Retreat to the Broken Shed...

Those of us who love vodka probably already have our "go to" brand but I'm always in interested to try others. So, of course when a vodka from New Zealand was brought to my attention I was intrigued.

More intriguing yet is this vodka is made from some of the purest water in the world from the sparsely populated Southern Alps. It is distilled with Whey, which they call milk honey.

It all began in 2009, in a small lake town in the mountains of New Zealand's Southern Alps when Broken Shed Vodka was born to Mark O'Brien, Mark Simmonds and Steve Turner. The name itself comes from its inception in the Broken Shed belonging to Mark O'Brien. These days the Shed is no longer used for crafting and producing their vodka and is now used for tasting events.

First I tried it on the rocks. What impressed me was the true purity in the taste; like a white tea with a kiss of sweetness. It can easily be sipped alone but, as I am lover of martinis I gave it a test taste with a recipe provided to me by Broken Shed...the Broken Basil.

Broken Basil Martini

Ingredients:
2 Parts Broken Shed Vodka
Generous Amount of  Crushed Bail Leaves
1 Full Basil Leaf
1 Part Passion-fruit Juice
1 Part Apple Juice

Directions:
Shake all ingredients in a shaker with crushed ice. Pour into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with the full basil leaf. Spring isn't here yet, but this cocktail makes you think it isn't far from now!

It is becoming more available in the US and at the $30-35 USD price, for this quality, I am indeed impressed. Get yourself a bottle today!