Ever thought about oysters in your vodka? How about pizza strips?
Some one hundred years after Prohibition, this distillery in Providence is serving up alcohol that is both organic and oceanic.
This is not your average, run of the “gin” mill establishment. It was launched five years ago in the Valley neighborhood of Providence’s West End in what was once the Providence Steel and Iron Company.
“They made structural and ornamental steel for over a hundred years. We really see ourselves as a continuation of that maker community, but in a different way,” ISCO CEO Manya Rubinstein told Rhode Island PBS Weekly.
Rubinstein, a graduate of Brown University, and distiller Dan Neff, a native Rhode Islander, were eager to try something really different to make waves in the sea of small-batch, craft alcohol.
“We’re actually transforming things that came from the ocean and from the land into something that then we are putting out into the world. It’s this kind of beautiful transfer,” said Rubinstein.
Dan Neff says he’s thrilled with the results so far. “I remember the first time I went to like, my local liquor store, which is the one that I go to, to buy wine for my wife. And, I was like, oh, that’s my vodka!! I made it!”
The founders of ISCO decided they wanted to mix agriculture and aquaculture to create their organically crafted spirits. They say they are passionate about using locally-sourced, regenerative farmed products.
Oyster vodka is a first-of-its-kind in the nation, named Ostreida. And seaweed gin is ISCO’s newest offering. It’s christened Sea Flow.
Their unique offering of ocean elixers allows them to “have some fun, make delicious things, and do something that was not negatively impacting the environment. And then sort of throw it in the creative hopper,” said Rubinstein.
She says they landed on the idea during a night out.
“We were having some cocktails and we were enjoying some oysters. And it suddenly occurred to us that a martini with your oysters is a delight, but why had nobody ever combined oysters and vodka together into one spirit? It just seemed like a no-brainer,” said Rubinstein.
“We hit a good sweet spot with like, oh, the Ocean State, ocean stuff. We can make this taste good,” added Neff.
Speaking of taste, what is oyster vodka like?
“It’s not fishy at all. So when you smell it, you get a little bit of almost like an ocean breeze. When you taste the product, you get salinity, a little bit of brine and minerality,” said Rubinstein.
“Sometimes a chef or a mixologist will add a little drop of saline or a little salt to wake up a flavor in a drink or in a food. It basically does that,” she added.
ISCO has now concocted another Rhode Island flavor - this time from the land: Pizza Strip Vodka.
“We basically took all of the herbs and spices that you would use to make a delicious tomato sauce, and we put those into our still. We also had special pizza strips made for us and we put those in the still as well,” said Rubinstein.
Everything is made on the premises in a custom-built, 500-gallon hybrid copper and brass kettle nicknamed “Baby” from Louisville, Kentucky.
To celebrate the ISCO’s five year anniversary, a coastal cask bourbon was developed by brining a barrel in the waters of the Rhode Island shore. “Another riff off the ocean,” said Neff.
“Everything’s by hand. We have nothing computer, everything is analog. Everything we do is a small batch. You know, if you compare us to like a big maker, they’re doing 40,000 gallons a day. and we are doing 500,” said Neff.
ISCO’s owners say their marine-life, high spirits mix well in Bloody Marys, martinis and some tropical fruit drinks.
Their pizza strip vodka recently won a gold medal at the prestigious San Francisco Spirit Awards.
