During our Art Night (Wednesday September 9th) we were lucky enough to have Litty Mathews and Melkon Khosrovian, the husband and wife team behind Tru Vodka, visit the Zeno Supper club.  Not only were they charming, kind, and bearing free vodka — they also really intrigued me with their message of sustainable, environmentally friendly liquor.  I chatted with them throughout the night, and they invited me to visit The Fruit Lab — the place where they blend and flavor all of their spirits.

I rolled out to their factory with Weezy — one of ZSC’s culinary masterminds–  and her friend Tina –a roller derby girl and Bartender extraordinaire — thirsty for knowledge (and vodka).  We were warmly welcomed by Litty and Melkon, with a tasting of their freshly bottled pumpkin pie vodka.   Infused with real pumpkin pure, nutmeg, clove, cardamom and ginger — it was unlike any vodka I had ever had.  It actually tasted like pumpkin pie.  As we toured their production facilities, Litty and Melkon told us the story behind their company.

The Story

Tru Vodka — and it’s parent company Modern Spirits — started small.   When Melkon and Litty got engaged and,  made the rounds of Melkon’s extended Armenian family, they were toasted with Vodka – as is customary in many parts of Eastern Europe and Eurasia.  Litty was unable to partake due to her aversion to straight liquor, so Melkon started to make special infusions for her.  Word of his tasty liquors spread through friends and family, and soon Modern Spirits was born.

We ended up before their line of liqueurs and Vodkas — ready to taste.   Besides Vodka — they also produce a unique line of liqueurs in unique flavors like Hibiscus and Jasmine.

Their Vodkas and Gins were lined up with the raw ingredients used to flavor them.  Unlike larger vodka companies that use chemical flavorings to create their flavored vodkas — Tru infuses their vodkas with real, natural ingredients. Which not only lend flavor but color to the vodkas.

Each Vodka was smooth and balanced, easy to sip, and quite delicious.  Their Gin is also tremendous — using the old fashioned Gin method of medicinal infusions – it is infused for two months with a fragrant blend of juniper berries, lavender, fresh lemon zest, cardamom and other spices

As we tasted their line  – Melkon chatted with us about we impact the environment with what we drink.

Liquor and the environment

It takes 23 sq. ft. of land to make one bottle of liquor — in 2008 there were 2.2 billion bottles of liquor sold in the US. That accounts for about 1.2 million acres devoted only to creating liquor.  Every commercially farmed acre uses 1 1/2 pound of chemical pesticide and 1 ton of fertilizer.

Considering these figures, 2 years ago Melkon and Litty decided to make their liquors organic.  Distilled from organically farmed wheat, and infused with organic ingredients.  They also changed their packaging — their original bottle weighed 1 kilo, and now clocks in at almost half that (600g).  They also now use corn fiber in their labels and soy ink.  Their corks are even eco-friendly, made of recyclable PET plastic.

In addition, they have also become pro-active planting one tree for each bottle of Tru — making this a carbon negative product.  For each 2oz cocktail made with their vodka — you are actually removing 62 kgs of carbon from the atmosphere.

Truly, an exercise in “every little bit counts.”

Check back for Part 2 — where we learn how they make their vodkas and try a hand at our own vodka blends.