How much alcohol is in vodka?

Vodka must contain at least 37.5 percent alcohol. That is laid down in Annex I, category 15, of EU Regulation 2019/787: the alcoholic strength by volume of vodka is at least 37.5 percent.

The same category describes vodka as a spirit drink made from ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, prepared from potatoes, cereals or other agricultural raw materials. Colouring is not allowed. Sweetening is allowed up to eight grams of sweetening products per litre, expressed as invert sugar. Flavourings may only come from the distillate of the fermented raw materials and may not dominate the taste.

Forty percent is the usual strength, well above the legal minimum. Of the 247 vodkas in the shop in Bathmen, 104 are at exactly 40 percent.

The minimum is a lower limit, not a prescription. Above 37.5 percent, the producer chooses the bottling strength. In the shop, the 161 vodkas of 37.5 percent or higher go up to 50 percent, spread over 49 brands from 18 countries. Poland supplies 41, the Netherlands 24, France 21, Sweden 19, Ukraine 13 and the United States 13.

Flavoured vodka must contain at least 37.5 percent alcohol, just like regular vodka. This is set out in Annex I, category 31, of EU Regulation 2019/787. A lower strength is not permitted.

The difference lies in the aroma and in the sweetness limit, not in the strength. With flavoured vodka a predominant aroma that does not come from the raw materials used may be added, and the end product may contain up to 100 grams of sweeteners per litre against eight grams for ordinary vodka.

A drink below 37.5 percent may not carry the name vodka as its legal designation. Usually it is a liqueur, for which a minimum of 15 percent applies.

Article 10 of EU Regulation 2019/787 provides that a spirit drink that meets none of the categories in Annex I receives the legal name spirit drink. If the product does meet the requirements of category 33, the name is liqueur. In Bathmen there are 80 items below 37.5 percent, from 4 to 35.2 percent. On the shelf they often stand next to the vodka, but legally they are different drinks.

A bottle of 70 cl at 40 percent contains well over 22 standard glasses and at 37.5 percent almost 21. A standard glass is about ten grams of pure alcohol.

Here is how to check it: take the volume in millilitres, multiply by the alcohol percentage and then by 0,789, the weight of a millilitre of alcohol in grams. Divide the result by ten. At 700 ml and 40 percent that is 280 ml of pure alcohol, 221 grams and thus 22.1 standard glasses. At 37.5 percent it is 262.5 ml, 207 grams and 20.7 standard glasses. One standard glass at 40 percent comes to about 32 ml of vodka and at 37.5 percent to about 34 ml.

A standard glass of vodka with cola contains 30 ml of vodka, and the Trimbos-instituut counts that as ten grams of alcohol: exactly one standard glass.

For a glass poured by hand, the percentage in the glass cannot be determined. If 50 ml of 40 percent vodka goes in, the glass contains almost 16 grams of alcohol, well over one and a half standard drinks. The strength on the label applies to the bottle, not to the measure someone pours. Anyone who wants to keep track of how much is consumed in an evening should therefore count per measure poured, not per glass.