If I mix 2 parts pure ethanol with 3 parts water, how is that not exactly the same thing as vodka?

Question

If I mix 2 parts pure ethanol with 3 parts water, how is that not exactly the same thing as vodka?

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

In theory, yes, it will. Can you source pure ethanol? Unless we’re cheating and buying something from the liquor store, or unless we somehow have a guy for medical ethanol, yes, there will be additives that will kill you. This is how they avoid taxation.

Next problem: 100% ethanol kind of isn’t a thing. Distill it to 97.2% and it stops getting purer, becoming what’s called an azeotrope.

But you can do fractions, and find a correct number of parts of water to add to your 97.2% to get that 80 proof. It won’t be 3:2, but it’ll be close.