Dmitri Mendeleev may be more noted for the periodic table, but it was he who determined that 38% (later rounded up to 40%) should be the alcohol content in a perfect and now the classic Russian vodka.
Every fourth bottle of distilled liquor taken in USA is vodka.
Though made from grain, vodka was traditionally made from potatoes.
From its Scandinavian, Slavic and Balkan confines, vodka made its way into the western world via France only after the 1950s.
Pablo Picasso rates the vodka as one the marvels of post-war France.
