Unfortunately, it's been a bad year for vodka. Food writers and bloggers have continued to question the drink's relevance in our cocktail culture and the Wall Street Journal has gone so far as to boldly announce its complete death.
This is undoubtedly bad news for Polish vodka manufacturers and true enough, the numbers in Poland seem to have followed the prophecy. Vodka sales have dropped by a significant 30 percent since last year. However, it seems that in Poland, it is not just the clear, distilled liquid that has lost its popularity. Beer sales have also been reported to be down by 10 percent, and the stressed economy is largely at blame.
Manufacturers of other alchohols are eagerly stepping up to the plate, happy to take the place of the reigning king of spirits. Creators of a liqueur called VeeV are enthusiastically promoting the vodka-hating trend on their website theendofvodka.com, calling apparently mindless vodka drinkers "vodka bots".
But vodka in Poland is a huge part of the culture, whether current trends and fads agree with that or not. Let's take a break from Poland's second favourite vodka-related hobby - arguing with foreigners about its origin (they insist it was invented in Poland, though the truth is debatable), and concentrate on the actual drinking. Only to help the economy of course. |