No matter what cuisines you cook from most frequently, there’s a pretty good chance there’s at least one bottle of vinegar in your cabinet right now. Aside from staples such as oil, salt, and sugar, there are few other ingredients that have such a ubiquitous presence. But for such a common staple, many of us have little understanding of how it comes to be that versatile bottle of tart liquid. We want to help you understand the scientific journey behind how vinegar is made and how it’s used to pickle, preserve, season, braise, marinate, and dress foods across the globe and in your own kitchen. We tasted 29 different vinegars, interviewed vinegar producers and sellers, and spoke to experts in various cuisines to learn as much about vinegar as possible.
What Is Vinegar?
The word vinegar is derived from the French word “vinaigre”; “vin” translates to wine and “aigre” translates to sour. In ancient Mesopotamia, people discovered that wine gone “bad” actually yielded its own delicious and versatile product. While this wine may have been made from grapes, it was also made from many other fruits or grains such as rice. Some of the first recorded uses of vinegar are by the Babylonians around 5000 BCE, but similar discoveries were likely being made across the world with organic materials native to those regions.
How Is Vinegar Made?
Two steps are required to make vinegar. Starting with a starch or sugar-filled substance, yeasts convert sugars to alcohol. Then, naturally occurring acetobacter (a type of bacteria) converts the alcohol to acetic acid, requiring oxygen and warm temperatures to do so. This is when the “mother,” a gelatinous cellulose form, is produced. (Learn more about the mother in the FAQs below.)
The acetobacter can’t thrive in a concentration of alcohol greater than about 10 percent, so producers starting with potent ingredients such as grain alcohol or rice wine typically dilute their product before production. Other vinegars are diluted afterward. There are three main methods of making vinegar. While each method can be used on its own, elements of each can be combined; all are still in use today.
Orléans or Surface Method
The surface method is also called the Orléans method, after the city in France. In the 15th century, to avoid paying taxes upon arrival in Paris on wines gone bad, soured wines were abandoned on the banks of the Loire River at Orléans, describes author Michael Harlan Turkell in his book Acid Trip: Travels in the World of Vinegar (2017). The Orléans method focuses on maximizing the surface area of the liquid being fermented on which acetobacter will grow, aided by the flow of oxygen. For example, liquid would be placed in a barrel that is stored horizontally with holes on both ends to create a crosscurrent. This traditional method, still used by some small artisanal producers such as Vinaigrerie Gingras, can reveal incredible flavor nuances but is slow and can be prone to inconsistencies.
Schüzenbach or Drip Method
This method, which takes a month or two to convert the alcohol to acid, can be referred to as drip, German rapid acetification, or Schüzenbach. In early 19th century Germany, J.S. Schüzenbach industrialized a system where the liquid being fermented is pumped over a material such as wood shavings. American Vinegar Works in Worcester, Massachusetts, still uses this method, according to Rodrigo Vargas, founder and CEO. Vargas described the shavings as “lounge chairs for bacteria.” They are included not for flavor but rather to increase surface area in order for bacteria to grow more quickly.
Acetator Method
Much commercial vinegar today is made using acetators, invented by Heinrich Frings of Austria in the late 19th century. This can also be referred to as a submerged system as it involves a mechanism that blows bubbles directly into the liquid being fermented rather than relying on airflow on the surface of the liquid. This supplies oxygen rapidly, which speeds up fermentation and can make vinegar in sometimes as little as a day. While efficient, this method yields vinegars with less character, losing the personality of the original base alcohol.
Once vinegar is made using one of these methods (or a combination), it still isn’t quite ready to be bottled. At this point, most commercial vinegars are also pasteurized to extend shelf life. Many vinegars are filtered to remove the mother and any other cloudy sediment, which helps stabilize it and prevent further fermentation. Many vinegars are also aged or “matured” for anywhere from a few days to a couple months to many years, which develops the flavor.
Diving into the World of Vinegar
Although acid is the end result of any vinegar-making process (and the FDA requires vinegar to have at least 4 percent acidity), vinegar is so much more than acidic. Just as the right wine pairing enhances a meal, the right vinegar adds life and character to the dish it’s used in and can help enhance the other ingredients. Vinegar can be puckeringly tart, floral, sweet, or verdant, and tasting so many styles opened our eyes to how dynamic the world of vinegar truly is. We’ve reported our tasting notes and research on the myriad of styles below, kicking things off with the most utilitarian option—distilled white vinegar. Read on to learn more about this fascinating world. We hope to inspire you to add a new bottle (or two) to your pantry. We’ve linked the vinegars we tasted below to purchase online, but we found that the best prices were often in stores, so shop locally if possible.
Distilled White Vinegar
Source: Typically barley or corn
Background: On American supermarket shelves, distilled white vinegar is usually the cheapest and most ubiquitous variety. To make it, the manufacturer typically purchases neutral 95 percent ethanol (which can be chemically synthesized or also distilled from sugar or grains such as barley or corn) as cheaply as possible and ferments it into vinegar. It is distilled to remove its color and character, leaving behind very little except acetic acid and water, Senior Science Research Editor Paul Adams explained.
Tasting Notes: Despite distilled white vinegar’s humble origins, our tasters were pleasantly surprised by its flavor, noting that it was “sour and crisp” with a finish that was “a bit fruity and tart” as it still contains small quantities of volatile flavor compounds that survive the distilling process. Overall, “tangy and not much else.”
How Is It Used? Due to its high acidity and neutral flavor profile, as well as its colorless quality, distilled white vinegar is a great candidate for pickling everything from Vietnamese Do Chua to Pickled Red Onions. It’s also commonly used for cleaning to help cut through grease and kill bacteria.
What We Tasted: Heinz Distilled White Vinegar
Malt Vinegar
Source: Barley
Background: Malt vinegar is essentially made with a beer-like alcoholic liquid minus the hops. Malted barley, or barley that’s been allowed to sprout, is mashed with water to make “wort” and fermented so that the sugar converts to alcohol. Then, a second fermentation converts the alcohol to acid. The maker of Sarson’s, a popular British brand, introduces the acetobacter in pine vats filled with wood wool to increase surface area for the bacteria to multiply.
Tasting Notes: Tasters picked up on “bracing” flavors reminiscent of apple cider vinegar, with notes of “pear” and “apple.”
How Is It Used? Malt vinegar’s most common purpose is as a seasoning for fried fish and chips to balance the richness and starch.
What We Tasted: Sarson’s Malt Vinegar, London Pub Malt Vinegar
Rice Vinegar
Source: Rice
Background: Rice vinegar is made from rice wine, which is made from fermented rice. Unlike with other vinegars, it is not yeast that converts the starches in rice to alcohol, but koji, a mold cultured from steamed rice. Most American supermarkets carry only Japanese white rice vinegar, which comes in seasoned and unseasoned varieties. White rice vinegars are also produced in Taiwan, China, and Korea and are typically unseasoned.
From China, there are four famous vinegars. Zhenjiang and Fujian are made from rice, and Baoning often has rice as well. The fourth variety, Shanxi, is usually made from other grains like sorghum and barley. Shanxi and Fujian vinegars aren’t yet widely available in the United States, but we were able to taste Zhenjiang and Baoning vinegars, which are black vinegars. Zhenjiang (sometimes referred to by its romanized name Chinkiang) vinegar is the most common black vinegar in American supermarkets. It is from the Jiangsu province and is made with wheat bran in addition to rice, as well as salt and sugar. Baoning vinegar from the Sichuan province uses a mix of grains such as wheat, corn, sorghum, buckwheat, and sometimes rice, in addition to a fermentation starter made of many Chinese medicinal herbs.
Fujian vinegar is made with red yeast rice that gets its color from rice mold and is not easily found in the U.S. A mass market approximation, Chinese red vinegar, is made with rice, spices, and coloring. A Japanese red vinegar called akasu is made from sake lees, the rice solids left over from making sake.
Tasting Notes: Tasters described Japanese unseasoned rice vinegar as “quite tart” and “punchy,” yet “very delicate,” whereas seasoned rice vinegar (which has salt and sugar added) was “sweet, salty,” and “juicy.” Tasters found Zhenjiang vinegar to be “supersavory” and “woodsy” with “deep nuttiness.” Baoning vinegar reminded tasters of a “bitter cola” that “smells sweet, like molasses” with hints of “chocolate and prunes.” Chinese red vinegar had a slightly “medicinal scent” with a “sweet and salty” finish.
How Is It Used? Unseasoned rice vinegar is a common ingredient in dishes across Asia, and especially in Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan. In Japanese cooking, Turkell says, “vinegar is usually blended into a more complex mixture for balance.” Sunomono are an entire category of vinegar-based vegetable dishes in Japanese cuisine. Rice vinegar is also frequently used to season rice and fish. In Korean cuisine, unseasoned rice vinegar or brown rice vinegar could be used in a dipping sauce for Pajeon, to season rice in kimbap, or to make pickles such as danmuji, among many other uses.
Zhenjiang vinegar is widely used in Chinese cooking in everything from warm noodle dishes such as Dan Dan Mian to a dipping sauce for dumplings. Baoning vinegar, which has a flavor comparable to Zhenjiang vinegar, is used similarly. Taylor Holliday, co-founder and CEO of The Mala Market, recommends using Zhenjiang vinegar in cooked dishes such as stir-fries and Baoning vinegar in cold dishes such as smashed cucumber salad to highlight its lighter flavor (which is due to the absence of added salt and sugar). Chinese red vinegar may also be used as a dipping sauce, a garnish for seafood soups, or in Chinese Fried Pigeon, and sweet, nutty Japanese akasu is used to season rice.
What We Tasted: Mizkan Rice Vinegar, Mizkan Seasoned Rice Vinegar, Gold Plum Chinkiang Vinegar, Baoning Handcrafted Black Vinegar Aged 10 Years, Koon Chun Diluted Red Vinegar, Akasu Red Vinegar Premium, Ottogi Rice Vinegar
Wine Vinegars
Source: Grapes
Background: Wine vinegars are, unsurprisingly, made from wine. The four major types of wine vinegars are red, white, champagne, and sherry. Their names indicate which type of wine they are made from, with one exception. In order to be called Champagne, sparkling wine must be made in the Champagne region of France. The vast majority of champagne vinegar is not made with true Champagne sparkling wine, but rather with white wine made from champagne grapes grown in different regions, such as California; this is the case with our winning single-varietal white wine vinegar. Sherry vinegar is made from aged white wine that has been fortified with brandy, which then goes through a process of aging and blending in barrels called the “solera” system. To learn more about sherry vinegar, read our review here.
Tasting Notes: Unsurprisingly, tasters found that most wine vinegars smelled and tasted like wine, with red wine vinegar being “sharp on the nose” and containing “pleasantly fruity notes.” White wine vinegar was described as “more grape-forward,” like a “very acidic white wine.” Sherry vinegar stood out as “slightly syrupy” and “raisiny,” with a “caramelly and toasty” scent.
How Is It Used? Wine vinegars are a popular choice for vinaigrettes and classic French sauces such as beurre blanc or hollandaise, and many cooks reach for white wine vinegar as it doesn’t impart color to the finished product. Some dishes, such as poulet au vinaigre, make vinegar the star by simmering bone-in chicken pieces in red wine vinegar for “tannic intensity and sharpness.” Sherry vinegar’s Spanish roots make it a go-to for Spanish dishes such as gazpacho and Catalan-style beef stew.
What We Tasted: Pompeian Gourmet Red Wine Vinegar (our runner-up red wine vinegar), Pommery Aged Red Wine Vinegar, Colavita Aged White Wine Vinegar, Napa Valley Naturals Organic White Wine Vinegar (our winning white wine vinegar), O Champagne Vinegar (our winning single-varietal white wine vinegar), Napa Valley Naturals Reserve Sherry Vinegar (our winning sherry vinegar)
Balsamic Vinegar
Source: Grapes
Background: Balsamic vinegar is also made from grapes. But it’s different from wine vinegars in that it isn’t made from wine at all. Instead, it starts with grape juice (also known as must) boiled down to “30 percent of its original volume,” writes Turkell in Acid Trip. “The resulting syrup, which is called mosto cotto (‘cooked must’) is then aged in a series of batteria,” or barrels in descending sizes made of a variety of woods. DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta) balsamic, made under specific traditional regulations, in specific geographical areas, is ultraexpensive. Most brands sold in the United States are a combination of wine vinegar, grape must, and sometimes caramel coloring. To learn more about balsamic, including its labeling and certifications, read our review here.
Tasting Notes: Tasters picked up on our Best Buy high-end balsamic’s “very glossy and thick” texture, “subtle dried fruit smell,” and “bright, citrusy finish.” They noted that our winning supermarket balsamic was just “a little syrupy” and “lightly acidic with strong plum and cherry notes.”
How Is It Used? Balsamic vinegar is another popular choice for vinaigrettes, and white balsamic is an option to reach for when you want that depth of flavor without the dark color.
What We Tasted: Oliviers & Co. Premium Balsamic Vinegar of Modena (our best buy high-end balsamic), Bertolli Balsamic Vinegar of Modena (our winning supermarket balsamic), Alessi Premium White Balsamic Vinegar
Apple Cider Vinegar and Apple Vinegar
Source: Apples
Background: Fruit is a plentiful source of sugar, a crucial ingredient to making alcohol and therefore vinegar. Depending on what fruits are native to the area, this could be berries, dates, persimmons, or, by far the most common in the United States, apples. In order to be called apple cider vinegar, a product must start with apple cider. In fact, in 1924, the Supreme Court decided that vinegar made with dried apples could not legally be called apple cider vinegar. Vinegar made with apples and distilled alcohol, rather than apple cider, could be called apple vinegar.
Tasting Notes: In our tasting of apple cider vinegars, tasters noticed that unfiltered apple cider vinegar had more complexity than the filtered versions. This time, tasters also noted that one unfiltered apple cider vinegar smelled “musky” like “kombucha” and tasted like “sour beer” with a “light apple flavor.” A filtered apple cider vinegar was more “punchy,” “light,” and “subtly apple-y.”
How Is It Used? Apple cider vinegar is one of the most commonly used vinegars in the United States It can be found as the base for pickles, salad dressings, barbecue sauce, glazes, and more. Korean apple vinegar is neutral in a way similar to unseasoned rice vinegar and is used somewhat interchangeably with white vinegar, such as in buchu geotjeoli (Korean Chive Salad).
What We Tasted: Heinz Filtered Apple Cider Vinegar (our winning apple cider vinegar), Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, Beksul Apple Vinegar
Sugarcane Vinegar
Source: Sugarcane
Background: Sugarcane vinegar is made from the sap or juice of sugarcane, a tall grass used to produce sugar. Sukang maasim is a versatile white sugarcane vinegar from the Philippines. You can also find spiced sukang maasim, which is infused with peppers and garlic. Sukang iloco, another type of sugarcane vinegar from the Philippines, is made from a molasses-based alcoholic drink called basi and is darker in color.
Tasting Notes: Tasters described sukang maasim as “slightly floral” yet “very acidic.” Tasters were dazzled by spiced sukang maasim’s “super-hot and spicy” qualities. Tasters said sukang iloco had a “sweetish caramelly scent” that was “delightful and smooth.”
How Is It Used? Sugarcane vinegar is used in other parts of the world, but if you’re purchasing it in the United States, it is almost always from the Philippines, and it is pivotal to Filipino cuisine. It’s an important ingredient in adobo, a Filipino dish in which chicken (or other meat or vegetables) is simmered in vinegar, soy sauce, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Abi Balingit, author of the upcoming cookbook Mayumu, said, “I can just tell the difference if adobo is made with distilled white vinegar instead of sugarcane vinegar; it’s harsher.” Sugarcane vinegars are also used for pickling, marinades, or to “cook” raw fish in the bright, bracing dish called kinilaw. Both adobo and kinilaw are often made with coconut vinegar as well, which you can learn more about below. Infused vinegars such as spiced sukang maasim are often used for dipping rich foods such as crispy lumpia or lechon, roast suckling pig. Balingit added, “In the Philippines, the climate is so hot and tropical, so preservation is part of the functionality of having foods with a lot of acid.”
What We Tasted: Datu Puti Spiced Sukang Maasim, Datu Puti Cane Vinegar, Sukang Iloco
Palm Vinegar and Coconut Vinegar
Source: Sap or juice from coconuts and other palms
Background: Similar to sugarcane vinegar, nearly all palm and coconut vinegars found in the United States are Filipino brands. There are a wide variety of vinegars made from palm trees, a tropical evergreen of which there are thousands of species, including coconut trees. Coconut vinegar, which can be made from either fermented coconut water or sap, is another variety that is hugely important in Filipino cuisine. Infused coconut vinegars (often referred to as “spiced”) such as Suka Pinakurat, a coconut sap–based vinegar flavored with peppers, garlic, and onions, are also very popular in Filipino cuisine. The sap from other types of palms, such as nipa palm and kaong palm, is used to make vinegars as well. In addition to the Philippines, palm wine vinegars are used in West Africa.
Tasting Notes: Despite its name, coconut vinegar doesn’t taste much like coconut, although it does have a cloudy appearance akin to coconut water. Tasters described it as “quite potent,” “bracing,” and “really punchy.” Suka Pinakurat was “reminiscent of pickled peppers” with a “good amount of heat.” Sukang paombong was “astringent on the nose” with a “supertart yet slightly sweet” taste and “vegetal undertones.”
How Is It Used? Instead of cane vinegar, adobo can also be made with coconut vinegar. Balingit is an especially big fan of using Suka Pinakurat as a dipping sauce.
What We Tasted: Silver Swan Coconut Vinegar, Suka Pinakurat Sawsawan Ng Bayan, Tropics Premium Quality Coconut Vinegar, Tropics Sukang Paombong - Palm Vinegar
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