises are now experimenting with combinations of rye and wheat for the production of alcohol. Very good spirits are made from corn. They have some nuances in taste, but you won’t feel them in vodka, because technologists of enterprises get rid of them. By the way, the Chinese have recently become very interested in the production of vodka and asked us how to make good alcohol from corn.

For a non-specialist, alcohols from different raw materials are practically indistinguishable in taste. But manufacturers of alcoholic beverages know that alcohol and alcohol are different. At competitions, we sometimes come across such alcohol, which is diluted with water - and it is better than any vodka without additional purification. But this is rare, and therefore there are special vodka technologies. How is the tasting procedure?

Vodka and alcohol are allowed for tasting only after physical and chemical analysis. Here, the safety of the drink is assessed - the methanol content and the nature of the alcohol used are determined. To do this, the method of spectral luminescence is used, which allows you to determine which alcohol - food or non-food - was used to produce this vodka. We can say that our methods make a huge contribution to the struggle of the state for the health of the nation.

Then the strength of alcohol or vodka is determined. According to GOST, the minimum allowable alcohol strength is 96.3 degrees, vodka - 39.8 degrees. If the indicator is lower, alcohol or vodka is rejected by strength and is not allowed for tasting. And only if all indicators comply with GOST, a tasting commission is convened.

A device for measuring the strength of alcohol

For tasting, vodka is poured into special glasses, the dimensions of which are determined by the standard. The tasting assessment of vodka is made up, firstly, of the appearance - that is, transparency and brilliance are evaluated: vodka with brilliance receives a higher rating. Secondly, the aroma is evaluated - it should be characteristic, without foreign odors. Thirdly - the taste, it should be harmonious, without extraneous flavors.

A big disadvantage of vodka is bitterness. Vodka that is bitter will never get a high rating and may even be rejected for taste. Vodka also should not be hard. Although there is an unofficial division into women's and men's vodkas: women's are very soft, they are drunk literally like water, men's are sharper, "to drink and grunt." But in general, according to the standard, vodka should have a characteristic vodka aroma and a mild taste.

Tasting is a very complicated process, so the taster is forbidden to eat less than an hour before it starts. When tasting, it is allowed to use foods that do not have a smell and taste that can affect the result: white bread, butter, sometimes boiled sausage, non-aromatic cheeses, crackers without additives. Definitely still water.

Discover the secret - do tasters swallow vodka or spit it out?

When tasting, a sip of approximately 10 ml is taken. It must be held in the mouth so that the tray rolls over all areas of the tongue. Then you can either swallow or spit. And here the tasters are already divided into two categories - someone necessarily spits, someone swallows.

Tasting in progress

But there is a technical point here. As I said, bitterness is an important characteristic of vodka. Receptors located at the very base of the tongue are responsible for recognizing bitterness. That is, it is necessary that the vodka hit the base of the tongue, but after that it is easier to swallow it than to spit it out.

For a normal person, drinking vodka is usually associated with some extraordinary event, with a holiday.

Every day is a holiday for us.

Who works as vodka tasters? Tasters of alcoholic products are extra-class specialists, because they must distinguish very subtle shades of taste and aroma that are not typical for vodka from a certain type of alcohol.

It has been proven that women are the best tasters because they have more sensitive receptors. But we have a taster - a man so sensitive that even the aromas of allowed products interfere with him at tastings. The women focus on a certain pattern, and he asks to remove all the products. So we put samples on a separate table for him.

Only a person who has a special education and experience in our industry can become a taster of alcoholic products. That is, we are talking about representatives of enterprises. At our institute, we hold a taster training seminar, the graduates of which receive a certificate, which they must confirm every three years.

But before entering the seminar, the candidate passes a selection test on diagnostic solutions with different concentrations of alcohol. That is, sensitivity to taste and smell is checked, as hearing is checked in a music school.

The main question is what is the best vodka right now?

At the beginning of each year, our Institute hosts the competitions “Best Vodka of the Year” and “Best Alcohol of the Year”. Not only Russian manufacturers take part in them, but also enterprises from Kazakhstan, Belarus, Moldova. Tasters also come from different countries. The results of the competitions can be found on our website.

Have you ever wanted to change your profession?

No. I'm happy that life turned out the way it did. We have the best graduates of food institutes who have come here to do science. Our Institute has existed since 1931 and all manufacturers are in contact with us. We are developing new techniques that help produce superior quality vodka while at the same time identifying the causes of problems such as sedimentation. I dealt with this topic in my dissertation.

We have a wonderful team, wonderful relationships. At seminars, I look at representatives of our industry, and I always make sure that they are the most positive and youthful people.

If vodka is just alcohol diluted with water, why do we see such a variety of different vodkas on store shelves?

Vodka is not just alcohol and water. Of course, the main components are 40% alcohol and 60% water. But at the same time there is a whole technology of vodka production. Let's start with water. There is a strict standard for the maximum content of various chemical elements in vodka water, so vodka water undergoes special preparation to bring it into line with the requirements for ionic composition.

Since each enterprise has its own water, each company also has its own water treatment. But as a result, the organoleptic properties of water, that is, the taste, also differ.

That is, the taste of a particular vodka is made up of the taste of a particular alcohol and a particular water?

Desktop of an employee of the All-Russian Research Institute of Food Biotechnology

Producers of vodka often write on labels that this vodka is purified with milk, or in some other special way. Is it real technology or just a marketing gimmick?

Why are the prices for different brands of vodka so different, and is it true that expensive vodka is fundamentally different from cheap?

According to experts, 30-40% of the vodka sold in Russia is counterfeit. Is it possible to visually distinguish real vodka from fake?

It is very difficult. If only a completely hacky fake falls into your hands, in which the label is crookedly pasted, the closure is bad - the cork scrolls. But now this is very rare. We work very closely with law enforcement agencies to identify counterfeit products - confiscated counterfeit vodka is brought to us. And as a rule, it is well designed, the labels contain all the information required by the standard. Therefore, in appearance it is very difficult to determine a fake.

Sales of vodka in Russia, mln decaliters LiveJournal Media, Rosstat. 2016

And what about alcohol? Is it possible to determine by taste that vodka is made from technical alcohol?

How is the tasting procedure?

A device for measuring the strength of alcohol

Discover the secret - do tasters swallow vodka or spit it out?

Tasting in progress

For a normal person, drinking vodka is usually associated with some extraordinary event, with a holiday.

Every day is a holiday for us.

Who works as vodka tasters?

Tasters of alcoholic products are extra-class specialists, because they must distinguish very subtle shades of taste and aroma that are not typical for vodka from a certain type of alcohol.

The main question is what is the best vodka right now?

Have you ever wanted to change your profession?

We have a wonderful team, wonderful relationships. At seminars, I look at representatives of our industry, and I always make sure that they are the most positive and youthful people.

For technical quality control, I use 25 ml samples. I taste the first sample in its pure form, that is, at a strength of 40 degrees, I dilute the second sample with demineralized water in a ratio of 1: 1, thereby reducing the strength to 20 degrees; then I taste the 20% sample again, because it is important for me to check how the vodka will behave in cocktails diluted.

How to choose an accompaniment

It is better to taste vodka in its pure form. For vodka-based cocktails, paring with light snacks is suitable.

How to rate a drink

The general scheme of tasting is the same for both vodka and wine and includes three main phases: visual (“eye”), olfactory (“nose”) and taste (“mouth”). In assessing the last phase, three stages should be distinguished: "attack", or first contact with taste buds; the middle - the disclosure of the drink on the taste buds; final - assessment of the ongoing aromatic and flavor impact.

How to understand that the drink is of high quality

If you want to drink a second portion, then the vodka is good. But seriously, good quality vodka should not burn the throat and aggressively hit the nose and taste buds. It should have a mild and pleasant taste.

How is vodka tasting different from wine tasting?

The fact is that the textures and strength of these drinks are different. The profile of a wine depends primarily on terroir, grapes, fermentation and aging. Vodka is a strong alcoholic drink. For wine, it is important how much of the drink hits the taste buds of the taste buds, because the wine opens up under the influence of the air that it additionally inhales.

When tasting vodka, we rarely keep it on our taste buds for a long time, so as not to expose them to excessive thermal influence of alcohol and not “put them out of order”, as this would negatively affect further tasting.

The technologists-tasters are mostly girls. Boys don't stick with us. Analysis is not a man's work, it is delicate, it requires concentration and painstaking work: to breed, to domesticate, to wait. Men want immediate results.

The younger a person is and the earlier he begins to taste and join in drinks, the more likely it is that in the future he will more accurately distinguish between tastes and smells. Of course, it is not necessary to try very early, but you can smell it. I give my daughter to smell interesting shades in wine so that she understands and remembers. In fact, she's already 14.

Some people have a predisposition to tasting. There are special tests by which this is determined: someone does not feel sour, someone does not feel bitter, someone does not feel anything at all. At special courses where they teach to become tasters (we don’t have universities, all the girls in the laboratory are chemists or technologists), they immediately check who is not worth spending time on. They put a series of stacks with a salty aftertaste, a series of stacks of sweet, sour, all shades of taste and smell. And not a spoonful of salt is put there, but a few grains. And the result of the test depends on how exactly and on what glass you felt this salt. In the laboratory, we sometimes arrange such demonstrative tests.

Studying the theory from textbooks is a matter of three days: what glasses to taste from, how to sit down, what air temperature should be in the room, what to eat. A full description of the process does not take up much space. And taste, smell, aroma are learned all life. Only when you have worked with alcohol for many years, you begin to distinguish one vodka from another in terms of the level of shades.

About the workflow

Important tastings of new drinks we appoint at 11 o'clock, no later. You have not just had breakfast, but you are not yet hungry, you are no longer sleepy, but you are not yet tired. At least an hour before the start, you need to give the receptors a rest: do not smoke, eat spicy dishes, drink coffee and tea. The room should be light and fresh, ideally daylight, not too bright. You need to sit down, relax and focus.

Everything matters - both a comfortable posture and the shape of the glasses. For wine - wine, for cognac - cognac, and for tinctures, liqueurs and vodka - tulip-shaped, elongated, so that the aromas are concentrated in a glass. ABOUT The optimum temperature for almost any drink during tasting is room temperature. We look at the transparency, inhale the smell, take five milliliters on the tongue so that it hits all the receptors. How to drink vodka? Cold and eat herring or cucumber so that it is digested well and does not intoxicate. Few people will agree, as a taster, to drink warm vodka. And no one will sniff from the stack. A volley of it - once and for all.

Cognac needs to be swirled in a glass so that it remains on the walls, its purity can be seen, whether there is any opal or sediment in it. After we drink or pour cognac, we smell the thin oily layer remaining in the glass, evaluate its quality and bouquet. Be sure to record all impressions so that they are not interrupted by the next and to compare with later tastings.

We try to put a maximum of five samples of the drink in a row. If you need more, we take breaks to refresh the receptors. You can rinse your mouth with water or eat neutral food - sausage, bread, cheese. We over the years of work, they have already chosen the perfect receptor freshener - drying. They are neutral in taste and easy to consume. Masters taste up to 20 samples in a row, but this is already the highest class. We evaluate our capabilities objectively.

About material

Research engineers who develop drink recipes are the main suppliers of alcohol for tasting. If they develop something there, they immediately put it to try. Everyone gathers for such a tasting - the youngest girls speak first, so that the authority of the authorities does not press. Everyone writes what they feel, because everyone has their own perception. When we understand that the drink is ready, the laboratory recommends it for release.

We always try competitors, and so do all manufacturers. We need to understand how we look in the market and what others are doing. All tastings are blind. They give us five vodkas, and we don't know which one is in which glass. One of my colleague always unmistakably defines our vodka.

About the taste of alcohol

Alcohol, of course, is not cognac, where you can feel both cigars and coffee. What is the flavor of alcohol? Alcoholic! But all existing shades, everything that can be felt, can also be found in alcohol - both sweetness and bitterness, sometimes it smells like rubber (we immediately send this one back to the supplier). Fusity, for example, is not so scary, we can fix it, but initially it is more correct to work with good alcohol. Now bad deliveries rarely happen, distilleries work well, there are never any problems with the physical and chemical composition - both samples with sulfuric acid, and the content of esters and acetic aldehydes. According to the nuances, we choose spirits for ordinary vodkas and premium vodkas separately. Alcohol for premium vodka should be perfectly soft and with a slight alcohol smell. Purity is important in vodka and alcohol. Vodka is not allowed to have a non-vodka flavor.

Our girls at first resist: “What? Try alcohol? What are you! I don't even drink vodka! Let's have something delicious." But work is work: tasty, not tasty - taste it. At the candy factory they taste candy all day long. To each his own. We also sometimes think that chocolate is better.

Daily tests

We do more than just tasting. Tests and chemical analyzes of what is produced at the factory take even more time than tastings. We have modern equipment in our laboratory, mostly foreign, but there are also domestic devices. On the chromograph, we look at the content of volatile impurities, which were previously determined by reagents in flasks. Now a small sample is inserted into the chromograph with a syringe, and the result is ready - how many fusel oils, how many aldehydes. Densimeter measures strength. There is also a turbedimeter (not a Gostov device) - we measure the transparency of the drink on it. Although we always look visually: the drink can be formally transparent, but at the same time a piece of something will float there. There are standards for indicators for each device for each drink, above which we do not let them go into production or for sale. Such liquids are unstable, we cannot be responsible for their quality.

In addition, the laboratory controls everything that enters the plant - raw materials and products at all stages of production. If everything is clear with vodka and cognac: you can’t clear up the ingredients, then everything is different in wine and tinctures. We harvest cranberries, currants, mountain ash, cherries, wild roses, oranges and lemons, we prepare fruit drinks. Already by the bag you can determine which batch of berries came.

We check both bottles and labels, and even the film, which will then wrap the bottles. Further through the stages: a fruit drink was prepared - the laboratory checked, the drink was blended - the laboratory checked, poured into containers - the laboratory checked. Premium vodka is tested in every blend. We have special attention to such drinks, but we do not deprive the rest. If the chemist says: “Oh, I don’t like the smell here,” we all run to the line.

The human factor is indestructible, but usually there is no irreparable marriage, we do not pour anything down the drain. Food products - there are no tanks with methyl alcohol and acetone, everything is fixable. We have already developed technologies for years on how to correct such errors. There are also egregious violations - they wanted to make cranberry, but made lingonberry tincture or mixed up the containers and poured cognac instead of fruit drink.

About alcoholism

People who are disposed to alcoholism cannot work here. This is not checked by us, but by life. Yes, and we have strict security: it makes sure that everyone comes and goes home sober.

Drinking and tasting are two different things, we don’t drink a whole stack of drinks in a day. I tried five samples of five milliliters in the morning, five more during the day. You don't even have to swallow here. The girls who come to work by car try not to taste in the afternoon, throw off on the rest. But there has not yet been a single case that someone was found to have ppm in their blood while driving.

Although, as soon as someone finds out where I am and who I work for, they immediately say: “Oh! Yes, you have such corporate parties there, probably! I will say more: when we celebrate birthdays, we bring juice and clink glasses with it. Drinking in the workplace is nonsense and unacceptable.

Out of business hours

At a party it is indecent to say that there is no vodka. I didn’t have cases when I didn’t like something very much, but the girls told how they once ordered and ordered one vodka in a restaurant with friends, and when the waiters thought that the guests had reached the standard, they were brought cheap instead of expensive. The taster, of course, could not be held even in this state!

Of course, my family listens to my advice in alcohol. Although I like wine more than vodka. I drink our vodka, but wine is incomparable, this is creativity that nature has created - we will see it, both in aroma and taste. This is a separate tasting topic. Sommeliers are taught to recognize all the shades of wine: by years, by the coast, and by sunny days in a bottle. We do not need such specific knowledge, but it is very interesting.

Illustrations: Sasha Pokhvalin

If vodka is just alcohol diluted with water, why do we see such a variety of different vodkas on store shelves?

Vodka is not just alcohol with water. Of course, the main components are 40% alcohol and 60% water. But at the same time there is a whole technology of vodka production. Let's start with water. There is a strict standard for the maximum content of various chemical elements in vodka water, so vodka water undergoes special preparation to bring it into line with the requirements for ionic composition.

Since each enterprise has its own water, each company also has its own water treatment. But as a result, the organoleptic properties of water, that is, the taste, also differ.

That is, the taste of a particular vodka is made up of the taste of a particular alcohol and a particular water?

Yes, but not only. Because water preparation is only the first stage of technology. The second stage is the developed recipe, because many additional ingredients are usually added to the water-alcohol mixture. It can be various types of sugar, aromatic spirits, infusions. It is a specific recipe that plays a key role for a vodka brand.

Desktop of an employee of the All-Russian Research Institute of Food Biotechnology

Producers of vodka often write on labels that this vodka is purified with milk, or in some other special way. Is it real technology or just a marketing gimmick?

Why are the prices for different brands of vodka so different, and is it true that expensive vodka is fundamentally different from cheap?

According to experts, 30-40% of the vodka sold in Russia is counterfeit. Is it possible to visually distinguish real vodka from fake?

Sales of vodka in Russia, mln decaliters LiveJournal Media, Rosstat. 2016

And what about alcohol? Is it possible to determine by taste that vodka is made from technical alcohol?

As for food alcohol, it is divided into categories - “alpha”, “extra”, “lux”, “highest purification”. Alcohol of each of these categories has its own special aroma and taste, therefore, a special tasting assessment is applied to vodka from a certain alcohol.

The highest tasting score is assigned to vodka from "lux" alcohol - 9.2 points. Then there are vodkas from alcohol "alpha" and "extra" - from 9.0 points. At the same time, alpha alcohol has the lowest methanol content. Currently, vodka is practically not produced from the highest purity alcohol.

How is the tasting procedure?

Vodka and alcohol are allowed for tasting only after physical and chemical analysis. Here the safety of the drink is assessed - the methanol content and the nature of the alcohol used are determined. To do this, the method of spectral luminescence is used, which allows you to determine which alcohol - food or non-food - was used to produce this vodka. We can say that our methods make a huge contribution to the struggle of the state for the health of the nation.

For tasting, vodka is poured into special glasses, the dimensions of which are determined by the standard. The tasting evaluation of vodka consists, firstly, of the appearance - that is, transparency and brilliance are evaluated: vodka with brilliance receives a higher rating. Secondly, the aroma is evaluated - it should be characteristic, without foreign odors. Thirdly - the taste, it should be harmonious, without extraneous flavors.

A device for measuring the strength of alcohol

Open the secret - do tasters swallow vodka or spit it out?

For a normal person, drinking vodka is usually associated with some extraordinary event, with a holiday.

Every day is a holiday for us.

Tasting in progress

Who works as vodka tasters?

Tasters of alcoholic products are extra-class specialists, because they must distinguish very subtle shades of taste and aroma that are not typical for vodka from a certain type of alcohol.

The main question is what is the best vodka now?

Have you ever wanted to change your profession?

We have a wonderful team, wonderful relationships. At seminars, I look at representatives of our industry, and I always make sure that they are the most positive and youthful people.