What started as an experiment making 20 bottles for family and friends five years ago, has become a must-have sensation within Michigan’s Polish community. Last year, Detroit City Distillery (DCD) sold out of 4,200 bottles of Pączki Day Vodka online in just 22 minutes, while many liquor stores sold out as soon as it hit the shelves, has set a goal of tripling production in 2022 for this Fridiay’s limited-edition release.
Additionally, DCD will make a “Pączki Head Seltzer,” made from PDV, and bring back popular bottled cocktails, the Polish Bloody and Polish Daisy. PDV will be hand packaged in a unique glass bottle from Poland this year. PDV, seltzer and bottled cocktails sales begin online via www.detroitcitydistillery.com.
This year the Distillery will procure over 3,500 glazed raspberry pączki from Hamtramck’s New Palace Bakery to distill in 100 percent potato vodka from Poland and Michigan. Each batch uses 18-dozen pączki baked fresh that morning, which are then are soaked for 24 hours in vodka inside a 500-gallon copper pot still before they are distilled.
In addition to PDV, Detroit City Distillery creates small batch artisanal whiskey, gin and vodka, and limited-edition spirits, using local ingredients sourced directly from farms near its Distillery and Tasting Room located in Detroit’s famed Eastern Market.