This broiling July heat is not very cooperative for summer stout and whiskey drinking.
Thoughts turn to boat drinks and more fruit-filled fare for refreshing drinking. Vodka is a natural for providing a lighter bodied cocktail base, and Colorado has no shortage of quality products.
Here are a few to try when you’re mixing for fun this month:
Vanjak
Located at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Golden, Colorado, Vanjak uses fresh spring water from Eldorado Canyon in Boulder, Colorado, and a silver filtration system to create a remarkably smooth, clean vodka with no additives and a satisfying a rounded mouth feel. It is a refreshing relative newcomer to the local spirit scene.
Pruf
Renowned for their Rhok and Ginski Barrel Aged gins, Vapor Distillery of Boulder makes this impressively clean, soft, super-smooth vodka. It bears a subtle sweetness that makes it perfect for sipping over ice or mixing into your favorite cocktail. They begin with pure Colorado Rocky Mountain water from the Arapaho Glacier and use only the highest purity alcohol distilled from corn to produce this pure, clean vodka. It also was awarded the Gold at the 2015 Denver International Spirits Competition.
Breckenridge
This award-winning vodka is clean and brilliantly clear with notes of lemon cream and fragrant meadow flowers. It has a light body with a soft, warm texture and a balanced mellow finish with just a hint of sweetness. The minerality of the local Breckenridge water lends just the right mouth feel. Perfect for shots or a well-chilled vodka martini.
Woody Creek
From just outside Aspen, Woody Creek Distillery produces their potato vodka. Freely considered smoother and cleaner than even Chopin, the highest regarded vodka from Poland, Woody Creek even uses potatoes harvested from their own nearby farm and mashed on the same day they are picked.
Soft and buttery, it has little burn on the tongue and carries a light sweetness. Because it is made from potatoes, it is naturally gluten free. Taste the vodka that Conde Nast Traveler called “the best vodka in the world”.
Wyatt’s these, and many other great vodkas from the Centennial state. Swing by this weekend to get your weekend wet goods needs.
