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COVER STORY 34 Distillations Purity's custom-designed still consists of a pot with a mushroom-shaped top and two towers each of which holds eight plates. Each plate acts as an additional distillation. Spirit runs through the pot and the 16 plates twice, resulting in 34 distillations. right consumers, who will appreciate the changes Kuuttanen has brought to ultra-premium vodka. "During the economic downturn, consumers have become more aware than before, thinking through their choices before buying," he notes. "And they want value for their money. They will see through the bluff of 'luxury' brands and look for artisanal vodka brands with character that actually bring added value to cocktails." The Purity Process The Purity Vodka distillery is located in a tiny stable house built in 1732, just across the moat from Ellinge Castle in southern Sweden. The castle has always had a distillery on the property to make use of the grains from the sur- rounding farmlands, but the gleaming, custom-built, computer-monitored, gold and copper still that produces Purity is something new entirely. Into that still goes a mash blend of winter wheat and barley that has been fermented at a nearby organic-certifi ed brewery. The liquid then passes through the pot still and its two attached tow- ers twice, and the resultant heart of the liquid—a mere ten percent of the starting volume—is ready to be blended. Unlike most vodkas, there is no need to fi lter this spirit, as it comes off the still exactly as intended. This spirit heart of Purity gives the Three Secrets of Purity While Kuuttanen is forthcoming about most of the process to make Purity, he does keep a few secrets: ◗ The ratio of winter wheat to barley in the heart distillate. ◗ The ratio of house-distilled heart spirit to neutral column-distilled spirit. ◗ The ratio of natural mineral water to de-ionized water. 58 / the tasting panel / march 2012 fi nished vodka its unique character, and is amazingly fl avorful on its own despite being 96 percent pure alcohol. To prepare the vodka for bottling, the heart is blended with neutral, organic column-distilled wheat spirit, along with water. This water, too, is a special blend, comprised of mineral-rich natural water from a protected source that is mixed with some de-ionized water to prevent it from clouding in the bottle. This water helps lends Purity its strong mineral character. Finding Flavor Rich Rich Stradtman of Baraonda won second place in Purity's Facebook- driven Red Carpet Cocktail Challenge with his cocktail, Pure Bliss. PURE BLISS ◗ 1½ oz. Purity Vodka ◗ ½ oz. Nikolaihof Elderfl ower Liqueur ◗ ½ oz. fresh lemon juice ◗ 2/3 oz. cardamom simple syrup ◗ 1/3 oz. rosemary-infused water ◗ Shake and strain into a chilled coupe; garnish with fresh rosemary sprig. The Sardinia cocktail at Baraonda in Atlanta. THE SARDINIA created by Rich Rich Stradtman at Baraonda in Atlanta, GA ◗ ¾ oz. Purity Vodka ◗ ¾ oz. Mirto Myrtle Berry Liqueur ◗ ¾ oz. lychee juice ◗ ½ oz. sage simple syrup ◗ Shake and strain into a chilled coupe, garnish with a sage leaf. Rich Stradtman of Baraonda in Atlanta takes the opposite approach, building cocktails around the brand's character rather than choosing the brand to fi t the drink. "People are striving to take all of the fl avor out of vodka, but Purity still maintains some of its natural essence. And any time you have fl avor undertones that you can work with and build from, then potentially those fl avors make for a better cocktail," he says. Purity Vodka is currently featured in two drinks on Baraonda's cocktail menu, but Stradtman also recom- mends it to adventurous customers. He says, "The majority of vodka drinkers know what they want to drink already, but for the ones open to something new, I'll introduce it to them. It's something they can taste on its own, not just a vodka that makes you say, 'Oh it's good because I can't taste anything.'" PHOTO: EDWARD ZELTSER PHOTO: EDWARD ZELTSER