Koskenkorva Viina
Encyclopedia
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, produced by Altia
Altia
Altia Oyj or is a Finnish state-owned corporation based in Helsinki, which produces, imports, exports and markets alcoholic beverages. It operates in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Estonia and Latvia. Altia has production plants in Koskenkorva and Rajamäki in Finland, in Tabasalu in Estonia and...
in the Koskenkorva distillery in Ilmajoki
Ilmajoki
Ilmajoki is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The population of Ilmajoki is and the municipality covers an area of of which is inland water...
and bottled in Rajamäki
Rajamäki
Rajamäki is a village in Nurmijärvi, Finland. The population of Rajamäki is around 7,000 to 8,000. Rajamäki is the most famous for its alcohol distillery, Altia...
.
The grain (barley
Barley
Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
) alcohol is produced using 200-step continuous distillation
Continuous distillation
Continuous distillation, a form of distillation, is an ongoing separation in which a mixture is continuously fed into the process and separated fractions are removed continuously as output streams. A distillation is the separation or partial separation of a liquid feed mixture into components or...
designed to produce high-purity industrial ethanol
Ethanol
Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...
. The drink is produced by diluting this alcohol with spring water and a very small amount of sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
. Although commonly called a vodka
Vodka
Vodka , is a distilled beverage. It is composed primarily of water and ethanol with traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made by the distillation of fermented substances such as grains, potatoes, or sometimes fruits....
in English, in Finland it is not called a "vodka", but viina (see brännvin
Brännvin
Brännvin is a Swedish word for liquor distilled from potatoes, grain, or wood cellulose; it may be flavored or unflavored. The term includes vodka and akvavit, but akvavit is always flavored....
), although the word "vodka" is found in the label due to EU regulations.
Besides the standard 38% near-unflavored there are several variants of Koskenkorva on the market, most notably the famous Salmiakki Koskenkorva
Salmiakki Koskenkorva
Salmiakki Koskenkorva, is a pre-mixed liqueur which caused a minor revolution in drinking culture in Finland during the 1990s. Canonically salmiakkikossu consists of Koskenkorva Viina vodka and ground up Turkish Pepper brand salty liquorice...
, better known as Salmiakkikossu or Salmari, which is salmiakki
Salmiakki
Salty liquorice, also known as salmiak or salmiakki is a variety of liquorice flavoured with ammonium chloride, common in Netherlands, Nordic Countries, Baltic States and Northern Germany. Ammonium chloride gives salty liquorice an astringent, salty taste , which has been described as...
-flavored. Another variant is the same Koskenkorva with rye
Rye
Rye is a grass grown extensively as a grain and as a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe and is closely related to barley and wheat. Rye grain is used for flour, rye bread, rye beer, some whiskeys, some vodkas, and animal fodder...
instead of barley, marketed under the same concept as Koskenkorva Viina Ruis. There also exists a vanilla
Vanilla
Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...
variant called Vanilja Koskenkorva. The Koskenkorva Vodka is the same drink, but with 40% or 60% alcohol instead of the traditional 38%, as this brand is intended for foreign markets. Finlandia Vodka
Finlandia Vodka
Finlandia Vodka is produced from Finnish-grown six-row barley and pure glacier water.The barley is distilled into a grain spirit using a continuous multi-pressure distillation system at Altia Corporation's distillery in Finnish village of Koskenkorva...
, a vodka classified as "imported premium", is the same as Koskenkorva 40%, except that sugar is not added. Altia sold this brand, intended for foreign markets, to the American Brown-Forman Corporation
Brown-Forman Corporation
The Brown-Forman Corporation is one of the largest American-owned companies in the spirits and wine business.Some well-known brands of the corporation include Jack Daniel's, Southern Comfort, Finlandia Vodka, Woodford Reserve Bourbon, Canadian Mist, Early Times, Old Forester, and Korbel champagne.-...
, but remains the sole producer of Finlandia Vodka at least until 2017.
A new design for the Koskenkorva Viina bottle was introduced in 2008. It has a white label, with KOSKENKORVA in black and VODKA below in grey, and a drawing of a scenery of fields with barns on them in light brown. The product number in the Finnish Alko
Alko
Alko is the national alcoholic beverage retailing monopoly in Finland. It is the only store in the country which retails beer over 4.7% ABV, wine and spirits. Alcoholic beverages are also sold in licensed restaurants and bars but only for consumption on the premises...
, 013, is prominently displayed. This design line goes through the whole range of products.
Kossu is at its best when cold, but can be also mixed for example with Coke (which is then called "Kossukola"), with carbonated water
Carbonated water
Carbonated water is water into which carbon dioxide gas under pressure has been dissolved, a process that causes the water to become effervescent....
("Kossuvissy"), orange juice ("screwdriver"), energy drink ("Kossu Battery" or "Virtanen") or certain (hard) salty liquorice candies (Salmiakkikoskenkorva, Salmiakkikossu, Salmari). The last is often made by mixing ground Turkinpippuri (Turkish pepper) with kossu, though other candies of similar type are also a possibility and there also exists a ready salmiakki mixer
Drink mixer
Drink mixers are the non-alcoholic ingredients in mixed drinks and cocktails. There are many reasons mixers are used. They change or enhance flavors or add new ones to a drink. Mixers dilute the drink, lowering the alcohol by volume in the drink. They may make the drink sweeter, more sour, or more...
for this particular purpose. Another way of enjoying kossu, which has gained popularity recently, is mixing ground Fisherman's Friend
Fisherman's Friend
Fisherman's Friend is a brand of strong menthol lozenges produced by Lofthouse company in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England.- History :Fisherman's Friend was originally developed by a young pharmacist named James Lofthouse in 1865 to relieve various respiratory problems suffered by fishermen working...
lozenges to the drink. The resulting cocktail is known as "Fisu" (Helsinki slang
Helsinki slang
Helsinki slang or stadin slangi is a local dialect and a sociolect of the Finnish language mainly used in the capital Helsinki...
for "fish").
Altia
Altia
Altia Oyj or is a Finnish state-owned corporation based in Helsinki, which produces, imports, exports and markets alcoholic beverages. It operates in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Estonia and Latvia. Altia has production plants in Koskenkorva and Rajamäki in Finland, in Tabasalu in Estonia and...
is owned by the state of Finland. When government considered selling the corporation, a popular movement grew to oppose this. The Koskenkorva distillery is the largest buyer for the barley farmers in the area. Without the distillery, cultivation of barley in the region would probably cease.
Furthermore, Finnish people recognize Koskenkorva as one of the symbols of Finnishness. It would be unlikely that "foreign Koskenkorva" would be accepted by the Finnish home market. Ironically, many other vodka brands brandishing symbols of Finnish culture, such as Leijona with the Lion of Finland or Suomi-Viina, are partially produced from Estonian or other foreign raw materials. Koskenkorva Viina, and its unsugared counterpart Finlandia Vodka are one of the few actually Finnish vodkas on the market.
Trivia
- Koskenkorva is a small village – that belongs to municipality of IlmajokiIlmajokiIlmajoki is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The population of Ilmajoki is and the municipality covers an area of of which is inland water...
– in FinlandFinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
that translates as "(area) by the rapids". The folk etymology "rapid's ear" is based on the fact that korva also means "ear". - The original name of the drink was Koskenkorvan viina – notice the genitive 'n' – "liquor of Koskenkorva". The name was changed recently into Koskenkorva viina "Koskenkorva liquor". Furthermore, even older labels had the original name in the partitivePartitive caseThe partitive case is a grammatical case which denotes "partialness", "without result", or "without specific identity". It is also used in contexts where a subgroup is selected from a larger group, or with numbers....
as KOSKENKORVAN VIINAA "(some) liquor of Koskenkorva". - Irwin GoodmanIrwin GoodmanIrwin Goodman was a popular Finnish rock and folk singer. In the late 1960s he was widely known as a protest singer. He recorded over 300 songs, most of which were his own compositions, with lyrics written by Vexi Salmi...
's song repertoire included "Koskenkorvassa" ("In Koskenkorva"), where nearly every line is a double entendreDouble entendreA double entendre or adianoeta is a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways. Often the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so: often risqué or ironic....
interpretable as either praise to living in Koskenkorva village or being drunk of Koskenkorva Viina. - In the song The Land Of Ice And Snow, Timo KotipeltoTimo KotipeltoTimo Antero Kotipelto is the vocalist of the Finnish power metal band Stratovarius and is the creator and vocalist of the power metal band Kotipelto...
, the vocalist of the Finnish heavy-metal band StratovariusStratovariusStratovarius are a Finnish power metal band that formed in 1984. Since their formation they have released 13 studio albums and one live album. Along with Helloween, Blind Guardian, Rhapsody of Fire and Gamma Ray, Stratovarius are considered one of the leading groups of the power metal and symphonic...
, describes Finland as the land "where Koskenkorva flows". - The instrumental 0132 by also Finnish band Sentenced was composed to allude the hazy feeling after drinking Koskenkorva. The name itself is the product code for the drink.