British dairy farmer creates vodka made out of milk
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It is the drink of choice in Russia, typically made from grain and consumed by hard-bitten drinkers in sub-zero temperatures.
But now farmer Jason Barber is making the world’s first milk vodka – from his herd of 250 cows at Beaminster, Dorset.
Black Cow vodka has become the must-have tipple at restaurants owned by Heston Blumenthal and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Celebrity fans include 007 star Daniel Craig and Liz Hurley.
The milk from Mr Barber’s cows is separated into curds and whey. The curds are used to make cheese while the watery leftovers – whey – are fermented into a beer using a special yeast that converts the milk sugar into alcohol.
This is distilled and treated in a secret blending process. The vodka is then triple-filtered before being bottled – with a gold top.
It has taken Mr Barber three years to perfect the process and produce a vodka that approving experts say has ‘a creamy nose’.
Mr Barber, 47, a sixth-generation farmer, had the idea after watching a TV documentary about Tuva, a small republic in Siberia, where locals make vodka from yak milk.
He said: ‘I’m a big fan of vodka – it’s the only drink that doesn’t give me a hangover.’
Black Cow is made from the same milk used to make Barber’s 1833 cheddar, winner of the World Cheese Awards Cheddar Trophy 2012.
The Mail on Sunday’s food and drink writer Tom Parker Bowles said: ‘OK, so vodka made from milk doesn’t exactly sound enticing. But Black Cow Vodka is one of the most remarkable things I’ve ever tasted – wonderfully smooth and beautifully rounded.
‘It’s made from the whey of proper Dorset milk and makes a Dirty Martini you’ll never forget.’
