Trending right now in the world of catering and cocktails are Theme Liquors and Spirits. Think you saw it all when P Diddy entered the Vodka game? Hold on to your hats because local canuck turned mega celeb Dan Ackroyd has just stepped into the ring with his ghostly version of cutting edge beverage du jour.
Ackroyd and his partner in Vodka Partner and veteran fine artist John Alexander who are long time researchers of the legend of the 13 crystal heads have taken their passion and turned it into the hottest drink on the market, not to mention a perfect event planners theme accoutrement
The Legend
A controversial archaeological mystery, 13 crystal heads have been found in regions around the world, from the American southwest to Tibet. They’re dated between 5,000 and 35,000 years old, and were supposedly polished into shape from solid quartz chunks over a period of several hundred years. Although according to Hewlett Packard engineers, they bear no tool marks to tell us exactly how they were made. The heads are thought to offer spiritual power and enlightenment to those who possess them, and as such stand not as symbols of death, but of life.
The Bottle
Aykroyd and Alexander wanted the opportunity to get closer to the myth of the 13 crystal heads. After more than two years in development, their moment finally arrived. When their glass depiction of a head was complete, Milan-based manufacturer Bruni Glass declared it to be a bottle of unsurpassed complexity and quality. Now, what to put in it? Vodka became the drink of choice. But with it, a commitment to do something enlightened and differentCrystal Head is vodka like no other, for a life like no other.
The Water
Naturally pure vodka had to be born of an equally pristine primary ingredient. The deep glacial aquifer water of Newfoundland, Canada became the perfect choice. As the easternmost landmass in North America, this vast and largely untouched island shares a mystery and fascination not unlike the crystal head legend itself. Fitting that the Crystal Head distillery chose ‘The Rock’ as its new home.
The Crystals
A quadruple-distillation process made Crystal Head as pure as vodka can be, but the quest for an almost mystical purity continued. As a final stage, the liquid was filtered through 500-million year-old crystals known as Herkimer diamonds. These quartz crystals are found in very few places in the world, including Herkimer, New York and regions in Tibet and Afghanistan. Perhaps because they share the raw material from which the original crystal heads were carved, they are thought to have similar spiritual qualities
The Purity
The result was perfect vodka, with absolutely no additives. No glycol (an ingredient for engine anti-freeze); no citrus oil (used in its raw form as an insect exterminant); and no raw sugar. Nothing was needed, because it was abundantly clear that finely produced vodka came by its smoothness and flavor naturally. So in the end, the only things required were a glass and a pure spirit of one’s own