1147vodka The Blog

The Baltimore Sun asks, “Who is Osima?” Hell if we know. But if you want to know where vodka was invented, just visit our “Legend” page. Na Zdorovye!

In Russia, it is the holiday.  We refer, of course, to New Year’s, which has an aura of family, festivities, wishes, and nostalgia which is like Western New Year’s squared.  During the Communist era, both Christmas and New Year’s were suppressed as holidays, but New Year’s, which lacked the religious meaning of Christmas, lived on, as generations of Russians treated it as the emotional focal point of winter. The holiday has centuries of tradition. Happy New Year from White Birch and Old Russian Vodkas! Drink well. 

International Women’s Day is a day to honor the women in our lives, for their inherent grace, beauty, and wisdom — and to celebrate their economic, social, and political accomplishments. The day is a major holiday in Russia, home of White Birch Vodka. White Birch proudly sponsors the Kremlin Krunk party at Aiko Lounge in Atlanta, Saturday evening, March 8, 2008 honoring International Women’s Day.  Full details here.

In Russia, “moderation” and “vodka” are not often thought of in the same sentence. But now, more Russians than ever are choosing to control their drinking.

Kudos to our friends in Russia! We wholeheartedly support responsible drinking, not least because we want you to remember the experience of our vodkas!

Mystery novels set in Russia. (Courtesy Wichita Eagle.)

Tips from the Moscow Times on how to avoid a hangover. Summary: choose vodka and eat Russian food whilst drinking. Hey, that’s what we’ve been saying all along!

From English Russia, a compendium of the sights and sounds of contemporary Russia.

“Vodka. I knew it would play prominently in my social and work environment in Russia, but little did I know how quickly it would thrust itself into my existence.”

An American in Moscow’s first experience drinking vodka with Russians.

A Russian Orthodox church in the muted sunlight of a Moscow afternoon. 

This, and other glories, from the blog of Eileen, “From Russia With Love”. Beautiful site, Eileen!

“My path yesterday took me into a beautiful White Birch forest. It was peaceful and the breeze whispered through the leaves.

“The Russians drink the sap from the Birch at certain times of the year. You can find the sap being sold along the byways. The trees also produce a fruit and these fruit have been once used as the major food of the Incas. I have never had the sap yet but my Wife says that it is delicious.”

Posted by Kyle Keeton on Windows to Russia.

Hitler tried it, and lost — just as Napoleon had over a century before.  Don’t try to invade Russia by land.  If the Russian army doesn’t outwit you, the Russian winter will — and, incidentally, no amount of vodka will help.  In what has been called the “best statistical graphic ever drawn,” you can see here, in a single image, six different aspects of Napoleon’s disastrous Russian campaign of 1812: course, direction of travel, number of soldiers, geography, time, and temperature. As the Strange Maps blogger writes:

Pause a moment to ponder the horrific human cost represented by this map: Napoleon entered Russia with 442.000 men, took Moscow with only 100.000 men left, wandered around its abandoned ruins for some time and escaped the East’s wintry clutches with barely 10.000 shivering soldiers. Those include 6.000 rejoining the ‘bulk’ of the army from up north. Napoleon never recovered from this blow, and would be decisively beaten at Waterloo under two years later.

An image from the collection of Russian book covers in the New York Public Library:

Русская Крестьянска Игрушка (A Russian Peasant Toy)

(Hat tip: Bad Banana.)

From Russia, a meditation on friendship and vodka.

“By all means, take your friends to parties. Just don’t let parties take your friends. Be good. Drink milk. And think of Russia.” More here.