Buy the lady a drink! (but let her call the shots)
All that talk of a male - dominated society has again proved a piece of biblical nonsense, even in such a seemingly unassailable male bastion as vodka - swilling it and pronouncing on its quality.
Poland has several hundred qualified vodka tasters, of whom almost the whole elite are women, employed specially for the job by Poland's several alcoholic beverage factories. A detailed study of the reasons why women are, again, the best seems to lie in their better developed system of taste differentiation, more sensitive taste buds and, perhaps, a wholly practical and unemotional approach to the job.
Vodka, if you didn't know, is a blend of clear spirits and water, which is where the quality aspect begins. The spirits must be distilled to absolute perfection in strictly defined conditions and the water must come from sources, mainly mountain streams, which have been used for the purpose for centuries. Even firms competing with Polish vodka use Polish patented rectification and distilling apparatuses.
A normal work day for a lady vodka taster begins at 6 a.m. when the production line starts the first shift. She takes a glass of the delivered product, makes sure it is of the correct temperature - that at which it is normally consumed - sips and sniffs it, moves it around her tongue and palate and then decides whether the party may be bottled or rejected. A taster is able to define whether a vodka has been produced from grain or potatoes, the alcohol content to two percent accuracy, and whether it is the product of a properly conducted procedure or whether, for example, it was bottled in a farm outhouse or garage.
To qualify as a vodka taster is no joke. Five aromas have to be defined: almond, lemon, clove, vanilla and musty. The next stage is to identify the taste character - from salty through acid to sweet. The final trial is to line up nine glasses of vodka in rising alcohol concentration. Two errors disqualify tasters, most of whom are employed in a given factory's quality control section, though other ladies with proven skills also do the job, working without compensation, outside their normal employment, to ensure they are wholly unbiased.
There are several fundamental principles: if a vodka does not taste of alcohol, it is not a Polish vodka but a product which has been artificially deprived of all aroma. The proportion of spirits to water is also enormously important, as is the temperature at which the alcohol begins to wed with the water in a maturing vat.
A lady taster was once asked to qualify a vodka produced by a Scandinavian firm of impeccable international reputation. Her verdict was: it tastes of formalin and should not be consumed - which must give some food for thought. And when entertaining a group of invited, foreign tasters to a restaurant she offered them a vodka aperitif, but caused a hubbub when she told the proprietor the vodka had been doctored.
Snobs order foreign vodkas with the conviction they must be better. The tasters are quite firm in remarking that Polish vodka is the finest, purest and blends best in all kinds of drinks. A taster can define instantly the characteristics of vodka she has been invited to try; where it comes from; whether it is Wyborowa, Luksusowa, Kosher or Żytnia; what kind of vodka has been used to produce a Cherry or Plum Brandy (Sliwowitz); whether it has been produced in primitive distilleries in countries to the east of Poland or in hooch plants deep inside Polish forests. It is an alarming fact that these tasters recently revealed that one bottle of vodka in every three consumed in Poland comes from an illegal, unsafe source.
A professional taster does not use any kind of cosmetics - lipstick or facial cream - or drink coffee or smoke cigarettes. And although there are several schools, the majority of tasters swill the vodka around in their mouths and then spit it out, though a number claim it must hit the stomach to be appreciated. And they are mainly teetotallers who only drink wine if they have to at lunch or dinner.
But it is not clear why women are the best for the job. Perhaps they better resist the obvious temptation.
Poland has several hundred qualified vodka tasters, of whom almost the whole elite are women, employed specially for the job by Poland's several alcoholic beverage factories. A detailed study of the reasons why women are, again, the best seems to lie in their better developed system of taste differentiation, more sensitive taste buds and, perhaps, a wholly practical and unemotional approach to the job.
Vodka, if you didn't know, is a blend of clear spirits and water, which is where the quality aspect begins. The spirits must be distilled to absolute perfection in strictly defined conditions and the water must come from sources, mainly mountain streams, which have been used for the purpose for centuries. Even firms competing with Polish vodka use Polish patented rectification and distilling apparatuses.
A normal work day for a lady vodka taster begins at 6 a.m. when the production line starts the first shift. She takes a glass of the delivered product, makes sure it is of the correct temperature - that at which it is normally consumed - sips and sniffs it, moves it around her tongue and palate and then decides whether the party may be bottled or rejected. A taster is able to define whether a vodka has been produced from grain or potatoes, the alcohol content to two percent accuracy, and whether it is the product of a properly conducted procedure or whether, for example, it was bottled in a farm outhouse or garage.
To qualify as a vodka taster is no joke. Five aromas have to be defined: almond, lemon, clove, vanilla and musty. The next stage is to identify the taste character - from salty through acid to sweet. The final trial is to line up nine glasses of vodka in rising alcohol concentration. Two errors disqualify tasters, most of whom are employed in a given factory's quality control section, though other ladies with proven skills also do the job, working without compensation, outside their normal employment, to ensure they are wholly unbiased.
There are several fundamental principles: if a vodka does not taste of alcohol, it is not a Polish vodka but a product which has been artificially deprived of all aroma. The proportion of spirits to water is also enormously important, as is the temperature at which the alcohol begins to wed with the water in a maturing vat.
A lady taster was once asked to qualify a vodka produced by a Scandinavian firm of impeccable international reputation. Her verdict was: it tastes of formalin and should not be consumed - which must give some food for thought. And when entertaining a group of invited, foreign tasters to a restaurant she offered them a vodka aperitif, but caused a hubbub when she told the proprietor the vodka had been doctored.
Snobs order foreign vodkas with the conviction they must be better. The tasters are quite firm in remarking that Polish vodka is the finest, purest and blends best in all kinds of drinks. A taster can define instantly the characteristics of vodka she has been invited to try; where it comes from; whether it is Wyborowa, Luksusowa, Kosher or Żytnia; what kind of vodka has been used to produce a Cherry or Plum Brandy (Sliwowitz); whether it has been produced in primitive distilleries in countries to the east of Poland or in hooch plants deep inside Polish forests. It is an alarming fact that these tasters recently revealed that one bottle of vodka in every three consumed in Poland comes from an illegal, unsafe source.
A professional taster does not use any kind of cosmetics - lipstick or facial cream - or drink coffee or smoke cigarettes. And although there are several schools, the majority of tasters swill the vodka around in their mouths and then spit it out, though a number claim it must hit the stomach to be appreciated. And they are mainly teetotallers who only drink wine if they have to at lunch or dinner.
But it is not clear why women are the best for the job. Perhaps they better resist the obvious temptation.
