In an addition to my previous post about producing alcohol from anything, I came across this article about vodka produced from milk sugars. Naturally, it would be a company called Vermont Spirits that would think of making vodka out of milk and maple sap. Vermont is the home to Ben & Jerry’s and is the USA’s largest producer of maple syrup. So, they have plenty of milk and maple sap laying about … and Duncan’s Spirits decided to make alcohol from them!

Essentially, all that this distillery is doing is to skip the first couple of standard steps in the distilling process. The normal process takes a grain and processes it to create sugar (the mashing process) before fermenting that sugar into alcohol. When starting with a product such as maple sap or milk sugars, there is no need for mashing and the associated equipment (such as a mash tun). You can go straight to the fermenting and distilling processes, saving yourself time (and money).

In some ways, this is a very efficient way to produce alcohol because you do not have to expend energy to create the sugar-rich solution needed for fermentation. Using a source that is sugar-rich is a common method for certain alcohols (such as rum), but is not the standard for most alcohol, especially vodka.

Unfortunately, the chances of tasting these two vodkas is slim, since both of them are produced in very small quantities and have a very limited distribution range! Maybe if I am in the Northeast at some point, I will drop in at some place that will have these available.