MILK-BASED VODKA IS NOW A THING. AND IT’S AWESOME

An English distillery is making vodka not from grains or potatoes, but instead, somehow, from milk. Black Cow Vodka was developed by dairy farmer Jason Barber, whose family has been producing renowned cheddar cheese since 1833. While the curds from the milk of his grass-fed, 250-cow herd gets made into cheese, the whey is converted to vodka — a process that took four years of trial and error to perfect. “Vodka has always been my drink of choice,” Barber explained. “[The distilling process] initially started as an intrigue, and snowballed into Black Cow.” In using whey as his base, Barber is able to create an award-winning vodka that is “cleaner and smoother [than grain-based vodka], with a creamy character.”

Despite its dairy-based origins, Black Cow Vodka is safe to consume for those with lactose sensitivities.