This Might Be Our New Favorite Everyday VodkaStarted by Hawaii native Shay Smith, Ocean Organic Vodka hails from the 80-acre Hawaii Sea Spirits farm and distillery on Maui, which also produces a line of rums and a gin. We tried and quite enjoyed Ocean Organic Vodka a few years back at the New York Wine and Food Festival (credit, in part, to the cool blue bottle). It was here we also learned about the unique way the spirit is created. “I started this project 18 years ago,” Smith says. “I was taking agricultural land and turning it urban for affordable housing. So you’re retiring agriculture and changing the overall feel of an area. In that process, I was like, I’d like to create a value-added agricultural product that could be produced in Hawaii and sold around the world. Because Hawaii really isn’t known for its exports.” Fortunately, the island did have some organic sugarcane to work with, and ergo, the state’s first distillery was formed (note that not all of the sugarcane comes from the island). The real key to the product, however, is the water, which is desalinated ocean water from a depth of 3,000 off the coast of Kona. Let’s give it a taste. | 
