It Requires Quality Ingredients, Skill and Experience to Create an Artisanal Vodka
This colourless spirit can be more than a simple product of fermented grains. An artisanal vodka can combine many botanicals to create its unique palate. Most people automatically associate this alcoholic beverage with Russia and Poland, where it was first produced. There is documented proof that suggests its origins could date from the late 9th century, but the first Russian distillery was only constructed around 200 years later, in 1174. At this stage, the drink was prepared exclusively by distilling fermented ingredients, such as various grains and potatoes, steeped in water and mixed with yeast.
Producers soon learned that they could produce a better quality vodka with a much higher alcohol content by repeatedly redistilling the distillate. Later, the introduction of charcoal helped absorb any remaining impurities. Nevertheless, the end product remains relatively bland, which has made it an ideal base for many of the cocktails popular today. While this simple distilled spirit remains a means to combat the icy cold of a Moscow winter, products infused with more exotic ingredients have prompted a worldwide boom in demand for an extensive and growing new breed of more flavoursome vodkas.
Each Artisanal Vodka is Characterised by Its Unique Flavour Palate
A spirit’s core flavour varies slightly depending on the composition of the mash from which it is distilled. So, a beverage prepared using rye grains will taste slightly different from the same product made using potatoes. However, infusing one or more carefully selected botanicals during the distillation process can turn a relatively bland spirit into one bursting with exciting flavours.
Naturally, choosing the best ingredients to create an appealing infusion requires skill and experience from the distiller. However, the quality of the selected ingredients is equally crucial when attempting to create an irresistible flavour sensation. In practice, the fresher the infused elements, the more sensational the ultimate result. This revelation is a lesson learned and implemented by the artisans responsible for crafting the luxury gins and vodkas produced by the Rainfall Distillery in the Pemberton region of Western Australia. Our products have gained widespread acclaim for their superior taste because all the botanicals used in their preparation are harvested freshly from the surrounding forest and steeped in the natural rainwater responsible for their lush growth.
Examples of the Botanicals Infused in Our Artisanal Vodkas
Gin has a natural flavour derived from juniper berries and the aromatic herbs angelica and coriander. By contrast, the less evident taste of vodka can be enhanced by introducing these and other growing plants, collectively known as botanicals, during the distillation process. The alcoholic vapour can extract their flavours to create a characteristic palate. Steeping them in the distillate has a similar effect.
Among the botanicals used at the Rainfall Distillery to create our luxury vodkas are roasted macadamia nuts, mandarins, oranges, cinnamon, cardamom, wattle seeds and star anise. These are blended in various combinations and proportions to recreate the distinctive flavours of the Southern Forest in a bottle.
Each year marks a renewal of the forest’s fare with subtle changes due to climatic and similar influences. Like wine, our vodkas are vintaged and crafted with ingredients from a single region and year. To experience the superior taste of our artisanal vodkas, you can place your order now.
