Vodka ( , , ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impurities and flavourings. Traditionally, it is made by distilling liquid from fermented cereal grains, and potatoes since introduced in Europe in the 1700's. Some modern brands use corn, sugar cane, fruits, honey, and maple sap as the base. Since the 1890s, standard vodkas have been 40% alcohol by volume (ABV) (80 U.S. proof). The European Union has established a minimum alcohol content of 37.5% for vodka. Vodka in the United States must have a minimum alcohol content of 40%. Vodka is traditionally drunk "neat" (not mixed with water, ice, or other mixers), and it is often served freezer chilled in the vodka belt of Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and Ukraine. It is also used in cocktails and mixed drinks, such as the vodka martini, Cosmopolitan, vodka tonic, screwdriver, greyhound, Black or White Russian, Moscow mule, Bloody Mary, and Caesar. Etymology The name vodka is a diminutive form of the Slavic word voda (water), interpreted as "little water": root vod- [water] + -k- (diminutive suffix, among other functions) + -a (ending of feminine gender). In English literature, the word vodka appeared in around the late 18th century. In a book of travels published in English in 1780 (presumably, a translation from German), Johann Gottlieb Georgi correctly explained that "kabak in the Russian language signifies a public house for the common people to drink vodka (a sort of brandy) in." William Tooke in 1799 glossed vodka as "rectified corn-spirits", using the traditional English sense of the word "corn" to refer to any grain, not just maize. In French, Théophile Gautier in 1800 glossed it as a "grain liquor" served with meals in Poland (eau-de-vie de grain). Another possible connection of vodka with "water" is the name of the medieval alcoholic beverage aqua vitae (Latin, literally, "water of life"), which is reflected in Polish okowita, Ukrainian , Belarusian , and Scandinavian akvavit. Whiskey has a similar etymology, from the Irish and Scottish Gaelic uisce beatha/uisge-beatha. People in the area of vodka's probable origin have names for vodka with roots meaning "to burn": ; ; ; ; is also in use, colloquially and in proverbs; ; . In Russian during the 17th and 18th centuries, (goryashchee