Adored by Russian czar Peter the Great, carefully controlled by Ivan the Terrible, vodka has a long and colorful history for a drink that looks just like water. It is an odorless, clear "neutral" spirit that can be made from barley, potatoes, molasses, wheat, rice, beets, or virtually anything that ferments.  Having endured for tens of centuries, it is now the most popular liquor in America, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

Vodka literally translates into "dear little water", a sweet endearment for such a potent spirit. The Russians say "voda", the Poles say "woda", both words meaning "water". Who actually invented vodka?  Russia and Poland both claim the honor. Russia boasts of vodka production since the end of the 9th century, Poland asserts they've been distilling since early in the 8th century.  In any case, the "dear little water" was a booming business in Eastern Europe from the mid-15th century onward. As technology progressed from the 15th through mid-18th century, the refinement process was improved through charcoal filtration, the invention of the still, and multiple distillations, creating vodka of a higher proof and greater purity, much more akin to the 21st century vodka we recognize. Vodka producers happily abandoned the mandatory camouflaging of primitive murky 14th century-produced vodka with herbs and spices.  Modern day drinkers might concur; as dubious concoctions like mountain ash, calendula, or horseradish vodka hold questionable mass appeal compared with apple or citrus.

Though beleaguered by bans, taxation, political monopolies, the nobility's exclusive rights to distilleries, and licensing difficulties in Eastern Europe spanning from the 16th through the 19th centuries, vodka's popularity soared, winning over the West in the 1940s and '50s. Unlike Old World vodka drinkers, who were fond of drinking vodka neat, accompanied by salty snacks like caviar and untarnished by mixers, America grew enamored of vodka's mixology, embracing cocktails like The Moscow Mule and the ubiquitous Bloody Mary.

Eastern Europe no longer has a monopoly on vodka. Ireland, England, Canada, Iceland, France, Italy, and Germany are al generating super-premium triple distilled vodkas. In the U.S., a handful of New England boutique vodka distilleries equipped with passion, ingenuity, and indigenous resources are making a name for themselves in the international market.
Triple Eight Distillery, operating with Cisco Brewers and Nantucket Vineyard on the island of Nantucket, has been producing vodka since 2000.  National sales manager Matt Lambo has been with Triple Eight for four years, "originally selling vodka door to door out of the back of the promotional Triple Eight van, a 1975 VW Camper bus." Dean Long, Triple Eight's head distiller, chose corn as "the best organic source" in making their distinctive vodka. Lambo says, "Triple Eight is extremely smooth with a subtle sweetness in the finish. The texture is soft and slightly silky. It has a very similar taste profile as Ketel One but Ketel has a spicy finish while ours is slightly sweet and the softness and smoothness is reminiscent of Grey Goose."  This modest distillery, which also produces and distributes microbrewed ales, wines, whiskey, rum, gin, cranberry vodka, and orange vodka, has beaten out the colossal Ketel One in the World Spirit Championships for three consecutive years.

Just starting out, "people loved the grassroots nature of Triple Eight's products and the fact that we were selling direct to the restaurants and liquor stores", says Lambo. In a market where literally hundreds of brands are competing, Triple Eight uses "creative guerrilla marketing strategies that are a lot of work to implement but far less expensive than mainstream print, television, or radio advertisements." Triple Eight sales increased 55% 2003,  67% in 2004 and 81% last year through inventive promotions. Lambo also taps into "the base of people who love quality local products". Operating out of Nantucket's idyllic island, Triple Eight's small batch, corn-based vodka is currently sold in eleven states across the country.

The basic steps in vodka making are fermentation, followed by distillation and rectification (distillation obtains the high-alcohol mixture from the fermented wash and rectification removes impurities) filtration and purification, dilution and bottling. Given that all vodka is produced through the same process, it's the fermenting base itself that yields the subtle distinctions in each.