Vodka was something you used to have on hand to make Bloody Marys or as an alternative to add to tonic when no gin was available.Over the years, though, it started becoming all the rage, both as a key ingredient to must-have cocktails such as the Cosmopolitan and, more recently, as a drink to sip for its taste and depth of flavour. By 2009 vodka had replaced Scottish whisky as the most popular spirit in Britain, with sales now totalling in excess of £1.7bn per annum.But how can you tell the difference between the colourless, odourless and relatively tasteless booze that’s only good for student cocktails and the elegant textured and luxurious tasting vodkas that are increasingly available on the shelves of British shops? It’s not as if it simply comes down to cost, as Russian Standard proves (although Royal Dragon Imperial Gold Leaf, at nearly £65 a bottle, is incredible).We’ve got tipsy finding out which are the best, so you can save your drinking hours for the nectar-of-the-gods.(independent.co.uk)ANN.Az