DETROIT, MI – A Detroit distillery’s popular paczki-inspired vodka will soon make its return.
Detroit City Distillery announced Tuesday that online sales of its limited-edition Paczki Day Vodka will begin on Feb. 1. The craft polish potato vodka is distilled with dozens of raspberry paczki from the historic New Palace Bakery of Hamtramck.
Bottles, which are a nod to Polish culture and features the Polish eagle, will be $30 each.
For those that don’t know, paczki are rich, doughnut-like treats traditionally enjoyed on Fat Tuesday before Lent. They resemble donuts but are made with an enriched dough that often incorporates eggs, butter and milk, as well as vodka, which limits the absorption of fats during frying, keeping the exterior crust crisp.
Paczki are coated in powdered sugar or glaze and come in traditional flavors like raspberry, strawberry, lemon, plum, apple and custard.
Steve Orzechowski, distiller at Detroit City Distillery, created the vodka in February of 2017 when his dual cravings for his favorite glazed raspberry paczki and crisp polish vodka created a new idea.
“I made Paczki Day Vodka because I wanted to capture the essence of the Hamtramck Paczki Day party in a bottle,” he said. “I thought it’d be a fun way to honor my Polish heritage and create a small-batch spirit we shared with our closest friends and family,
“But, as more and more people tried it and loved it, and the requests came pouring in, we realized we’d created something very unique. It’s a real honor to create something that the community has made part of the celebration and the comradery of the day.”
This year, Detroit City Distillery will procure nearly 1,300 glazed raspberry paczki from New Palace to distill in 100 percent potato vodka from Poland.
Each batch uses 18-dozen paczki baked fresh that morning, which are then are soaked for 24 hours in vodka inside a 500-gallon copper pot still.
Next, the magic of distillation transforms the paczki and vodka into a crystal-clear spirit that is smooth, buttery and has a distinct raspberry finish. It is best enjoyed chilled over ice, mixed in a cocktail or as a paczki chaser, according to the distillery.
Customers can collect spirits curbside outside DCD’s Tasting Room at 2462 Riopelle Street in Detroit’s Eastern Market. Customers may also purchase the spirit at select liquor stores while supplies last.
The distillery sold out of Paczki Day Vodka in just four and a half hours in 2020.