In a Fog

March 25th, 2018   |   By Mike Raven

I recently viewed a feature on TV about Hangar 1 Vodka’s Fog Point. Being a big fan of Hangar 1 and having a long relationship with Proximo, the supplier of Hanger 1, I found my curiosity sparked to learn more and share this intriguing endeavor with you.

As the story goes, after California emerged from several years of drought, Hangar 1’s Head Distiller Caley Shoemaker decided to experiment with a more sustainable way of obtaining fresh water – harvesting San Francisco’s fog in fog nets. In an interview on “Sunday Morning” on CBS, Caley explained her taste of the water, “It almost, like, whispers to the places the fog traveled. I mean, it sounds kind of silly, but with all that little bit of salinity and minerality, you can almost, like, taste the journey of the fog.”

Caley incorporated the help of Chris Fogliatti (the name fits!), an experienced fog harvester, and together they installed Hangar 1’s very own fog catchers to turn fog into fresh water. The nets are designed to capture the microscopic droplets of the fog and convert them into larger ones, which eventually fall into the trough and are collected. The process takes a long time and the resulting amount of water collected is small, but with more nets, comes more water.

A Hangar 1 Fog Point fog catcher.

This water is then blended with Vodka distilled from premium vintage wine made at Bonny Doon Vineyard, by legendary winemaker Randall Grahm. It is sourced from a sustainable vineyard on the Central Coast. This revolutionary experiment yields an extraordinarily crisp, pure and gluten-free sipping Vodka, with elegant hints of pear, citrus and honeysuckle.

The product is expensive (over $100/750ml) and hard to find, but from what I have read, it’s worth the experience! You can view extraordinary videos of the process on Hangar 1’s website.

Hangar 1 has other exceptional Vodkas as well, including Straight, Buddha’s Hand Citron, Mandarin Blossom and Makrut Lime. They also make a line of Distiller’s Exclusive Vodkas including Chipotle, Pink Peppercorn and Honeycomb.

Hangar 1 Head Distiller, Caley Shoemaker