Excerpts from Vodka article

While vodka sales make up a third of the U.S. market, the clear, almost flavorless liquor still has trouble finding respect among craft cocktailers.

According to the Distilled Spirits Council, last year Americans guzzled more than 65 million 9-liter cases of the translucent liquor — good for 32 percent of the market. But scan the cocktail lists at many local craft joints and vodka is often proportionately underrepresented and in some cases completely snubbed.

While Americans are consuming nearly four times the amount of so-called super premium or luxury vodkas (like Aviv 613 or Belvedere) than they were a decade ago, exotically flavored vodkas — which make craft bartenders’ eyes roll — have also thrived. Last week Minnesota-based Phillips Distilling Co. made national headlines when it rolled out a sriracha-flavored vodka under its UV brand.

The flavored vodka category — with all its cake- and marshmallow-inflected varieties — will continue to grow, and traditionalist cocktailers will be forced to embrace them, said Jim Aune, Phillips’ director of research and development. “This is going to be popular whether you like it or not, so you can jump on board or you can sit there by yourself,” he said.

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/235733971.html

Zombie Apocalypse Vodka

We had to wait until after Halloween (their busy season) to speak with the founder.  We gave him a call at Brian Gates' suggestion, as they are a new brand, but not a competitor.

Their founder was fantastic, giving us loads of valuable advice.  Notably, they started with about the same amount of money with which we are planning to start.  The single best thing they did was focus on branding; and the biggest pitfall is that they can always use more money as marketing is a bottomless pit (not his words!).

The Gluten Issue

Like so many others, I have to eat gluten-free.  I get often get asked if our vodka, distilled from wheat, is gluten free.  


During the distillation process, heating up the alcohol removes it from the rest of the mixture used to make it.

Distillation involves heating, which vaporizes the alcohol as a way to remove it from the mixture. “Distilled spirits, because of the distillation process, should contain no detectable gluten residues or gluten peptide residues,” Steve Taylor, co-director of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Food Allergy Research and Resource Program tells Scientific American. “Proteins and peptides are not volatile and thus would not distill over.”

Basically — none of the gluten-y ingredients will come with the alcohol and shouldn’t show up in amounts that would bother many with gluten sensitivities. The rules governing gluten-free labels say anything bearing that distinction must contain less than 20 parts per million using precise, scientific methods. That testing might not be necessary, adds Taylor, calling gluten-free vodka a “silly thing.”

“All vodka is gluten-free unless there is some flavored vodka out there where someone adds a gluten-containing ingredient,” he adds. “I know that many celiac sufferers are extra-cautious. That is their privilege. But their [vodka] concerns are usually not science-based.”

http://consumerist.com/2013/11/18/is-labeling-vodka-as-gluten-free-just-another-marketing-gimmick/