DRAGON BLEU VODKA

Dragon Bleu is a French brand of vodka. It is distilled and bottled in the Grande Champagne area of France from a blend of three grains:wheat, barley, and rye. Dragon Bleu is produced by French distiller Patrick Brisset, who is the former President of the International Centre for Spirits and Liqueurs (Centre International des eaux-de-vie) in Segonzac, France. Dragon Bleu is 40% alcohol by volume (80 proof). It is produced using the water of the Gensac Spring. This vodka fits into the high-priced category.

ICEBERG VODKA

Iceberg Vodka is a vodka manufactured by the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation. The vodka is produced using water from icebergs harvested off the coast of Newfoundland. Won the 2006-2007 Golden Icon Award for Best Vodka; the Golden Icon Awards are presented annually by Travolta Family Entertainment.

In 1998, the Beverage Tasting Institute gave Iceberg a 'superlative' score of 94 out of 100, ranking it second behind the acclaimed Grey Goose in a blind taste test of the world's best vodkas.

DOWNUNDER VODKA

Downunder Vodka is an 80 proof vodka distilled and bottled in Melbourne, Australia. The vodka is distilled from the molasses of Australian sugar cane.

Downunder is priced below high-priced vodkas at about the same level as Smirnoff. 

COORANBONG VODKA

Derived from the Aboriginal word for "water over rocks," CooranBong is the first super premium vodka distilled from Australian grapes in the world. Using select hand-picked Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from the Barossa Valley, CooranBong emphasizes a unique 10x distilling process. 

BOMBORA VODKA

Bombora Vodka is an Australian brand of vodka. Its name comes from the Aboriginal word for "reef," and surf talk for "massive wave." It is distilled 5x from grapes harvested in the Barossa Valley and natural spring water collected from the Great Artesian Basin.

MASH PREPARATION: The grain or vegetables are loaded into an automatic mash tub. Much like a washing machine, the tub is fitted with agitators that break down the grain as the tub rotates. A ground malt meal is added to promote the conversion of starches to sugar.

 

STERILIZATION & INOCULATION: Preventing the growth of bacteria is very important in the manufacture of distilled spirits. First, the mash is sterilized by heating it to the boiling point. Then, it is injected with lactic-acid bacteria to raise the acidity level needed for fermentation. When the desired acidity level is reached, the mash is inoculated once again.

FERMENTATION: The mash is poured into large stainless-steel vats. Yeast is added and the vats are closed. Over the next two to four days, enzymes in the yeast convert the sugars in the mash to ethyl alcohol.

DISTILLATION & RECTIFICATION: The liquid ethyl alcohol is pumped to stills, stainless steel columns made up of vaporization chambers stacked on top of each other. The alcohol is continuously cycled up and down, and heated with steam, until the vapors are released and condensed. This process also removes impurities. The vapors rise into the upper chambers (still heads) where they are concentrated. The extracted materials flow into the lower chambers and are discarded. Some of the grain residue may be sold as livestock feed.

WATER: The concentrated vapors, or fine spirits, contain 95-100% alcohol. This translates to 190 proof. In order to make it drinkable, water is added to the spirits to decrease the alcohol percentage to 40, and the proof to 80.

BOTTLING: Alcoholic beverages are stored in glass bottles because glass is non-reactive. Other receptacles, such as plastic, would cause a chemical change in the beverage. The bottling procedure is highly mechanized as the bottles are cleaned, filled, capped, sealed, labeled, and loaded into cartons. This can be done at rates as high as 400 bottles per minute.

VODKA

Vodka, one of the world's most popular liquors, is composed solely of water and ethyl alcohol with possible traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made from a fermented substance of either grain, rye, wheat, potatoes, or sugar beet molasses.

Vodka’s alcoholic content usually ranges between 35 to 50 percent by volume; the standard Russian, Lithuanian, and Polish vodkas are 40 percent alcohol by volume (80 proof).

Vodka is traditionally drunk neat in the vodka belt — Eastern Europe and the Nordic countries — and elsewhere. It is also commonly used in cocktails and mixed drinks, such as the bloody Mary, the screwdriver, the White Russian, the vodka tonic, and the vodka martini.