I saw Vodkow being featured in a mailer from the LCBO. They use lactose and a proprietary yeast strain. Being a curious monkey, I have ordered a couple of bottles.
Any speculation as to what it is going to be like?
Like alcohol mixed with water?
If it tastes like anything else, it’s not vodka.
Adding lactose isn’t new though. Milk Stouts have lactose added to them, which the yeast they use won’t digest so the end product is noticeably sweeter. Left Hand Milk Stout is the first one that comes to mind. Dragon’s Milk, IIRC, is also a milk stout.
Bingo. Although I believe the ATF or TTB or whoever changed the regulations recently to allow for a little character from the fermentables to show.
If you read, it’s basically the byproduct of taking the fat out of the milk and then ultrafiltering it to concentrate the protein for cheese and yogurt making. What’s left (“milk permeate”) is very high in lactose, which apparently they can ferment with their special strain of yeast, or maybe they use enzymes or some other process to make it fermentable.
It seems like their main gimmick is the fact that they’re fermenting a by-product and are therefore more sustainable (which is debatable, depending on how they’re going about it).
I’d be willing to bet it’s mostly neutral- I kind of doubt without fat or protein, milk permeate would taste much like milk anyway.
Nearly a White Russian in the bottle, I never liked that drink but now yeah , set me up bartender
The traditional thing is Mongolian moonshine (arkhi), for which
The lack of temperature control given by the simple equipment results in a concentration of only about 10% alcohol, rather comparable with wine than with most other liquors. The end product has a somewhat caseous taste, with a slightly rancid note. It may take some getting used to, but Mongol Arkhi of reasonable quality is definitively palatable. On the other hand, the result of the third distillation phase can sport a taste as if a herd of goats had been marching through.
Of course, properly distilled high-quality vodka is supposed to taste like alcohol, as we know.
Sounds like it will taste like vodka.
Arkhi is new to me, but I have kefir on hand, wonder if I can set up a still for cheap, hmm…
Trivia:
The Russian word for water is “voda.” You can hear the cognate if you think about how common W/V and T/D transpositions are, and also how many English dialects pronounce “water” as “wattah.”
Russian (and other Slavic languages) creates pet names by adding a -sha, -ka, -chka or -shka to a name, or the first syllable of a name, which is how you get “Natasha,” from “Natalia,” and “Misha” from “Mikhayil,” “Ivanka” from “Ivana,” and “Ninochka” from “Nina.”
It’s also how you get “vodka” from “voda.”
I think it’s funny.
I like vodka and chocolate almond milk in a 50/50 mix with ice. Then again, beers with lactose do not taste “milky” to me.
Whiskey is just from Early Modern Irish for water.
Are there any other languages with their word for water is also a type of alcohol? And do those people also have a reputation for drinking heavily?
Sure, “water of life” translates to:
Eau de vie, though French aren’t known as heavy drinkers, just wine sippers.
Akvavit and other variants, Scandinavians are known for imbibing.
Finnish appears to use a loaned “votka” vs “vesi” so not there.
One of my favorite craft distilleries is the Vermont Spirits Company. They make a milk vodka and have for close to a decade. We did a taste test with it maybe 5 years ago and it was easy to tell the potato vodka from the grain vodka from the milk vodka but on their own they were all very neutral and without doing a direct comparison you’d never notice the difference.
The milk vodka along with their maple brandy have both been spirits on my list of stuff I’d like to make myself but I haven’t had the space, time, budget or interested client. I’m working on building my next distillery so hopefully I’ll get some made in the next decade.
Mongolians have fermented mare’s milk since time immemorial as Airag.
I tried some commercially made stuff and it was nothing great. A bit like “milky” sake IIRC.
Unfortunately, never had the chance to try real nomadic homebrewed mare’s milk. It’s on my bucket list though
Never tried it, but I have a colleague who was selling a brand from England.
https://www.blackcow.co.uk/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItubYrr7-6wIVA-ntCh0EzgQKEAAYASAAEgLEFfD_BwE
My vodka just arrived. I’m anxious to try it but it is just 10 AM here so it will have to wait a bit.
I do like the milk bottle aesthetic but that large mouth may make pouring more of a challenge than it needs to be.
Wait’ll you’ve had a bit.
10 am is just an early lunch!
Hey it is covid, after all… 