The Tasting Panel magazine

JULY 2011

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the little agricultural community of Atwater—could hardly believe what they were hearing in Las Vegas, too. “People were coming up to us and saying, ‘This is the best vodka I’ve ever tasted.’” The positive reviews, right out the shoot, have perked up industry ears, but because production is so limited, Souza and partners have to be very careful in selecting distribution. Says Souza, “I think the reason industry folks in Vegas liked our vodka so much is because we were pouring it straight at the convention—not even on ice with lime, which is the way I like it. The difference between single-distilled, small potstill vodka like ours and the vodkas of the big, commercial companies is that we do things by hand, utilizing our own noses and palates. “You wonder why the commercial vodkas, even the super- premium brands, all taste so harsh that they’re better off mixed as cocktails or flavored with fruit? It’s not possible for them to cut out the unpleasant heads in the continuous distillation process that they use. Even if and when High Roller Spirits grows, I promise that we’ll always do things the old way—by taste, in small hand distillations.” Asked to describe the taste of sweet potato vodka, Souza tells us, “High Roller does have a unique viscosity, plus the faintly sweet, caramelized taste of sweet potatoes, which gives it an almost unbelievable smoothness. Maybe it’s because sweet potatoes are less starchy than white potatoes, so our conver- sion rates are lower, and slower, resulting in a purer taste. There’s not a hint of the earthiness you get in traditional potato vodka; ours is a much cleaner taste. After about two years of experimenting, we identified four varieties of sweet potato that are ideal [the Souza family grows eight varieties on their 1,000-acre farm].” Looking forward to High Roller’s promising marketing future, Souza says, “We’re ready! This is vodka that, for once, is good enough to enjoy on its own, and it’s truly home-grown. We farm our own sweet potatoes, and so you can say it’s ‘farm-to-table’— or ‘bartop.’ We’re the only sweet potato vodka in the world.” www.highrollerspirits.com “We farm our own sweet potatoes, and so you can say it’s ‘farm-to-table’—or ‘bartop.’ The Heart of the Matter On the use of the small copper still, David Souza explains: “The first drops of spirit that come through the condenser, which is called the ‘head,’ are very unpleasant, tasting more like rubbing alcohol, and this we throw away. We taste the vodka as it comes through, and as soon as we get to the ‘heart’—the smooth and clean middle, which has the purest taste, the greatest intensity of vodka flavor—that’s when we know we have our product.” David Souza stands between his business partners, Ron and Jon Crain in front of the copper potstill. july 201 1 / the tasting panel / 67

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