Tutorial Transcript

Hello everyone and welcome to my Slow Russian Video Course. Today we're going to talk about the most Russian drink – vodka. Which is actually not Russian at all. So stay with me to learn more. If you speak Russian, try to concentrate on listening without using the subtitles. If your Russian is not good enough or you don't speak Russian at all, you can use subtitles. I will add Russian and English subs. So, let's get started. Today we're going to talk about vodka. Around the world this drink is associated with Russia. But it was not invented in Russia. First prototype of vodka was invented in the 11th century. by some Persian doctor. Later alcohol was distilled in Europe. And only in the 14th century in the year 1386 Prince Dmitry Donskoy received the embassy from Genoa And they brought so called "aqua vitae" with them It was a prototype of vodka. To produce vodka as a drink... It was called "strong wine", "bitter wine" The word "vodka" didn't even exist. So, in Russia they started to produce vodka only in the 16th century. And vodka was very strong. They mixed it with water. In Russia vodka became unbelievably popular. It was of very high quality. incredibly high quality. That's why starting in the 18th century Russian vodka began to "conquer" the world. It was being exported to Europe. There it was famous for its degree of purification. After that vodka one's head didn't hurt, it was excellent state of health. All because of the high quality. In the 19th century so called "vodka kings" were prospering in Russia. There was a monopoly on vodka production. And by producing vodka, people accumulated wealth, big money. Actually the same is happening nowadays too. Today's vodka complies with the 19th century standard. which appeared after Mendeleev Dmitry Mendeleev, well-known scientist defended a dissertation The doctoral dissertation about mixing alcohol with water. Since then, since the 19th century vodka is 40 percent alcohol. No more, no less. 40 percent. Today very many people drink vodka. even though the price is rather high. And vodka is not only loved in Russia, but abroad too. For example, vodka "Russian standard" or "Absolut" or even "Putinka". They are very popular in America. And people drink it with pleasure. So, vodka originally is not a Russian drink, but in Russia they produced it with such quality, that Russian vodka spread around the whole world. That was it. Remember, that if you like listening to the slow Russian language, you can follow my podcast "Slow Russian Podcast". I will leave the link below this video. As usual. And thank you very much for watching. I hope to see you in my next video. Bye-bye!