Vodka is maybe one of the most misunderstood spirits on the shelf these days. For years, decades even, every bartender and spirits “expert” in the West would tell you that vodka was a neutral spirit that was odorless and flavorless (this was never an issue in Central and Eastern Europe or Central Asia, by the way). The gospel was so ingrained in the U.S. that it bordered on a faith that blinded some from seeing what was right in front of them.
I always hated that “odorless/flavorless” descriptor. As someone whose baptism by vodka led me to take spirits seriously as a professional, I knew it wasn’t true. So I’ve spent my life looking for fellow travelers in the vodka world who knew that definition of vodka was pure bullshit. This led me to Ricky Miller, III.
Miller co-founded Carbonadi Vodka and has been spearheading a movement to not only make a killer vodka with a deep flavor profile but educate the average vodka drinker on how deeply flavored the spirit can be. Miller is the sort of champion that vodka needs. He cares deeply about the terroir, process, and presentation of vodka and is elevating the whole category by making one that absolutely slaps as an example.
Before we dive in, let’s get a little context. For years, the TTB (the trade bureau that defines U.S. spirits) classified vodka as a “neutral spirit without distinctive taste.” People took that to mean that a “neutral” spirit must be odorless and flavorless thanks to inaccurate and poor wording. First of all, “neutral spirits” are never flavorless, odorless, or “without distinctive taste.” All spirits are made with water, yeast, and sugar from grains, fruits, vegetables, or even dairy and always have flavors and odors.
Moreover, unaged whiskey is a “neutral spirit.” So is unaged brandy and rum and tequila. “Neutral” has never meant flavorless or odorless, it simply means it hasn’t been altered by other flavoring agents — like oak aging or a ton of other possibilities. Thinking that vodka is odorless and/or flavorless is wildly inaccurate since it’s impossible for it to be. The water, yeast, and sugar in the fermentation will always impart a wide range of flavors. And all of the multiple distillation or filtering processes that you hear some vodkas go through are meant to highlight specific flavors while muting others — but never removing all flavor.
Luckily, Miller knows all of this too, and was kind enough to jump on a call. We talked about making vodka in Italy, the official re-defining of vodka by the U.S. government, and how he likes to drink the good stuff. It’s a very educational conversation that’ll hopefully get you interested in drinking and enjoying the nuances of a great our of vodka. Let’s jump in!
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Let’s start with the grain. Tell us how Carbonadi stands out from the jump.
We’re using organic Winter wheat. Everything’s grown and harvested in Piedmont in North Northwest Italy Right by the French and Swiss borders. So people obviously don’t associate vodka with Italy. But some of the best ingredients in the world are from Italy so it tracked for me to make my vodka there. Plus, I never lead with “organic” just because I’m not pushing it as an “organic product.” I’m really trying to elevate the category and that’s where Italy comes in. And I think I kind of have to be careful with what and how people get attached to the product. I want to push it as elevated Italian vodka and the bonus is that it’s organic too.
Where do the black diamonds come into play?
For some history, before they were called “black diamonds,” they were called “carbonado.” So at first, the vodka was called “Black Diamond Vodka.” But, it kind of came off as a little corny to me. I wanted people to focus more on the function of the carbonado rather than the vanity of the black diamonds. You know, if you Google “diamond-filtered vodka,” you get a bunch of cheesy options online. And usually, they only touch the diamonds and that’s it (for marketing speak) and I didn’t want to go that route. I wanted people to focus more on the science of it. And so we went with Carbonadi because I want people to, you know, really focus on the filtration part of it.
Tell me why the filtration is so important.
So we filter it through these stones — the black diamonds or carbonado — and what they’re doing is extracting impurities from the alcohol that common filtering cannot extract.
What does that mean to the average person though?
So all that really means in terms of the consumers is that it makes the vodka way cleaner than your average vodka. You don’t get that smack in the face of ethanol. And so it’s really mild in that sense and people love it.
But there’s more than just filtering that makes for a smooth vodka. Talk us through what happens to the spirit next.
After filtering, we “micro ox” it, which is infusing specific amounts of oxygen into the spirit. Without getting too technical, this process elongates the molecule so that it’s gliding across the tongue as opposed to poking and burning your senses. We’ve eliminated that as much as possible. I like to imagine it like, ‘Do you want a square wheel going across your tongue or do you want a round wheel going across it?’
So how does that present to the person actually drinking the vodka?
First, visually a glass of Carbonadi will coat the glass like a fine wine. It’s also pleasantly creamy and has a lot of body, the cleanliness and the texture are really what sets it apart. Then it comes through on the palette in the glass.
So let’s talk about the taste of Carbonadi. You have a combination of Italian ingredients, black diamond filtration, micro-oxygenation, and then proofing with Alpine water. What flavor notes are you going for?
For me, I’m not the guy on the machine working the stills. It’s all a taste thing for me. It’s an experience thing. So my distiller will give me like four different options and we’ll taste them, play with them, and then that’s how I’ll decide which distillate will become Carbonadi.
What I’m looking for is that you get more of those florals, herbal, and fruity things that come out of the yeast specifically. The Winter wheat is actually slightly sweeter than the typical wheat that’s often used.
For sure. I’d say you have a good balance of sharp yet sweet mint with a touch of creamy vanilla as the core-tasting touchstone.
I think you’re right, Zach. And look, when I was new to this game, I thought a lot of tasting notes were bullshit. It really just felt like they were all just marketing words like “buttery” and “creamy” because it sounded good but it has nothing to do with the spirit. But now I know better because something like “creamy” is what I’m actually producing in the flavor profile of this vodka, man.
Then when you’re talking about the mint part of it, I love that too. That’s a note that’s consistently being called out by people who are pretty sophisticated tasters and I can always find that too.
With brown spirits truly having a moment right now, what has been your biggest hurdle in getting people interested in vodka again?
I feel like with vodka right now, it’s a huge uphill battle, especially with knowledge. You know, the whole “neutral” thing, which we already touched on.
Also, I feel like part of the propaganda of both brandy and whiskey is that ‘if it’s not aged, it should be cheap.’ That is a huge misconception because the grain, the fermentation with yeast, the water, the whole process isn’t cheap, man. The distillation process, the filtering, the proofing like all of that costs the exact same amount of money in whiskey and brandy as it does in vodka. It’s the exact same process at the end of the day. I know we’re not aging our distillation, but the biggest expensive processes are done by then. So that makes it the biggest hurdle for the consumer in understanding our product — just helping people understand the price and the quality they’re getting for that amount of money.
One thing that I love that you’re doing is breaking down the idea that “neutral” means “odorless” and “tasteless” when talking about vodka. The idea that vodka doesn’t have any flavor notes is so wildly inaccurate.
You know, we talk to bartenders and they always talk about how vodka is an “odorless, tasteless, neutral spirit.” And I’m like, “No, we really have distinct characteristics in our spirit, and all spirits do.”
And then during the pandemic, the TTB (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) finally and very quietly changed the definition of vodka by removing the phrase “a spirit without a distinctive taste” which was such a dumb definition. I was like, “Man, fucking awesome!” That definition was the bane of my existence for so long.
Dude as a long-time vodka snob, it was mine too. It was a Sisyphean task convincing people of the beauty of nuanced vodka.
Same. I just thought it was a very archaic way of like to look at it. And it was just a poor word choice because neutral doesn’t mean flavorless. You know, when your cars are neutral, it’s still running.
Exactly. A white dog or moonshine is a neutral grain spirit that’s whiskey. So unaged whiskey is neutral and, obviously, people have a million tasting notes for that and would never call it odorless or tasteless even though it’s “neutral” — it was wildly stupid that vodka got pigeon-holed that way, man.
Yup. With my vodka, we’re still dealing with a yeast-driven grain product. There are going to be flavors in there, right? And I find that interesting in that you can sort of go multiple ways then because you have flavors that you can build up, build off of, that you can remove, or you can have flavors that you just enjoy.
So let’s wrap up by talking about how you actually like to drink your vodka.
If I’m at home and I have access to whatever I need, I keep it in the freezer and I drink it neat with anything citrus. That’s all I need.
Nice. Simple. Tasty. Something I try to tackle as well as using good ingredients when making cocktails. Like, you don’t want to use shitty wine when cooking food. It’ll taste like that shitty wine. No one wants that!
Exactly!
So, I like using great spirits for great cocktails. What’s your go-to when you do make a cocktail with Carbonadi?
So the signature martini is a Black Diamond Martini which is extra dry. A tiny amount of dry vermouth and the oils from the lemon peel — just very, very simple. I dig the lemon because, for me, it ties into the lemon culture in Italy. It just all makes sense to me and to the taste of the vodka.