Meeting with Dorian, from URA SPIRITS distillery, a craft distillery located on the French Basque coast in front of the Atlantic sea, in Biarritz.
Ura Spirits, a distillery that takes inspiration from nature and traditions to create its drinks, which range from the most traditional spirits such as gin and vodka to Danish aquavit.
Proud of his laboratory, Dorian guides us through the process of vacuum distillation*. A method that few distilleries around the world practice as it does not allow them to produce in large quantities. It is however a method that applies very well to a distillery like URA who practices “small batch” production, and for them it is the best way to work with the botanical herbs they distill for their alcohols.
This method allows the herbs to preserve their aromas because the pressure in the still being low will allow to obtain a lower boiling point, therefore at lower temperature, better conservation of the aromas.
The Ura Spirits Range – HAZE
Vodka: produced with organic wheat and mineral water from the Pyrenees.
Aquavit: made with dill and lemon peel.
Gin: green and yellow lemon, 14 botanical herbs, sage and finished with tonka beans.
Dry Gin: very original, with lapsang suchon, smoked black tea and sichuan.
Each alcohol is distilled at a specific temperature. For example, a yerba mate will be distilled at 45º to preserve all its aromas and not burn the plant.
Customized Spirits – Bespoke spirits
At URA the experience and knowledge of herbs allows them to create custom spirits as well. Bespoke Spirits are born from the creativity, “savoir-faire” to materialize into the “spirit of your dreams.
*Vacuum distillation: Vacuum distillation is a distillation carried out at reduced pressure, which allows the purification of compounds that are difficult to distil at ambient pressure or simply to save time or energy. This technique separates the compounds according to the differences in boiling points.
Don’t drink and drive. Enjoy responsibly.