Svedka
Lidköping, Sweden
Five-times-distilled Swedish winter wheat vodka at a budget price. Chemically indistinguishable from wheat vodkas costing several times more.
- Filtration
- Charcoal
- Distillations
- 5×
- Grains
- winter wheat
- Congeners
- Very Low
- Histamines
- Very Low
- Polyphenols
- Very Low
- Sulfites
- Very Low
- Tannins
- Very Low
- Sugar
- Very Low
- Additives
- Very Low
- Calories
- 98
- Sugar
- 0g
14g ethanol at 40% ABV. No sugar, so every calorie here is alcohol.
In its favor
- ✓Five distillations
- ✓No added sugar in the original
- ✓Cheapest of the Swedish wheat vodkas
What to watch
- !Wheat base
- !Large flavoured range that does carry sugar
Factor by factor
Congeners Very Low ▾
Byproducts of fermentation (methanol, acetaldehyde, fusel alcohols). Strongly linked to hangover severity; darker, less-distilled spirits carry more.
Histamines Very Low ▾
Produced by bacteria during fermentation/aging. Trigger flushing, headaches, congestion in sensitive drinkers. High in red wine, beer, aged spirits.
Polyphenols Very Low ▾
Plant compounds with antioxidant activity. Slightly protective at low doses but at high concentrations may worsen hangover via tannin/quercetin reactions.
Sulfites Very Low ▾
Preservatives (SO₂) added to wine and some beers. Common trigger of headaches, asthma, and allergic-type reactions.
Tannins Very Low ▾
Astringent polyphenols from skins, seeds, barrels. Bind proteins, slow alcohol clearance, and aggravate dehydration-style symptoms.
Sugar Very Low ▾
Residual sugar amplifies hangover via blood-sugar swings and dehydration. Liqueurs and cocktails are the main offenders.
Additives Very Low ▾
Colorants, flavorings, glycerin, propylene glycol, sorbates. Cheap spirits and ready-to-drinks often hide these in trade-secret formulas.
Svedka is the clearest illustration of a point this page keeps making: on chemistry, price buys you almost nothing in vodka. It is Swedish winter wheat, distilled five times, and it scores identically to bottles at four times the money.
What price does buy is water source, packaging, and mouthfeel. Those are real things to care about. They are not health things.
Svedka questions
How many calories are in a shot of Svedka? ▾
About 98 calories in a 1.5oz shot at 40% ABV. All of them come from the alcohol, since there is no sugar.
Does Svedka have sugar? ▾
No. Svedka has 0g of sugar per 1.5oz serving.
Is Svedka gluten-free? ▾
Not by label. Svedka is distilled from wheat, so US rules bar it from claiming gluten-free. Distillation does remove the gluten protein, and the Celiac Disease Foundation considers distilled spirits safe for most coeliacs. If you would rather avoid the question, pick a spirit distilled from corn, potato, grape or agave.
What is Svedka made from? ▾
Svedka is made from winter wheat, distilled 5 times and filtered through charcoal.
What proof is Svedka? ▾
Svedka is 80 proof, which is 40% alcohol by volume.
Does Svedka give you a bad hangover? ▾
Svedka scores 2/10 on the SpiritFacts Hangover Index, against 2/10 for vodka overall. It is low on every hangover factor we track, so most of the morning after comes down to how much ethanol you drink.
Is Svedka vegan? ▾
Yes. Svedka is listed as vegan, with no animal-derived ingredients or fining agents.