FAIR Quinoa Vodka Review

FAIR Quinoa Vodka is an award-winning sipping vodka made using organic quinoa, a superfood from the Andes, but distilled in Cognac in France.

A particular phrase jumped into my mind when I took my first sip of this FAIR. Vodka – Wow, it’s like drinking silk. I have of course sampled lots of vodkas over the years and it’s the first time I’ve ever had that thought, which shows just how deliciously smooth the vodka is. If you like sipping vodkas, look no further.

The vodka’s distilled from organic quinoa plants grown in volcanic soil on the Altiplano Plateau, high in the Andes Mountains – which is why one of their suggested cocktails is called the Andean Mule. The company behind FAIR. Vodka, Ethical Wine and Spirits, works on a Fairtrade basis and brings the quinoa back to their home in Cognac, France, where the Master Brewer and Distiller, Philip Laclie, definitely works some magic to produce these incredible results.

FAIR Quinoa Vodka Bottle label detail — FAIR Quinoa Vodka

FAIR Quinoa Vodka Review

The vodka has an ultra-smooth smell, with just a hint of vanilla sweetness. I tasted a shot of it on several different evenings, just to be sure what I felt about it, and the result was always the same – smooth as silk. It has an incredible mouth-feel, no harshness about it, and gently warming on the throat. This is one of those occasional spirits that is so good it’s dangerous. I’m torn between saving it to impress visitors and hiding it away for my own personal consumption.

FAIR Quinoa Vodka Awards

It isn’t just me that rates this vodka either. If you check out the FAIR. website you’ll see it’s won a host of awards including a Platinum Medal from the Beverage Tasting Institute various Gold and Silver Medals, and a Double Gold from the Asian Spirits Masters.

FAIR Vodka Cocktail

FAIR. Vodka is so good I wouldn’t use it in a cocktail, although it’s tempting to try and I may well succumb to this suggestion of theirs because I love a good Moscow Mule. Here’s their twist on it, an Andean Mule:

Other FAIR Spirits

FAIR. produces other spirits too, including a gin that uses juniper berries hand-picked in a nature reserve in Uzbekistan, and rum that uses an organic sugar cane from Belize. They also have three liqueurs in their range: a kumquat, a cacao, and an Açaï. All I can say is that if they’re half as good as the vodka, they’ll be amazing.

The Ethical Wine and Spirits company was founded in 2009 by Alexandre Koiransky, and this is what the company says it is all about:

The founders of FAIR. promote integrity, transparency and equality for all third world producers involved, ensuring that Fair Trade’s rigorous standards are met and that farmers’ livelihoods are nurtured.