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‘First’ vodka designed to be mixed with water to launch in UK
In a bid to tap into the low-sugar market, Barcelona-based Vita Spirits is to launch a gluten-free vodka in the UK which it claims is the first designed to be mixed with water.
The vodka, which launched in Spain in June last year, is both gluten-free and sugar-free and intended to appeal to the more health-conscious crowd.
According to the brand, the vodka is designed to retain its flavour when mixed with water, supposedly removing the need to mix it with sugar-laden soft drinks or tonic water.
Vita Citrus Vodka is the brainchild of friends Víctor Ruiz Lafita, an industrial engineer, and former investment banker Fadrique Balmaseda.
Having both worked in London, they noticed that their local bars were often mixing vodka with soda water, but for them, the taste was unpleasant.
According to Lafita, the idea arose one afternoon when walking around the centre of London. “Fadrique and I began to wonder why no natural spirits had arrived on the market, designed to be mixed with water, thus avoiding sugar and other additives and balancing the dehydration produced by alcohol,” he said.
“At that moment we realised the opportunity that the market offered us,” he added. “We wanted to redefine the habits of alcohol consumption by creating something more healthy and balanced. We dreamt of creating a natural, premium, low-calorie vodka that would maintain its aroma and flavour when mixed with water”.
The formula took 18 months to perfect and is made with Italian rye grain and natural lemon peel extract in a family-owned distillery in Barcelona.
“We believe that many people won’t continue to drink in the traditional way and that Vita is way ahead of the game in this respect. We’ve had a great reaction in Spain, but as vodka consumption is 15 times higher in the UK, and the British are keen to look after their health, we’re very excited to launch here,” Lafita added.
The water used in its production has an “exceptionally low mineral content” which the brand claims allows the “vodka to be mixed with any water while keeping an unaltered, natural and fresh citrus flavour”.
Lafita said: “VITA is the expression of our passion for life, we belong to a generation that wants to enjoy things while still maintaining a healthy lifestyle”.
It is currently available via Drinks 21 for £27 a bottle (700ml) and is set to launch in the UK via spirits wholesaler Interbev.
Vita is not the first sugar-free vodka. American brand devotion launched their vodka in 2009, while non-alcoholic ‘spirit’ Seedlip launched in 2015 and Borough Wines released a £20 non-alcoholic gin this month.
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