Vodka Drink in Ancient Russia Only a few people know that the
first strong, bitter and intoxicating liquid was made in the
11th century by a Persian doctor Ar-Razi. He was the first one
to distill ethanol from grain mash, but could only use it for
medical purposes since Koran prohibited alcohol consumption.
Until the mid 15th century, Russians didn’t know how to extract
spirit by distillation. However, as early as at the end of the
9th century they learned to make strong alcoholic beverages from
fermented berries and honey. It would seem logical to assume
that the lack of knowledge about distillation caused the
production of low-quality, impure product. However, it was
completely the opposite. Since old times, Russian mead-brewers
used mechanical methods to purify fermented honey. These methods
were very similar to those used for purification of grape wines.
Maturation and unique freezing of honey allowed removing fusel
oils and other impurities together with the ice from the honey
surface. This method made t