DIY: Water Globes

Re-use your empty PURUS Vodka bottles to water your thirsty plants!

In a word, the weather has been, hot! With record heat in most of the country, and temperature records being broken daily, it’s no surprise that the last thing you want to do is stand in the heat and water your plants. Not to mention the tremendous amount of water used to keep your thirsty plants hydrated.

As a company that firmly believes in eco-friendly products, practices and sustainability, we looked to our own PURUS Vodka bottle for a project
that would recycle your empty bottles, keep your potted plants happy, and conserve water!

Why Should You Make These Water Globes?

• Recycles your empty PURUS bottles and it’s free!
• Holds 750mL of water.
• PURUS bottles are easy to refill.
• Works for both potted or land-based gardens.

How to use a PURUS Bottle “Water Globe”:

1. Prepare your PURUS bottle, by emptying it of all vodka. Rinse the bottle thoroughly and remove any labels. Fill the PURUS bottle 3/4 of the way with fresh water.
* Because PURUS Vodka bottle labels are tree-free, printed with soy-based inks and adhered with water-based adhesives, keeping labels on the bottles will not harm your plants!

2. Prepare your plants, by first watering them thoroughly. As the soil dries, the bottle will release the necessary water into the soil.

3. On the outside edge of your garden pot, push the open end of the bottle into the soil, so that at least 4″-5″ of the bottle neck is submerged in the soil. Careful to avoid the roots of your plant!

This PURUS bottle water globe is perfect for potted plants that need constant watering, or watering plants while you’re away on vacation. Either way, it’s definitely “Re-Purpose at its PURUS!”

The Truth About Vodka

What exactly is vodka? Is it only made from potatoes? Is it completely flavorless? Well what about drinking vodka – is the best way to chill it in the freezer? Sip it? Shoot it? The answer to all of these questions is quite simply, no.

We, at PURUS Vodka, believe that the truth about vodka should be known! So we’re going to ‘still’ the myths and give you the real deal on super-premium vodka.

1.) The myth: All Vodkas Are Made From Potatoes.

The Truth: Vodka can be made with potatoes. Vodka is neutral spirit that can be derived from almost anything. While potatoes are a common raw material used to make vodka, many vodkas like PURUS Organic Wheat Vodka, are made from grain. We use 100% organic Italian wheat to craft PURUS Vodka which is a soft grain that imparts a slight sweetness to the finished product.

2.) The myth: Vodka Is Completely Flavorless.

The Truth: Your vodka should have flavor! We’re not talking novelty candy, fruit, or breakfast cereal flavors, but the true flavor characteristics of the raw material used to craft the vodka. This is why the Sacchetto Family of Lagnasco, Italy uses the highest quality, organic wheat to produce PURUS Organic Wheat Vodka. As a result, PURUS has light cereal-type sweetness, buttery mouth feel and a smooth finish.

3.) The Myth: The More Times Vodka Is Distilled, The Better It Is.

The Truth: We’ve all seen the advertisements for vodkas distilled 10, 20, even 100 times, but does that make a difference? Yes, but not the way you think!

After the first distillation, the hearts can be distilled multiple times – as is the case for PURUS Vodka, which is distilled five times. Multiple distillation eliminates any toxins and unwanted characteristics that remain after the initial distillation process.  After each distillation, the liquid’s alcohol level increases and needs to be cut with water before consumption. Which is why PURUS Vodka is cut with pristine water from the Italian Alps – using the best quality water available makes for a higher quality vodka.

4.) The Myth: Vodka Should Be Stored In The Freezer

The Truth: Okay. This can be a matter of preference, however we’ve found that chilling vodka in such a manner causes a loss of flavor and a thick, syrupy consistency; with some vodkas, that’s okay. Traditionally, vodkas have a strong ‘bite’ or burn which needs to be tamed either with extreme chilling or a mixer. With PURUS Vodka, we recommend tasting it at room temperature or slightly chilling it over ice. This way, you can taste the crisp, clean sweetness that we’ve worked so hard to achieve! As for mixers, fresh organic juices or club soda with a squeeze of citrus are perfect with PURUS Vodka.

Patriotic Drinks

Fourth of July is just around the corner, and it’s no secret: it’s hot! Due to the scorching weather, many cities are cancelling their fireworks displays – but don’t worry! We’ve come up with some refreshing, delicious and most importantly, cool, PURUS Vodka drinks for your Fourth of July celebration. If you have a drink you’d like to share, leave it in the comments below, or better yet, enter our PURUS Vodka Drink Recipe Contest. You could win $50 if you have the winning drink recipe!

Strawberry Sparkler
Ingredients:
Ice cubes
1 oz. PURUS Organic Wheat Vodka
2 oz. strawberry schnapps
Club soda
2 strawberries, halved

Directions:
Fill a highball glass with ice cubes. Add the PURUS Vodka, strawberry schnapps, and top with club soda. Garnish with the strawberries.

Blue Rain

Ingredients:
3 oz. PURUS Organic Wheat Vodka
1 oz. peach schnapps
Splash of blue curacao
Lemon twist, garnish

How to make it:
Add all ingredients to a shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously. Strain mixture into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

*For a little extra sparkle, rim each glass with blue sugar.

White Stars

Ingredients:
2 oz. PURUS Organic Wheat Vodka
1/2 oz. orange liqueur
1/2 oz. lemon juice
1 egg white

How to make it:
Add all ingredients to an empty shaker and shake vigorously.* After the mixture has been shaken, add ice to the shaker, and shake again. Strain the mixture into a martini glass and enjoy!

*Shaking the ingredients first without ice ensures a frothy mixture that is key in this recipe!

Sweet Freeze: An Ode to the Popsicle

There are few summer foods, that are as fun to eat, as a popsicle. Their vibrant colors, sweet flavors, and cooling effect are perfect for any searing summer day. What could possibly make the popsicle even better? How about a little PURUS Vodka?

Now before we go any further, some of you may be thinking, “Can you actually freeze vodka?” The answer is YES! And we’ll show you how with these satisfying frozen treats. Although you may feel like a kid while enjoying these icy delights, they are definitely adults-only!

Strawberry-Peach PURUS Pops
recipe adapted from endlesssimmer.com
Makes 12 2.5 oz popsicles

6 oz. pureed strawberry (about 10 strawberries)
2 oz. peach syrup (recipe follows)
12 oz. tonic water
2 oz. plus 3 oz. PURUS Vodka (divided use)

Instructions:
1. In a small bowl, combine the strawberry puree and 2 oz. of PURUS Vodka. Stir to mix. Place three teaspoons of strawberry mixture in the bottom of each popsicle form; set aside.

2. In another bowl, combine peach syrup with tonic water; stir to combine. Add remaining 3 oz. of PURUS Vodka to the peach-tonic mixture and stir.

3. Pour peach mixture on top of strawberry mixture in the popsicle form. Stir to combine.

4. Freeze for about 2 hours or until mixture starts to solidify enough to hold a popsicle stick upright. Insert popsicle sticks and finish freezing popsicles for an additional 12-14 hours. To release popsicles run hot water on the outside of popsicle molds for a 2-3 seconds.

Peach Syrup
½ cup sliced peaches (about 4 medium size peaches)
1 cup water
1 cups sugar

Instructions:
1. Wash, peel, and pit ripe peaches. Place peaches in a blender or food processor and process until peaches are pureed.

2. Place water, sugar and peach puree in a pot and bring to a boil and continue to boil for 5 minutes.

3. Strain into a clean, glass container with an airtight lid for storage.

(Bar) Tool Talk

This gallery contains 6 photos.

Just because you’re not technically a mixologist, doesn’t mean you can’t play one at home – as long as you have to have the right tools. We’re taking the classic versions of the vodka martini, shaken and stirred, and showing … Continue reading →

Why We’re Loving Lychee

Prepare to be blown away by the exotic flavor of lychee

The team at Purus Vodka is always researching, creating and sharing great ways to use this refined spirit. We’ve done everything from cook with Purus Vodka, to creating fresh fruit vodka infusions – which we can’t get enough of by the way! And so we wanted to hear from the cocktail community and we came across an excellent recipe from food/drink blogger Dorothy Reinhold of Shockingly Delicious for lychee-infused vodka. Wow! Talk about delicious, exotic and perfect for summer.

This got us going, so we continued to dig through our recipe archives and found a recipe from our good friend Tim Kosuge at ARAKA Restaurant in St. Louis, Missouri that puts lychee front and center. The name is oh, so appropriate, as we don’t think there’s any lychee cocktail in the running to compare!

The Peerless

Recipe developed by Tim Kosuge, ARAKA Restaurant – St. Louis, MO

• 2 oz. PURUS Organic Vodka
• 1 oz. Fresh lychee juice
• 1/2 oz. St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
• 1/2 oz. Fresh lime juice
• Fresh lychee garnish

Shake all ingredients vigorously with ice in a cocktail shaker. Pour into a martini glass, and garnish with fresh lychee fruit skewered on a cocktail pick. Enjoy!

Have Your Vodka and Eat it Too!

Purus Vodka is our favorite vodka for sipping, mixing, and as you’ve seen, infusing. But it’s also our favorite vodka to use in the kitchen to create unique vodka-infused dishes from appetizers to dessert! We thought we’d share a few of our favorite recipes that will let you have your Purus Vodka, and eat it too!

A perfect way to kick-off any party!

Citrus Marinated Shrimp Cocktail
1 cup orange juice
1 cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup ketchup
1/3 cup PURUS Organic Wheat Vodka
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 pounds cooked/peeled large shrimp
1 small red onion, thinly sliced (about 1 3/4 cups)
1 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:
Combine juices, ketchup, vodka and hot pepper sauce in large bowl. Whisk in oil. Add shrimp, onion and cilantro and mix well. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours and up to 6 hours. Drain before serving.

Spiked Watermelon Salad
1 8-pound watermelon, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 16 cups)
1 cup fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup PURUS Organic Wheat Vodka
6 tablespoons crème de cassis
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

Place watermelon in large bowl. Whisk fresh lemon juice and sugar in medium bowl until sugar dissolves. Whisk in vodka and crème de cassis. Season mixture to taste with salt. Pour mixture over watermelon. Cover and chill at least 1 hour and up to 2 hours. Sprinkle with chopped fresh mint and serve.

Sabayon at its Purus with Peppered Strawberries
PEPPERED STRAWBERRIES
1 pint of strawberries
1/4 cup of sugar
1/2 tablespoon of fresh black pepper
6-7 mint leaves (chopped)
Splash of PURUS Organic Vodka
Remove tops of washed strawberries and cut into quarters, toss with sugar, pepper, and chopped mint (reserved a small amount for garnish). Mix in bowl, cover, and refrigerate for 2 hrs.





SABAYON AT ITS PURUS
4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of PURUS Organic Vodka

Whisk yolks and sugar together in large metal bowl. Over small pot of boiling water, continue to whisk yolk/sugar in bowl, slowly add vodka. Continue to whisk over double boiler until mixture sets-up to a loose custard. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

To finish, toss strawberries with splash of Purus Vodka, spoon onto small plate. Spoon the vodka sabayon over strawberries, garnish with mint leaves.

Do you have creative ways to ‘eat’ vodka? Share them with us! We’ll share them with our fans and followers!

Sweet, sweet nectar…

Fruit nectars are a great way to infuse your Purus Vodka cocktails with intense, fresh fruit flavor. The variety makes your nectar-based cocktail creations endless and we’re sharing some of our favorites.

Italian Summer

Ingredients:
1 oz. Strawberry Nectar*
1/2 oz. Creme de Cassis
2/3 oz. PURUS Vodka
Cinzano Asti

How to make it:
Mix the strawberries and Creme de Cassis together in a glass. Add ice and PURUS Vodka. Stir and pour into a large glass. Pour over Cinzano Asti Garnish with a sprig of mint and fresh strawberries.
*If you can’t find strawberry nectar, strained strawberry puree will work just fine!

Cocktails for your ‘Cue

It’s a no brainer that beer is the beverage of choice for your backyard barbecue; and we, too, have our favorites. But why not change it up and make vodka cocktails, your “go to” for the barbecue season? With Memorial Day coming up, we think it’s the perfect time to fire up the grill, get out your cocktail shaker, and take your barbecue beverages to the next level.

Have one while you wait…

Cocktail #1: The Slow & Low
BBQ Style: This cocktail goes best with the spicy, smoky, warming flavors of the slow & low – style of barbecue.

1 oz. PURUS Organic Wheat Vodka
1/2 oz. Orange Liqueur
1 oz. Light Rum
1/2 oz. Cherry Heering
1/2 oz. Fresh Lime Juice
1/2 oz. Simple Syrup
Orange peel, garnish

How to make it:
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of orange peel and serve with a platter of barbecue cooked slow and low!

Cocktail #2: Wet Whistle
BBQ Style: Complements the dry rub style of barbecue, with it’s intense flavors of chile powder, black pepper, and brown sugar. Dry rub, wet whistle.

1 1/2 oz. PURUS Organic Wheat Vodka
1/2 oz. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. superfine sugar
4 oz. tonic water

How to make it:
Combine PURUS Vodka, lemon juice and sugar in a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice cubes. Shake well, and strain into a highball glass almost filled with ice cubes. Top with tonic water, and serve.

Whether you sauce up your BBQ with Gates or KC Masterpiece, this Kansas City Sweetheart is the perfect complement.

Cocktail #3: Kansas City Sweetheart
BBQ Style: The barbecue of the Midwest is known for its sauce, the most popular of which is the Kansas City-style. Thick and sweet, Kansas City-style barbecue begs for a cocktail that can hold its own.

2 oz. PURUS Organic Wheat Vodka
1 oz. Elderflower Liqueur
1 Lime
1 dash Bitters
Club Soda

How to make it: Combine PURUS Vodka, elderflower liqueur, lime juice and bitters in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake all ingredients and strain into a highball glass. Top with club soda.

What cocktails will you be pairing with your barbecue this season? We want to create a photogallery of summery vodka drinks and cocktails that includes your creations too! Feel free to post them here, or send them to us in an email with your name/location, drink/cocktail name, ingredients and how to make it. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Cheers to Mom!

Mom was there for the good, the bad, and the ugly – in our book, that deserves a beautifully prepared drink, made with what else? Purus Vodka!

Brunch seems to be the daypart of choice for Mother’s Day, and so we’ve put together a few cocktails that are perfect for brunch and will have mom, well, happy. And that’s what you want, right? So tell mom to sit back, kick up her feet, and enjoy Mother’s Day at its Purus!

The Blushing Lady
recipe courtesy of PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur
Ingredients:
2 oz. Purus Organic Wheat Vodka
1 oz. PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur
1 oz. pink grapefruit juice
Lemon wedge
Sanding sugar for rimming

Preparation:
Rub the lemon wedge around the rim of a martini glass and dip the glass into a plate of sanding sugar. Set it aside. Pour the remaining ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into the garnish martini glass.

Lavender screams springtime and is the perfect accoutrement to not just your Mother’s Day Brunch decor, but the cocktails you serve, as well. Aromatic and floral, it’s a drink your mom will love!

Photo courtesy: SmithCollins.com

Lavender Love
recipe adapted from smithcollins.com

Ingredients:
Handful of fresh lavender buds
2 oz. Purus Organic Wheat Vodka
1 oz. Simple syrup*
1/2 oz. Creme de Violette
3/4 oz. Lemon juice
Club soda

Preparation:
Chop up a handful of lavender blossoms and place in a shaker glass. Add the Purus Vodka, simple syrup, Creme de Violette and lemon juice. Muddle the lavender blooms with the liquid ingredients. Shake all ingredients and strain into a Collins glass. Top it off with club soda and garnish with fresh lavender blossoms.
* To make simple syrup, combine 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 cup water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool.

If a Mother’s Day Tea is in your plans, we’ve got you covered! Try our take on high-tea with a tea-infused Purus Vodka martini.

High Tea-tini

Ingredients:
1 inch thinly sliced English Cucumber
1 ¾ oz. black tea infused Purus Vodka
3/4 oz. St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
1/2 oz. Freshly squeezed Lemon Juice
2 ½ oz. Sence Rose Nectar
1/4 oz. Organic Agave Syrup

Preparation:
In a mixing glass, muddle the cucumber. Add the remaining ingredients and shake well with ice to chill. Strain over ice into a highball glass.Use a thin slice of English cucumber to give it a stir, then leave it in as a fresh garnish.

Will you be trying one of these Mother’s Day creations for your celebration? Or, will you create your own Purus Vodka libation? Either way, let us know about it!