Goulburn Valley apples that were destined for landfill are now heading to Melbourne to be turned into vodka. Ugly Vodka is a new brand from 80proof co-founder Danny Grant.
On a product discovery trip to find new and innovative ways to make alcohol, 80proof co-founder Danny Grant saw the effects of wonky/ugly fruit wastage first-hand.
Up to 40 per cent of the fruit on farms he visited was deemed unsellable solely due to aesthetics. After conversations with farmers and a deep dive into a new production process, Ugly vodka was born.
“There has been plenty of trial and error as no one has tried making traditional vodka from Australian ugly apples before. The starch extracted from apples is akin to potatoes in regular vodka. And thankfully for our soon-to-be customers, it’s not to the detriment of the quality of taste, it’s still a premium, delicious tasting product,” said Grant from 80proof.
Ugly Vodka’s product is 100 per cent Australian-made and plans to stay local, with its apples hailing from the Goulburn Valley and its distillery based in Melbourne.
Apples are shipped from farms in Goulburn Valley to Mildura, where they are juiced. The juice gets sent to Preston to get pressed and turned into vodka. Ugly says the product is distilled using the apple juice with grain, and following over ten trials, it found a half-and-half split was best to make it taste like crisp, clean vodka.
The distilled vodka is then transferred to Dandenong where it’s run through a coconut carbon filter five times to make it ‘extra smooth’, with no apple taste or flavour in the finished product.
Ugly Vodka’s environmental impact is tracked by how many apples it saves from going to waste. Its first batch of Ugly will save 20 tonnes of apples.
Ugly Vodka has a 40 per cent ABV, and retails for $64.99, and will launch a limited first-run, available to purchase online, with more bottles becoming available in the New Year.
