DrinkTheEarth.com Blog

With organic wines and beers getting much of the eco-friendly headlines these days, we were anxious to see how their counterparts in the spirits world were measuring up.  With that backdrop, as the first Earth Day in DrinkTheEarth.com’s existence rapidly approached, we could think of no better way to celebrate our appreciation for the planet than to sample a few of the best organic vodkas on the market.

We could have gone in numerous directions, as organic vodka is one of the few spirits that can be easily sourced in the U.S.  Not surprisingly, it is also the category that has garnered the most recent media attention.  After much contemplation, we settled on three; TRU, Crop Harvest Earth, and Rain Organics.  To eliminate any bias, we conducted the test as a blind, side-by-side tasting, and even included a sampling of a traditional vodka, Absolut, in the process.

Our first selection, which we later learned to be Crop Harvest Earth, carried a strong smell of alcohol on the nose.  Made from certified organic grain and bottled in Minnesota, each batch of Crop is distilled only as many times as required to remove any impurities.  Billing itself as the ‘cleanest’ vodka, Crop is distilled so efficiently that no carbon treatment or charcoal filtering is necessary.  With a silky feel in the mouth, we found it to be crisp, and smoother than we had expected. 

Moving on, our second taste was that of TRU Organic Vodka, made in Los Angeles, California.  TRU’s motto is “Drink It. Plant It.”  Not just a slogan, the company actually plants a tree for every bottle sold (over 50,000 planted as of March, 2009).  In addition to sourcing American organic wheat, the company emphasizes a carbon-negative existence, including the use of lightweight bottles, and shipping boxes that double as shelf displays.  During our tasting, we found a very well-rounded vodka.  Our ultimate consensus was this might have been the most versatile of the three organic options.

Last but not least, Rain Organics was probably the most unique of the three vodkas we tasted.  With a slight sweetness in the nose, the flavor included hints of butterscotch and caramel.  Rain is made from white organic corn sourced from a single farm in Yale, Illinois.  With seven layers of distillation, this vodka follows a rigorous process through production, and is made in the famed Buffalo Trace Distillery of Frankfort, Kentucky, the oldest distillery site in the U.S.  With the slight sweetness in the taste, we thought Rain would make a devastating dessert martini, but could also easily be had straight.

So which was our favorite?  That would be like asking Mother Earth to choose her favorite child.  In the end, we struggled to select a winner, but felt a little more educated for the next time we open up the bar for a vodka cocktail.  Regardless, not a bad way to wind down DTE’s first Earth Day.