Indy Spirits Expo Pours a Bountiful Glass

We had the pleasure of attending the Indy Spirits Expo in San Francsico last week, and let me tell you fine alcoholic beverage consumer… we indies are in good company!

As you can see from the photos, the crowd was so thick that we didn’t even get a chance to check out all the vendor booths—but almost every one we tried was delicious! From bikini-booth-babes, to cowboys, to preganant CEOs, the vendors showing for the night ranged the gamut, but all delivered with unique, flavorful, spirits.

Here is a mini-review of some of our favorite liqueurs from the evening:

Hangar One — We were amazed at how fruity their vodkas were. The Spiced Pear tasted like you just bit into a pear that had been marinating for days. The lime tasted like green skittle. Yet all had a refined flavor. This is one we are going to follow-up with at a distillery tour in Alameda soon!!

Loft Organic Liqueurs — The President and Founder was on hand with a wonderful display to sample the entire line of lemoncello-inspired flavours and they were all delicious. The brand started out as a pet project, and due to demand has grown from there. Our favorite was the Lemongrass Cello, but even straight out of the bottle, they were drinkable and refreshing!

VeeV — With big statements about giving back to the rainforest and using all recycled materials (backed up by carbon-neutral company footprint), Veev brought a little touch of hippie in a shiny classy package. The displays were really nice and the cocktails were delicious.

Don Pilar — Walking around to the tequila area we were greeted by a stoic man in a black felt cowboy hat and leather jacket. He handed me a tall glass of aged spirits from a bottle with his picture in the middle. Classy dude, and delicious Tequila anejo.

Choya — Around the middle corner, stood a Japanese man in a suit, among a significant number of dark green bottle with what looked like fleshy fruit inside. When we lifted the glass to our lips we were pleasantly surprised by a sweet plum taste. Sadly these guys are still looking for a distributor in the US, but I swear I have seen these bottles in local Japanese markets. Definitely worth a taste.

Heavy Water — We end our mini tour today with the first vodka we tried in the evening. Straight out of Norway, the Heavy Water girls had bottles of what looked like radioactive water rod core-samples. The vodka was strong and the bottle design is awesome (and designed to help aerate the vodka out of the bottle).

Hope this whets your appetite like the Expo did ours. We will be following up with these and other spirits vendors for more in-depth interviews in the near future! Here are the photos (click through for larger versions):

Photography by kc! Bradshaw

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