Blavod

Also known as “Blavod Black Vodka”. Proprietary vodka mainly noted for its black color, imparted by the addition of black catechu, an acacia variety (also known as "cutch") which is a tree resin found in Asia and Africa, historically used in patent medicines and for tanning leather. It is, as a colorant, natural, stable, non-toxic, and in the quantities necessary for coloring, flavorless. In larger quantities, it imparts a slight burnt charcoal flavor. This vodka, color apart, is much like any other in terms of flavor and mixability. Vodka is a generic category for neutral spirit, diluted and filtered through charcoal. Dependent on the nature of the distillate, the temperature and number of distillations, the nature of the diluting water, additives (such as glycerin) and the number of filtrations for any particular brand’s given character. Vodka can be made from many bases: grain, potato, beet, cane, or rice. “Vodka” is diminutive for “voda”, the word for water in Russian. Vodka was traditionally unflavored (other than the flavor of the alcohol itself) and infusions of flavoring ingredients garnered the spirit a different name, depending upon the ingredient(s) added. In current-day parlance, flavored renditions are all considered subsets of vodka, so-named. Vodka was historically traditional mainly to Russia, Poland, and Latvia.