In A Nutshell
Tea, coffee, chocolate, fruit, honey, biscuits, sweets… there’s a whole lot of Fairtrade food and drink out there, so it’s nice to also see a spirits brand proudly sporting the Fairtrade Certification Mark.
FAIR. Quinoa Vodka, FAIR. Goji Liqueur, FAIR. Coffee LiqueurTCL RATING:
FAIR. Quinoa Vodka
FAIR. Goji Liqueur
FAIR. Café Liqueur
What they say
“FAIR. is the first Fair Trade premium spirits brand in the world. All our spirits are produced from Fair Trade Certified™ ingredients and comply with organic farming methods.”
What We Say:
Ms S
The whole Fairtrade thing is particularly appealing with these products and makes for a warm feeling inside even before tasting. The vodka is very smooth indeed making it easy drinking and a nice base for cocktails. The Goji Liqueur, however, didn’t quite do it for me. There was something of the medicinal about it which I just couldn’t get away from. Maybe it’s better just used sparingly as an ingredient. My favourite from the three was definitely the Café Liqueur. It had a really rich depth of flavour and wasn’t too sweet. It also combined well with the vodka in the recommended White Russian for a tasty after dinner drink.
Mr G
It’s great that this brand is building their offering around Fairtrade but the products still have to taste good. The vodka is smooth, has a nice mouth feel and a lovely clean finish. It also made an agreeable martini. The Goji Liqueur meanwhile is very rich and probably something of an acquired taste. I wouldn’t drink it straight but it worked well enough in the recommended Gojellini. As for the the Café Liqueur it had a nice natural feel to it tasting of freshly brewed good quality coffee. I particularly liked it straight at room temperature and it would be great with ice after dinner. I’ll also be giving a go in a Vodka Espresso.
Fun Fact
FAIR. Quinoa Vodka is the first spirit of its kind to be made from quinoa, a grain-like crop, despite having been first cultivated by the Incas some 5000 years ago in the Andes mountain range.
Recipes
FAIR CAÏPIROWSKA
Ingredients
1/2 lime
2 spoons of Fairtrade certified sugar
5cl of FAIR. Quinoa Vodka
Preparation
Cut the 1/2 lime in 4 and crush in a mortar with the sugar. Top with crushed ice and add the FAIR. quinoa vodka. Shake well and serve with two short straws.
GOJI ROYAL
Ingredients
2cl FAIR. Goji Liqueur
7 cl champagne
Preperation
Pour the FAIR. Goji Liqueur, then pour the champagne.
WHITE RUSSIAN
Ingredients
4 cl FAIR. Quinoa Vodka
8 cl FAIR. Café Liqueur
4 cl light cream
Preperation
In an old-fashioned glass, pour FAIR. Quinoa Vodka and FAIR. Café Liqueur over ice cubes, fill with light cream. Stir delicately and serve.
The Details
FAIR. Quinoa Vodka
Taste
Packaging
Desirability
Value
FAIR. Goji Liqueur
Taste
Packaging
Desirability
Value
FAIR. Café Liqueur
Taste
Packaging
Desirability
Value
FAIR. Quinoa Vodka 40% ABV, £38.50 for 70cl bottle. FAIR. Goji Liqueur 22% ABV, £21 for 35cl bottle. FAIR. Café Liqueur 22% ABV, £19.50 for 35cl bottle. Available Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, Whole Foods and other good stockists.
4 Responses
Ms S, I was totally with you on the goji… until I started using it as an amaro. Wow. I found this recipe online and, also being a gin hound like yourself, was very happy with the results and it gave me ideas on exquisite cocktails I can’t seem to pull off with any other ingredient. It’s just the kind of thing which has caused me to tag the product on google to see what other people come up with. Very fun. Definitely give it a try.
1.5 ounce FAIR. quinoa
0.75 ounce FAIR. goji
0.75 ounce Cynar
Stir, strain, old fashioned glass, block ice, orange peel.
Thanks for the tip Nathan, it sounds delicious, we’ll definitely give it a try.
Cool, glad to hear it! Funny, the FAIR. goji is now following me around! I thought I’d hop online and reply to you. Just last night, we were at the bar at Michael Mina in San Francisco and folks next to us ordered a Hudson whiskey cocktail on their menu, the original with Chery Heering, and one with the FAIR. goji instead of the Heering — I thought, “Hmm, that’s an interesting substitution…”
They thought so too, because the big group of like 6 people were doing some kind of taste-test and all of them, plus the bartender who created the drink, all agreed that goji was the winner by a long shot. Looks like I’ll need to try re-working some Blood and Sands at home now…
Hey!
Very interesting blog. Nice Recipes. i will try and thanks for share.