Vodka has become the most popular hard liquor in America, a fact that 
has energized several entrepreneurs in Oregon, a state which has already successfully emulated Europe in developing craft beers and a wine industry of international note.

Latest Beaver state-based vodka impresario is John Ufford, creator of the the Indio label introduced in January.  Ufford boasts credible credentials as the current corporte beverage manager for the McMenamin's chain of 53
liquor-dispensing establishments headquartered in Portland.  He lays claim to being the highest volume hard spirits on-premise retail buyer in Oregon.

Distilled Oregon history

Ufford follows an Oregon handcrafted hard liquor trail first blazed 25 years ago by Steve McCarthy, founder of now world-reknowned Clear Creek  Distillery of Portland, a pot still operation based upon techniques learned in Alsace and Switzerland.  Much of McCarthy's output relies upon fruit from his family's Hood River orchards.  He has yet to create a vodka, but has a diversified line of pure fruit spirits that includes brandies and grappa (the latter from Oregon vineyards)  Recently, a single malt scotch whiskey was added to the McCarthy line.

Vodka had its Oregon small batch birth at Jim Bendis' Bend Distillers in 1996, with the Crater Lake brand.  HRD and Baron Rothschild have been produced in Oregon by Hood River Distillers for decades, with the majority of this output sold as house "well" brands used for mixed drinks that obscure the quality (or lack thereof) of the vodka.

Indio currently has an 1,800 case per month maximum production capacity. Ufford is adding two new flavors, Lemongrass Lime and Oregon Marionberry, to his  initial regular vodka and declares gin as his next production target.   Currently, Ufford has a small batch pot still facility, House Spirits, in the former Sunnybrook Dairy building, with plans to shift his distilling soon to his own Portland operation.

An eastern Europe creation

Vodka's recorded roots trace back to slavic Europe in the 14th century.  (Russian Czar Ivan the Terrible's government-owned production resource in 1540. ) Potatoes were the initial raw alcohol resource.  Thus fermented spuds first spread inebriation among the Russian masses, with the centuries later advent of communism still controlling the resource.  Today, grain crops are the basis for the majority of vodka distillations, with barley predominating.  Rye achieves what Ufford terms "a pleasing sweetness."

Wheat, corn and various fruits are also vodka resources, and in tropical climes, molasses from sugar cane is popular for distillation.  Vodka sold in  the U.S. wields a broad ethnic brush.  Oregon's retail shelves alone hold distillations from the Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Holland, Italy, Poland and Sweden in addition to a mid to low price range of domestic brands.  Elite imports, such as Grey Goose and Ciroc from France and Belvedere from Poland are $25-30, while "luxury" labels in the $20-25 range include Holland's Ketel One, Russia's Stolichnaya, Sweden's Absolut, Finland's Finlandia and U.S.'s Sky.  Indio is in the "mid" price category, just  under $20.

Filtering sets them apart

Ufford says his brand's notable smoothness is achieved by filtering the distilled spirits no less than 24 times.  Filtering sets all higher priced vodkas  apart from their lower cost brethren.  This process, utililizing charcoal to refine and upgrade the juice, reportedly was originally applied by a Russian
distillery technician to purify vodka in the late 18th century (and, presumably, was utilized for merchant princes and royalty).

Drinking vodka straight reveals that it belies its long-held reputation of being tasteless, and that smoothness achieved by filtering does characterize higher priced brands.  Our nation's younger generation of alcohol consumers has
embraced vodka exotica in the form of creative cocktail concoctions.  Indio's web site has formulas for over 50 libations that include "Cannon Beach Iced Tea," "Sex oin the Beach," "Olympic Glacier," "Liquid Kryptonite" and many more.  Mixology becomes very creative with vodkas infused with various flavors during distillation, such as Ufford will achieve with the his Lemongrass Lime and Marionberry labels.

A family affair

Indio is a family affair.  John's vivacious (and pregnant) wife Zoya applies her Portland State University degree in marketing to Indio marketing and public relations.  Zoya, a native of India's New Delhi, holds down a marketing
communications executive position with Western Culinary Institute.  The Uffords live in Tualatin, and the current Corvallis production supervision round trip enhances John's desire to operate his own Portland-based distillery.  To date, McMenamin's blesses his foray into spirits creation, an activity Ufford's employer subsidizes at the Edgefield Distillery in Troutdale, where Hogshead Whiskey, Vintner's Gin and three versions of Brandy are
produced (and served in all the bars Ufford supervises).

© 2005 Oregon Magazine