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First came flavored vodka, then super-premium vodka. Now, along comes organic vodka. This buzzword suggests that the product has no pesticides, no chemical additives, no growth hormones -- nothing that will keep you from enjoying your vodka well into your senile years. Square One and Ocean bend over backwards to prove their vodkas are the real deal. Square One, for example, is made from 100 percent organic North Dakota rye, mixed with water from the Snake River watershed of the Teton Range in Wyoming. Ocean, by comparison, is a blend of alcohol distilled in Idaho from organic corn and rye along with so-called MaHaLo Hawaii Deep Sea Water, siphoned from 500 fathoms below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, right into your vodka-tonic.
Side-by-side in cocktails, these two organic spirits taste nearly identical. Straight up, or on the rocks, distinctions emerge. Ocean is sweet -- it must be the corn -- and fairly viscous, with a lingering aftertaste. Square One is thinner, crisper, more neutral and has a faster finish. They are both 40 percent alcohol (80 proof), yielding similar burn when you take a shot. If your liquor cabinet is a design focus of your pad, it's worth noting that Square One has the cooler, rectangular bottle.
Technically, these vodkas are good for the environment, and good for you -- if you don't have one too many Bloody Marys.
-- James Oliver Cury
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