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Company Uses Oranges to Distill Vodka

The Reporter – April 15, 2011

AUBURNDALE | Even in an era when tourism has become a major employer and health care is one of the rising industries in Central Florida, citrus remains among the region’s top fields, particularly in Polk County.

It should come as no surprise, then, that the oranges grown in miles and miles of citrus groves, from Lakeland to Four Corners, can be used in a variety of products, from orange juice sold at local supermarkets to vodka available at liquor stores.

Vodka?

“You can always tell these oranges,” Joseph Barton said as he picked one from a basket and held it up. “We don’t have the pretty oranges. We have the good juice oranges.”

That juice, Barton is quick to note, is used in the production of 4 Orange Premium Vodka, which he sells through Southern Wine and Spirits. Barton, a sales representative for the liquor distributor, said it’s an increasingly popular form of vodka, made entirely from locally grown citrus.

The oranges are made into vodka at a plant in Auburndale, said Pat Kavanaugh, the vice president of sales for Emerging Brands/Imperial Brands of Key West, the firm marketing this new vodka product.

“There’s four types of oranges — Parson Brown, Temple, Valencia and Hamlin,” he said.

“These are all Florida oranges. We crush them and add yeast. It will ferment into an orange beer. When it’s 5 percent alcohol, we distill it. It comes out pretty strong, but we get it to 80 (percent) proof. We’re still working on it.”

Kavanaugh and Barton took their product on the road on April 8 when they set up a booth at the 2011 Bacchus Bash, a street fair held at the Orlando Premium Outlets shopping plaza in Lake Buena Vista, sponsored by a trade group representing one of the larger employers in this region, the Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association.

The association — which recently voted to add the numerous vacation homes in Northeast Polk County and Four Corners as honorary members — has held the Bacchus Bash for a decade as a fundraiser. There were more than 80 food and beverage booths set up across the shopping plaza.

Kavanaugh said 4 Orange Vodka is only a year old, so they’re still getting the word out about this product.

“It’s sold at Southern Wine and Spirits,” he said, adding that there’s also a Facebook page, for people who want to learn more.

Ironically, he added, the company that made the investment in this mix of citrus and liquor isn’t actually from Florida, but someplace far off with a decidedly colder climate.

“The company originally was from Poland,” he said, adding that they eventually came to the United States and settled in Florida.

“This is only a little over a year old,” Kavanaugh said.

“We had nothing to compare it to. It’s hard to create a new product, but we’re doing very well. People like it, and it’s creating jobs.”

Besides, he added, “The icon of Florida is the orange.”

In fact, the 4 Orange company advertises the product with postcards showing a woman on the beach, with the tagline “Greetings from Sunny Florida! 4 Orange Premium Vodka, Made from Florida Oranges,” that advertises not just the vodka product, but the state and one of its leading industries as well.

Kavanaugh said the product has received good feedback from the customers who have purchased it, and from the crowds that lined up to taste it during the Bacchus Bash.

“I haven’t heard a negative word about it,” he said. “The easiest way to sell it is to have people taste it.”

It’s also a popular product with Polk County’s citrus growers, Kavanaugh said — but not necessarily because they’re vodka drinkers.

“The citrus farmers love us,” he said, because the manufacturer uses their products to create the vodka.

In addition, “Once we’re done with the oranges, we give the peels back to the farmers for their animals,” he said. “It’s good for their digestive system, so there’s no waste.”

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