Wasabi and Salty Caramel Popcorn Vodka? Introducing Oddka, Crazy and Beautiful Flavored Vodkas From Wyborowa.

Oddka by Wyborowa, is a new line of creatively flavored vodkas by Pernod Ricard that will initially launch in select U.S. states including Alabama, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, prior to expanding its global distribution later this year.

The unusual beverages have an equally unusual spokesman, a 2-D illustrated gentleman named Wit (more on him later in the post).

Oddka is available as an original, clear vodka and in five unconventional flavors, including Apple Pie, Electricity, Fresh Cut Grass, Salty Caramel Popcorn and Wasabi, each designed to inspire experimentation and self-expression.

The flavors may be weird but bottles are beautiful. Take a look.

Original:


Electricity:


Salty Caramel Popcorn:


Fresh Cut Grass:


Wasabi:


Apple Pie:


Meet Brand Spokesman Wit Oddoski:



The voice and inspiration of the Oddka brand is Wit Oddoski, a virtual character in the real world. He is a charismatic individualist and curious 2-D line drawing born in the age of invention and experimentation who marches to the beat of his own drum. He has made his social debut via Facebook  and Twitter (@WitOddoski), connecting with consumers and sharing imaginative "oddtail" cocktail recipes.



"ODDKA was created for the individual who seeks brands that are confident, expressive and challenge the norms, just like they do," said Maxime Kouchnir, vice president, Pernod Ricard USA. "We are excited about the initial release of ODDKA in select states and sharing our curious approach with these individuals and provoking their senses."

Here's how Wit describes the unique flavors:
Original: I once meditated for a week. Afterwards I came up with the idea of a vodka-flavoured vodka. An idea so fresh, so elegant, so smooth, I couldn’t believe it hadn’t been thought of before. When I discovered it had, I thought I’d make it anyway.

Electricity: Ever wondered what a bolt of lightning tastes like? Me too. That’s why I created this shockingly good tongue-tickling vodka. Now lightning can strike as often as you like.

Salty Caramel Popcorn: I love the movies, though personally I’ve never seen the appeal of those 3D ones. If this flavour was a film it would be a caramel comedy with a sea salt subplot and a warm, feel-good ending.

Fresh Cut Grass: One day my llama distracted the janitor when he was mowing my factory lawn and there was an accident. A fortuitous accident with a crisp and citrusy outcome.

Wasabi: At Ninja school I was taught the saying, ‘The Wasabi-eating Ninja Laughs Last’. I’m still trying to figure out what it means, but in the meantime have created this fiery flavour to creep up on your taste buds. Enjoy.

Apple Pie: Inspired by Grandma Oddoski’s famous apple pies. I gave her my word I would never reveal her secret ingredient. This sweet tasting apple and cinnamon flavour vodka is a tribute to that promise.

The elegant and smooth Original Oddka (40% alc./vol., 80 proof) and the new five sensory-pleasing flavors (30% alc./vol., 60 proof) sell for a suggested retail price of $15.99.

ODDstache mobile app:


To connect fans with the brand's experimental personality, ODDKA launched a free "ODDstache" mobile app, available on iTunes. Men and women alike can grow their very own ODDstache on a mobile photo of their choice. To mature, the mustaches need tending; growth can be accelerated with grooming, feeding and by sharing with friends on Facebook—the more "Likes" received, the more ODD it will grow.


ODDKA

A Great Bottle Design by Karim Rashid and Fabulous Brand Imagery For One Weird Vodka: AnestasiA Sensational Spirit.

AnestasiA Vodka is touted as the world's first 'tingling' spirit. An ultra-premium five times distilled vodka made from Cascade spring water and organic corn from Oregon. It claims to have a frost-like cooling sensation and it is housed in an award-winning bottle design by Karim Rashid.




Let me begin this post by telling you it was my intention to commend the brand on their bold image conveyed through the unique and bizarre photography on their site. However, as I am writing this post, the AnestasiA Vodka brand has since replaced several of the more interesting photographs I've shown here throughout this post with more mundane and unoriginal ones. More on that later.



Back to the vodka.
First off, I shall explain what they mean by tingling. In this particular case, AnestasiA (I'm guessing this is a deliberate play on anesthesia or anesthetic) means a menthol-like numbing sensation. Something that several reviews have found very distateful. Drink Spirits calls it "the Worst Tasting Vodka They've Ever Had" and Drink Hacker claims that "For someone expecting a more traditional vodka, the attack to the palate is jarring."



Not at all universally disliked, the vodka has received some awards for its unique taste: The Beverage Testing Institute 2013 Platinum Medal and Double Gold Medal and the MicroLiquor Triple Gold Winner for Taste, Packaging and Design. And the Food & Drink Magazine blog says it goes down more smoothly than other vodkas when drunk straight.



“AnestasiA Vodka is made from a formula developed by food scientists that reduces the burn inherent in alcohol, especially vodka, making it more pleasant to consume,” Yuliya Mamontova, co-founder of Numbrands, Inc., says. This gives it a distinct tingling or cooling sensation some drinkers have likened to mint, though it does not contain menthol.



As a traditional Vodka lover, the taste does not appeal to me, but I loved the image the brand initially conveyed through their website and social media with bizarre but beautiful photography by Philipp Matt.

I use the past tense because I visited their site again today and was dismayed to see more 'ordinary-looking' photography. Someone in the marketing department must have gotten nervous and most all the wonderful images I've shown here are no longer on their site but instead have been replaced with the more expected images of a blond woman posing in a chair and on a stairwell (see below):


above: these images have replaced the masked bartender, poodle and unicorn images shown in this post on the AnestasiA website

Youthful, hip and funky, the brand's inital image is (was?)  a perfect fit for the award-wining bottle design by Karim Rashid.

The Bottle:

The drawings:

The inital prototype:

The final product:



The Case Design:


On their site they claim "AnestasiA is the culmination of a quest to create the world’s most effortless vodka. After years of research, it turned out that the best vodka can be hand crafted right here in Bend, Oregon, USA —born from Cascade Mountain spring water and locally grown organic corn."



"These select ingredients and hand-craftsmanship make AnestasiA VodkaTM a world-class spirit. It is five times filtered through charcoal and crushed volcanic rock as well as five times distilled."



The vodka is also naturally gluten-free (as if that matters).

Description from their site:
At the laboratory one day, a brilliant scientist eyed the tingling agent he was about to use in an experiment. That night, over drinks with his Russian mistress, they imagined combining the tingling sensation with the exuberance of vodka. In that moment, AnestasiA was born—the combination of a once-dream. Bottled in Oregon from organic corn vodka and distilled 5 times, this concoction only needed one finishing touch: world famous designer Karim Rashid. With everything in place, AnestasiA became the astoundingly unique and unrivaled product before you.


all images courtesy of AnestasiA Sensational Spirit

AnestasiA
You can purchase it here and try it for yourself.

Let My People Drink. Moses Kosher Vodka.

Since most Jews are in the midst of celebrating Passover this week, I thought it might be a good time to introduce you to Moses Vodkas. Pure in spirit and true to the laws of the Jewish faith, Moses Vodka is the first ultra premium vodka certified kosher all year round.



Moses Vodka is an award-winning "super premium" vodka that includes the extra feature of being certified Kashrut or kosher. Fortunately enough, a miracle wasn't needed to create Moses Vodka. Just the Prophet's name, pure spring water, the choice of the finest raw ingredients, a unique filtration process, and the blessing of a Rabbi to deliver you a kosher product of true perfection.


above: Moses Vodka is available as both a super premium pure Vodka and a Date flavored Vodka.

From Finland (yes, there are Jews in Finland), it is certified under the supervision of Rabbi Dr. Moshe Edelmann. The vodka itself is made from a base of sugarcane (a vodka rather than a rum because it will have been distilled up to at least 190 proof prior to bottling) and blended down with natural spring water.



Rabbi Yaakov Westheim supervises the distillation process, making sure sugarcane is transformed into pure spirit using methods and machinery compliant to kashrut laws.





Rabbis Benjamin Gruber and Moshe Edelman are responsible for the production process and the quality of ingredients.



This includes a careful selection of raw ingredients, cleaning the bottling line and mixing tanks with boiling water, the usage of single-use materials in the production process wherever possible, strict hygiene rules to follow by the personnel throughout manufacturing and packaging.




As an additional note, as is common with some European vodkas there is a sugar additive to the spirit--sometimes called "rounding the spirit"--which will upset some vodka purists. For others, this is adds a welcome and flavorful smoothness to the vodka.

The Moses Vodka Gift Box:



• 1 bottle of Moses Vodka (750ml)
• 1 bottle of Moses Date Vodka (750ml)
• 4 shot glasses

The Vodka has won several awards for both taste and packaging.


Awards:
Silver - NYISC
Silver - Vodka Masters (design and packaging)
Silver - SFWSC
Silver - ISC
Gold - SIP Awards
MASTER - Vodka Masters

Some of their ads:


Moses Vodka can be purchased online at:
The Kosher Wine Company
Proof 66

To find other stores in various countries that carry Moses Vodkas, check here.

Moses Vodka

Precious Vodka Has A Real Gem In Every Diamond Shaped Bottle.

above: the bottle of Precious Vodka shown has a genuine ruby gemstone you can see at the very top of the bottle

Jewel Lines® has produced a unique combination of Ultra-Premium Vodka with the most valuable natural precious stones in the world. The award-winning vodka (recipient of the Silver Medal San Francisco Awards in 2011) is bottled in a luxury diamond shaped container complete with a single real gemstone.




Precious Vodka is produced from distiller grown and harvested winter wheat and nourished with post glacial subterranean spring water. The wheat used in Precious Vodka is carefully selected with only the top 10% of the annual harvest making it to the distillation process. From there their master distiller distills 6 times then dilutes with locally sourced natural spring water. The water is high in mineral content and adds a very strong, yet natural citric aromatic nose and flavour that is Precious Vodka.



Precious Vodka is bottled in a unique diamond shaped bottle. Every bottle of Precious Vodka contains a beautiful natural gemstone from their collection of fully certifiable precious stones which include sapphire, emerald, ruby, topaz, and peridot. Their gemstones are specially crafted so that their customers receive only the finest genuine jewel stones. The gemstones add a unique quality to the overall experience that is only available when you purchase a bottle of Precious Vodka.

The bottle below contains a sapphire you can see just below the tip. The bottle also has a sticker that identifies the jewel within:





Precious Vodka is unique. Extreme detail was used when creating the diamond shaped bottle and its beauty alone makes it stand out and turn heads. Great pride and care is taken to achieve the highest level of luxury in every bottle of Precious Vodka, produced in distilleries utilizing the most innovative German technology.

Jewel Lines

Precious Vodka is available globally and shipped from Europe. For information or orders please contact email: info@jewellines.com
EU: +359 601 69 663