In times when Vodka was illegal in Poland, people would ask for Kavka, 'a little coffee'. It is becoming the norm for many people in the UK to ask for Kavka Vodka as it is proving popular with its fruit flavours, adding something unique to the alcohol.
Jan Woroniecki launched Kavka Vodka in 2021 in collaboration with Master Distiller Urszula Wojcik and award-winning Cocktail Barman Karol Terejlis. The company is known as Kavla Estate Vodka, and Jan, born in the UK to a Polish father, had the idea to produce Vodka after many years running restaurants in Eastern Europe and experiencing many Vodkas.
Kavka was born out of the heritage of the ancient town of Sandomierz. It lies in the heart of Poland's Orchard and has been famed for fruit growing and distillation since Medieval times. Column still rye and wheat spirits are blended with pot still fruit spirits to create the Vodka, which has a fruity depth, a rare smoothness and a complexity of taste.
TASTING NOTES
Kavka's complexity makes it incredibly versatile you can drink it at room temperature to savour the fruit notes, frozen as a shot, to give depth to a mixer or as a rather fabulous martini.
NOSE: Moves quickly from mellow to full-bodied fruitiness: fresh, ripe apples, rich dried fruit, then honey, with an underlying layer of fresh rye bread and grain notes adding range: the freshness and range linger.
PALATE: Elegant, indulgent mouthfeel. A light richness emerges and then intensifies into a lemon freshness with orange marmalade notes. Followed by a creaminess with grain and rye bread notes. All merge into a finale of luscious, rich-dry flavour.
FINISH: Rich-dry balance, with emerging fruit notes of apples and prunes. Garnished by lemons, underlined by dryness.
KAVKA ESTATE
Kavka Estate is a blend of fine rye and wheat spirits with small quantities of aged pot-still apple and plum spirits. The apple brings a crisp acidity, while the plum brings sweetness and depth. Kavka is classic Vodka with depth, complexity and smoothness that is rare to find. Vodka how it used to taste, bold and distinctive.
ABV 700ml, 40%
THE ZELENSKYY
50ml Kavka Vodka
20ml blue curaçao
20 lemon juice
20ml apricot brandy
10ml sugar syrup
Mix lemon juice, apricot brandy, and sugar syrup in the bottom of an ice-filled glass. Shake the Vodka and curaçao together and gently pour into the glass.
A blend of fine grain spirits and pot-still fruit spirits aged in Hungarian Tokaji Casks. In homage to the classic Polish Starka - where a father would bury a cask of spirit on the birth of a daughter and then dig it up on her wedding day - Kavka Tokaji is delicate and delicious with subtle fruit notes, light oak and a lasting depth.
ABV 700ml, 46%
BLOODY MARYSIA
50ml Kavka Vodka
80ml passata or tomato juice
10ml fresh lemon juice
Two dashes of Worcestershire sauce
Two pinches of chipotle powder
(or Tabasco)
One pinch of celery salt
Ground black pepper
I pinch fresh horseradish (optional)
Kavka Orchard.
Newly launched in April 2023, Kavka Orchard is a naturally sweet and delicate blend of plum, apple and fine-grain spirits. All ingredients are sourced and distilled in the ancient Polish market town of Sandomierz. It has a natural sweetness and depth, making it perfect to be drunk on its own, in a cocktail or topped up with a refreshing mixer. Ideal for summer drinking.
KAVKA ORCHARD COSMOPOLITAN
50ml Kavka Orchard | 25ml Fortunella Orange Liqueur | 15ml Fresh Lemon Juice | 30ml Cranberry Juice
Add ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with an orange twist.
Kavka Orchard Vodka RRP: From £29.95 for 70cl. ABV: 38%. Available from: Amazon and coming soon to Master of Malt
Add all the ingredients in a tall glass with ice and muddle with a celery stick. Top with a lemon wedge and a grind of black pepper.
All three Kavka Vodkas use natural ingredients and provide premium Vodka for every drinking occasion. They come in contemporary packaging; the design has a woodcut of a jackdaw at its centre, which translates to Kavka in Polish. Kavka can also mean 'little coffee', a phrase often used to get Vodka when illegal.