Showing posts with label premium vodka. Show all posts
Showing posts with label premium vodka. Show all posts

Introducing VOD-K, Caramel & Truffle Flavored Premium Vodka From Paris.




VOD-K, the subtle combination of pure grain vodka, caramel and black truffles is a new premium vodka from Paris-based Fryd Food & Drink produced and bottled in Cognac in the Charente, the birthplace of expertise and tradition in quality spirits and liqueurs.



An exceptional vodka, VOD-K differs from its sister premium pure grain through the subtle aroma of truffles and caramel it releases every sip. This exclusive alliance gives contrasting notes, leaving the palate an impression of strength and softness.



Fryd Food & Drink tapped agency QSLD Paris to brand the new premium vodka. The agency worked on the name research, the graphic identity and the package design.

Frydlender Lawrence is a lover of terroir and flavors forgotten. A true epicurean, he has always advocated a return to the earth and the real. After more than 20 years in the world of cosmetics and traveling the world, he created Fryd Food & Drink. As a nod to the founder, VOD-K is nestled in a crystal bottle much like a vial of perfume. Composed mainly of crystal glass, it features a thick base which supports pattern etched glass that results in a brushed metal nose with a plastic insert designed much like perfume.




"I wanted to reconsider, premiumize and modernize the distillery sample bottle. The bottle of Vod-k is cylinder-shaped heavy and weighted to underline its premium character. This character is highlightened by the mat finishing of its Brown anodized metal cap. The bottom of the bottle is truffle shaped. The concept of Vod-k has been thought from the beginning to the end to create a consistent universe. Vod-k is a modern interpretation of the « demijohn ». Unique by its shape and its graphic design, Vod-k is also a decorative object. Thought to be exhibited, no detail has been left to chance." Denis Boudard of QSLD says.



The name « vod-k » is phonetical and looks like an sms word. A universal name, easy to remember, to understand and pronounce all over the world.



Specializing in truffle based fine foods, Fryd Food & Drink has previously trusted QSLD Paris with the design and graphic identity of their own logotype and QSLD worked on the graphic and volume design of many of their products (e.g.Olive oil, truffle flavoured salt and pasta).

EFFEN VODKA Presents The Art of Design. March 16th In Santa Monica.




If It's Hip It's Here, along with other Los Angeles area bloggers and companies, has the honor of being one of the co-hosts of The Art of Design event with EFFEN Vodka that takes place tomorrow night. The event, open to anyone over 21 years of age, will feature local mixologists competing to design the most Provocatively Premium™ EFFEN® Vodka martini.




Sample cocktails, vote on your favorites and watch a local artist and fashion designer reveal pieces inspired by EFFEN Vodka. Complimentary Happy Hour, too.

I hope to see you there!

When:
March 16, 2011 8:00 PM - 10:30 PM

Where:
William Turner Gallery at Bergamot Station Arts Center
2525 Michigan Ave
Santa Monica CA 90404

How:
Only those 21 years of age and older can attend.
Please click here to get on the guest list


RSVP

Another Vodka Tries Attracting Women. Introducing Van Gogh Blue.




In today's New York Times, Stuart Elliott, in his campaign spotlight column, wrote about Van Gogh Blue, a triple distilled wheat Vodka that specifically targets women.

Having previously written several posts on this blog about premium vodkas, including other female-targeted brands like Diva and Igor Velodin's Damaskaya, both of which seem to have gone by the wayside* after a very short period of time, I was intrigued to say the least.

*Both the Diva and the Damaskaya websites have disappeared and neither can be found on the web or in liquor stores anymore.

above: Diva Vodka was packaged with real Swarovski Crystals emulating a stripper pole in the middle.


above: Russian brand Damaskaya caused nothing but headaches for the brand.

Will yet another "Ladies Only" Vodka make it? Van Gogh Blue does have the social media support behind it (a facebook page and twitter account) that the other two lacked and an advertising campaign with an edgy sense of humor. Diva and Damaskaya went the ultra feminine route with butterflies, diamonds and a nod to Marilyn Monroe.



The ads for Van Gogh Blue:




On their website, they the lure ladies to the liquor with the following text:

"Come unbottled with the only premium triple wheat vodka that’s guaranteed to be smoother than most of the men you meet out at the bars. Okay, all.

Sometimes a girl just wants to shake things up a bit. And we think there’s no better way to do that than with a great cocktail and some great friends. That’s why Van Gogh Vodka has been serving up five-star rated flavors that are smoother than silk sheets for…well, the exact number doesn’t matter. But let’s just say it’s been a while. And now we’re introducing women everywhere to Van Gogh BLUE, the first premium, triple wheat vodka made from three international sources (France, Germany and Holland). It’s 80-proof. And already proving to create some of the best ladies night memories. Ever.

So, leave the kids with the babysitter, and join the party on Facebook and Twitter. See you there."

So, what makes this one women-targeted vodka different from the other two?
Well, first of all, Van Gogh Vodka is already a well established brand. This particular release is the eleventh vodka from the distillery. Secondly they have a very large US distribution, not to mention ad advertising budget of one million dollars, which both Diva and Damaskaya lacked. These facts coupled with the social media efforts may just make this female-specific vodka work.

So, put away those wine spritzers, girls and raise a glass of Van Gogh Blue.

info and images courtesy of the NY Times and Van Gogh Vodka

Pavé - The Luxury Liqueur Distilled Through Real Diamonds In Amsterdam.





An interesting unique luxury liqueur that is distilled through genuine diamonds, Pavé Amsterdam - The Luxury Liqueur™, had me intrigued from the start. I did as much research as possible and even contacted the owner multiple times for details, but I didn't learn much more than I had by poking around the internet. So, I will share with you what I can.



Nowadays the word "luxury" is tossed about quite carelessly. I've been guilty of doing so in this very blog. But when it comes to a luxury liqueur, Pavé claims to be the paragon. After all, it's said to be distilled and filtered through 500 carats of the finest grade earth-mined diamonds.



Pavé, the Luxury Liqueur, is described as an ultra premium, 60 proof clear fruit liqueur infused with a distinct blend of ripened citrus, tropical and passion fruits, hints of caffeine and delicate herbal notes. Distilled from organic fruits through genuine diamonds. It is said that Pavé is designed to be a standalone drink, though it can also be enjoyed with a splash of your favorite mixer.



The company says that Pavé’s finesse is in its elaborate creation process and secret family techniques that have been passed down for generations.



The bottle design:

From their website:
The ultra-lux liqueur is encased in its proprietary rectangular bottle. Standing strikingly tall and crystal-like, the bottle is fused with metal and Swarovski Crystals. The bottle was designed by founder Moghaddam* and inspired by the diamond distillation method used to produce the delicate liqueur. A 750ml bottle of Pavé weighs nearly 5 pounds.


The distillation process:


From their website:
Pavé is the first and only liqueur distilled with diamonds. For this “diamond-distillation” process, over 500 carats of the world’s finest genuine diamonds (category: IF/VVS1 – D/E) were examined and hand-picked by experts. After an elaborate distillation, Pavé is filtered through these flawless diamonds just before bottling, using a brand new batch of gems for every distillation. This enables filtration to 1.0 microns – conventional filters, on the other hand, only filter within a range between 30.0 and 15.0 microns. This fine, high-grade diamond dust makes this possible, removing even the most minute particles and impurities from the distillate. The sophisticated process gives Pavé its exquisite softness, exceptional clarity and clean, fresh finish - a liqueur of perfect purity and smoothness.

So, who is behind Pavé the Luxury Liqueur?



Well, this is not an easy one to answer. You may have noticed that the liqueur label and logo read Pavé Amsterdam, and when I asked owner Moghaddam*, I couldn't get a specific address nor pictures of the offices or distillation location. And from my own amateur research, I couldn't find any indication that it's created, owned, distilled or distributed in or from Amsterdam, so I am taking his word for it.

*Mehran Moghaddam, is named as the founder and President of the company, the designer of the bottle and as per his Linked In profile, a young entrepreneur who received a degree in Biochemistry at UC Davis in 1996 and a masters at UC Davis in Business Management in 2005.



The links to the "media" for Pavé on their site don't work, so I couldn't see any other articles about the trademarked "luxury liqueur". And when it comes to their social media presence, they are definitely a mess. On Facebook, one of their group pages calls it Pavé Vodka, but it is not a vodka and the marketing address for that is the Idol Music Group which is in New York. The business group page on Facebook lists Amsterdam as their location, but again, no working address or link. The myspace page for Pave is sparse and neglected and hasn't been updated in over a year.

This kind of makes me doubt the diamond distillation process. After all, 500 carats of Internally Flawless (IF) diamonds with D or E color would cost millions (unless they are chips, which is possible) and a new batch is used every time? Are there armed guards standing by during the process? And who are these 'experts' who hand picked the diamonds? Unfortunately, I could not find the answers to these questions.



Regardless of the veracity of its claims, the concept has an appeal and the bottle design is aesthetically pleasing. I can't comment on the taste because it's virtually impossible to locate in a retail location or online, with one exception -- it is available through Hi Time Wine. How did I even hear about it? Pavé seems to be most commonly present at music-related launches at the hippest events and parties.

all images courtesy of Pavé Spirits and Mehran Moghaddam

Drink To Earth Day With Yet 10 More Organic Vodkas!




Today is the celebration of annual Earth Day. So why not raise a glass of Organic Vodka to toast our planet? This is my Part II post about certified Organic Vodkas and/ or Green-related Vodkas, calling attention to some of the newer ones on the market or ones that were not in my initial post of 10 Organic Vodkas. Cheers!


1. Pure Green Vodka


The Pure Green Vodka Company was born from the idea that an organic mindset can apply to the spirit industry, and that genuine handcraft and quality can rhyme with sustainable organic production.


The team behind The Pure Green Vodka Company comes from a background that spans across the beverage industry: From distillation to import, from spirit sommelerie to high-end mixology. With years of experience in their field, international track record and a resolute “green thinking” approach to this project, they set up to analyze every aspects of the production in order to create a highly qualitative spirit, with an irreproachable organic pedigree. 



above: the team behind Sweden's Pure Green Vodka

From farming methods and production, to transport and bottling, the Pure Green Vodka Company has kept the same uncompromising green thinking principles, and was the very first Vodka to ever be awarded by the EEC the prestigious Eco certification “Organic Farming”, that stands now proudly on the back of the bottle.

The final product, Pure Green vodka, is a rich and full-bodied vodka with crisp minerals, proud of its origins and it’s organic identity.


Pure Green™ is made solely from the finest organic wheat and French well water from the calcium rich soil of the Charentes region in France. Distilled six times and cold filtered, the vodka is pure and well structured, yet retaining all its original wheat character.


Pure Green Vodka


2. Filip Premium Organic Vodka


Made from organic winter wheat imported from the Piedmont region of Northern Italy. It's 5x distilled and 3 x filtered, making it one of the purest vodkas on the market. And with no added sugars or preservatives, it's 30 to 40 calories less per serving than most other vodkas.


above Jen and Andre Filip of Filip Vodka (image courtesy of the green girls)

Filip Vodka

3. Sunshine Vodka


Sunshine Vodka, from Vermont's Green Mountain Distillery, begins with the purchase of the highest quality Certified Organic, GMO free grain. The grain comes from a family farmer owned co-op and is grown without the use of chemical fertilizers. The grain is used in a process called Saccharification, where starches are converted to fermentable sugars. These sugars are then combined with our proprietary yeast in a fermentation process to create alcohol. The yeast eats the sugar and gives off alcohol as a by product. The fermented liquid is then transferred to the still where distillation begins. Distillation is a method for the separation and removal of alcohol by means of evaporation.

By keeping precise temperature parameters in the still only the finest alcohol is evaporated away. The pure alcohol vapors rise in the still until they are carried, by the lyne arm, thru the condenser where cooling temperatures cause them to return to a liquid form. The resulting liquid, which is at close to 190 proof, is then combined with the purest Vermont Spring Water to form the finest of distilled spirits.

Because of the precise temperatures and the quality of the ingredients used, for those at Green Mountain Distillers, the production process ends here. They have no need for extraneous filtrations or additions to hide or mask unwanted flavors and impurities.


Sunshine Vodka

4. Crop harvest Earth Vodkas


Starting with the purely finest ingredients available, Crop Harvest Earth Vodkas are USDA certified organic, artisanal vodkas produced from grain grown on Americas plains. Crop organic grain is harvested from fertile, healthy soil free of artificial fertilizers, pesticides and chemicals, and Crop Vodkas are distilled so efficiently that no carbon treatment or charcoal filtering is required.

Crop 80 Proof Organic Artisanal Vodka has a refreshingly crisp, clean, pure taste. Crop Organic Cucumber Vodka captures the essence of freshly sliced cucumbers while Organic Tomato Vodka perfectly conveys the flavor of a vine-ripened tomato.


Crop Vodkas


5. ON (Organic Nation) Vodka



Diane and David came to a distilling career in a circuitous way. First, they fell in love in 2004 over several Martinis. Then, over a vodka Martini during the summer of 2006, they decided they wanted to make our own Vodka. And it would have to be Organic Vodka. So, they instituted their own training program and visited as many micro-distilleries as they could in Oregon, meeting some great people who since have become great friends.



After a year of getting the myriad of legal aspects taken care of, they ran an ad in the American Distiller’s Institutes e-newsletter for a Master Distiller.

Thomas McKenzie, of Alabama fame and fortune, who was weaned by the ‘Moonshiners’ of the early 1900’s, replied to their ad and in his smooth southern accent and effervesence style convinced them to hire him. Since then, they have done business with Box, Bottle, Cork, and Label Brokers, to mention a few. They have worked with the federal, state and local governments for Licensing. They claim to have had more than their share of good fortune and good friends giving them good advice. And, the rest is history in the making.



Organic Nation Spirits



6. Liquid Ice Vodka



One of kind vodka, made by distilling five (5) grains, (Wheat, Corn, Barley, Rye & Oat) all certified 100% organic.

Liquid Ice is the only vodka that can claim that’s its completely certified organic from start to finish as its distillery is the only one in the United States authorized to do so. So much that they put a certified statement on each and every bottle to prove it.

Liquid Ice is made with water from one of the world’s healthiest & cleanest aquifer, the Snake River. The Snake River runs right under the distillery, which is the home of some of the best known hand crafted vodkas, either made from potato or grain.



Liquid Ice is distilled four times for the cleanest, freshest taste and thus produces some of the highest viscosity in vodka in the world. Then it is filtered three times, through the world’s richest source of minerals, lava rock.

Liquid Ice is a vodka that can claim, “It is truly the only one of its kind”. No other vodka produced in the world can claim its multi grain, 100% certified organic and Kosher!


Liquid International Spirits

7. Ocean Vodka




Ocean Vodka is distilled in Idaho from organic grains then shipped to Maui where it's blended with pure Hawaiian deep sea water pumped up from depths of 3,000 feet of the Kona Coast of the Big Island by a company cleverly named MaHaLo (the Hawaiian word for thanks). Water from that depth has no man-made chemicals and no bacteria. Or so the sales pitch goes. The salt is removed topside.



Handcrafted and bottled on the Hawaiian Island of Maui, OCEAN Vodka is a meticulous blend of the finest organic spirits and pristine MaHaLo Hawaii Deep SeaTM Water from 500 fathoms below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. A touch of sea salt balances everything out.
Ocean Vodka


8. Vodka 14


Distilled at the foot of the majestic Teton range of the Rocky Mountains, Vodka 14 is wholly dedicated to a single, simple proposition: that by combining exceptional ingredients and meticulous distillation, our small, independent, family run company based in Boulder, Colorado can offer a product superior to mass-market brands both imported and domestic. If the finest ingredients are the heart of a remarkable vodka, exceptional distillation is the soul.

In crafting Vodka 14 they blend five generations of distilling heritage with the best of modern technology: a four-column continuous distillation system. In a continuous still the mash (the fermented grain) is heated until it becomes a vapor, rising towards the top of the still. As it rises, the distillate vapors condense back into a liquid state and cascade back down, beginning the process anew. This cycle allows the mixture inside the column to be re-distilled continuously, whereas in a conventional still the vapors would pass into a gas state once and then be collected.



After distillation, Vodka 14 is passed through an advanced activated carbon and crystal filtration process. Combining this sophisticated distillation technology with the meticulous attention inherent in small-batch production, Vodka 14 achieves a purity of distillation befitting its remarkable organic ingredients.




9. Prairie Vodka


Prairie is a beautifully smooth vodka distilled from organic #2 yellow corn and certified both organic and kosher. Each batch of Prairie is distilled as many times as necessary to yield the desired character and smoothness, typically between four to six times through a column still. The spirit opens with hints of melon and pear on the nose, followed by creaminess on the palate and a bright and smooth finish.



In the spirit of self-reliance, leftover corncobs and other biomass are converted on-site at the distillery to biogas energy for powering the stills. In addition, the Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS), a co-product of distillation, is returned to farms for reuse as feed. Since Prairie is crafted many thousands of miles closer to home than imported brands, it also requires significantly less petroleum to bring to market.



Prairie was recognized at the 2008 Los Angeles International Wine & Spirit Awards with a Gold Medal Spirit Award, Gold Medal Packaging Design Award, Best of Overall Package, and Best Package of Show.
Prairie Vodka

10. Akvinta


Akvinta Vodka is touted as the Mediterranean's First Luxury Organic Vodka. It has been certified as an organic vodka by US Agricultural Department. Akvinta is carefully crafted using premium ingredients such as alcohol distilled from finest quality wheat and a revolutionary Quintuple Filtration system that uses five natural filters to purify the water and the finished product in turn.

When tasted, Akvinta has a distinctive but subtle aftertaste – just like spring water tastes when compared to plain table water.

Akvinta vodka is manufactured from Grain Neutral Spirit (GNS), distilled out of organically grown grain from Faenza, Italy.



In August 2008, Dister S.p.a. was awarded two certificates confirming organic origin of alcohol: Certificate of Conformity to the EEC 2092/91 Regulations and the Certificate of Organic Operation in conformity to US Agricultural Department standard of National Organic Programme (USDA-NOP)
Akvinta Vodka


Okay... before you write me and tell me what I'm missing, you'd better search the blog first. I've written many previous posts on both premium and organic vodkas and may have already written about them.

Now With Flavor!

Many of the Vodkas I wrote about in my first post on Organic vodkas - or in my post about 25 unusual Vodkas, have since come out with flavored vodkas, such as:

360 Vodka

Tru Vodka

Square One:

Rain Vodka


My first article on New Green and Organic vodkas, included the following ten vodkas:
• 360 Vodka
• Rain Vodka
• UK5 Vodka
• Square One Vodka
• Reyka Vodka
• Lotus Vodka
• VeeV vodka
• Purus vodka
• Snow Leopard Vodka
• Death's Door Vodka.

Part I: Can Imbibing Save The Planet? 10 New Green Vodkas

And my post on Premium and Unusual Vodkas included the following organic vodkas:
• Tru Organic Vodka
• Triple 8 Vodka

Interested in learning about other Organic Cocktails? Then I highly recommend Organic, Shaken and Stirred: Hip Highballs, Modern Martinis and Other Totally Green Cocktails by Paul Abercrombie




Other Vodka posts that may interest you:
•Stunningly designed Vodka Bottles
•Dan Aykroyd's Crystal Head Vodka
•Belvedere's 1X Vodka