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| Classic Vodka (Classic Drinks Series) | 
 enlarge | Authors: Nicholas Faith, Ian Wisniewski
Publisher: Prion Books Ltd
Category: Book
Buy New: £21.90
New (3) from £21.90
Avg. Customer Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 639969
Media: Library Binding
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 160
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.8 x 0.8
ISBN: 1853752347
Dewey Decimal Number: 688
EAN: 9781853752346
ASIN: 1853752347
Publication Date: May 16, 1997
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Leaves you feeling like the morning after! February 2, 2003
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I was really looking forward to this book arriving; when the time came I poured through the first few chapters, started checking out the different brands. When it was all offer, I felt rather let down, Looking back I enjoyed the first half but after that there were big gaps and parts were missing...
That could describe an evening on the vodka and certainly describes the book.
The book starts with a description of what vodka is and how it is made, and moves on to a history of vodka from the three main vodka-producing countries: Russia, Poland and Sweden. A brand directory of vodkas from a multitude of countries follows and the book ends with ways of drinking vodka and cooking with the spirit.
While the descriptions and history are quite comprehensive, from the beginning there is a favouring of Poland over Russia (one of the authors has a rather Polish-sounding name and the cover says he specialises in Poland). For example Russia's claim to have first produced vodka is "rightly disputed" but Poland's is not. It describes Russia's affection for vodka as "essential part of cultural life...for good or ill", "thoughout modern Russian history there has always been a drink problem" and has a very ugly photograph of Russian drunks but makes no mention of any negative in Poland.
That aside the history is interesting and fairly comprehensive.The brand directory is good but omits several of the best known and most popular Russian brands: Krystal, one of the better export brands; Russki Shtandard, an excellent vodka found in every good supermarket in the CIS; Yuri Dalgaruki, popular as a gift because the bottle, as well as the vodka, is beautiful; Gjelka, a popular and inexpensive vodka made by the Cristall distillery in Moscow.
From the other countries they have done well to include vodkas from countries such as Austria, England, France and Ireland. However they have totally ignored other countries in the CIS: Kazakhstan makes many vodkas (Parliament, Adil) as does Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Uzbekistan and others. The section from Poland, of course, is comprehensive.
Overall quite good but with many major omissions and at times rather too focussed on one country.
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