Every day about 48.5 tons of space material falls to Earth: meteorites and bolides. Although most of them burn up in the atmosphere, some pieces of space rock crash into the planet. Of the estimated 82,000 meteorites found on Earth, only one of them has ever impacted a bottle of alcohol.
Earlier this year, Pegasus Distillerie released an exclusive Shooting Star Vodka infused with meteorite. Pegasus founder, Maxime Girardin, heir to a family of winemakers from Burgundy, decided to experiment with ingredients of cosmic origin. As the manufacturer assures, the vodka is infused with a 22.5-pound meteorite that was found in 1977 in Nebraska. It is believed that it fell to Earth in 1910.
Shooting Star Vodka has received positive reviews from Popular Science magazine. Its flavor is described as a unique variation of the classic wheat vodka, with notes of spring water and a sweet profile that overpowers any bitterness. Girardin notes that vodka contains no sugar, so the reason for its sweet notes is hard to explain.
Pegasus uses organic French wheat and barley and spring water from an underground river running through limestone layers 150 meters below the Burgundy distillery to produce vodka. The vodka is infused for 18 months in porous terracotta amphorae, enhancing its unique flavor.
The process of infusing alcoholic beverages has been around for thousands of years and involves diffusion, where alcohol penetrates the cell walls of added substances and acquires their chemical properties. Although it is rare to infuse alcohol with mineral materials, in this case space rocks add special organic substances that affect the flavor.
The idea of drinking alcohol made from space rocks can cause concern because of possible radiation. However, all matter, including ourselves, is somewhat radioactive. The radioactive elements in meteorites decay quickly after they land on Earth.
Shooting Star Vodka costs $200, and its flavor depends on how much you want to taste the cosmos.
We previously reported on how astronauts would eat burgers made from recycled plastic.
According to popsci.com
