George McEwan stood by Morgawr Vodka stall
Today I spoke with George McEwan, a founder of Morgawr seaweed vodka, to learn more about the process, inspiration and results of his most recent distilled vodka. Using seaweed as an ingredient for vodka might seem a strange choice but in most of their products the flavour is either secondary or even unnoticeable, the main benefit of using seaweed is that its saline makeup allows for the relatively strong vodka to go down “as smooth as butter”.
Bottle of Morgawr spiced honey vodka
George went into detail on the distillation method of Morgawr vodka, it is a new company only founded in 2023 and only producing its first batches of product this year, originally they had been infusing their vodka with a boiling process but that is an inefficient method causing a lot of flavour to burn off, now however they have purchased the equipment needed for ultrasonic infusions which should result in stronger flavours being present in the final product. Alongside their new infusion method they are trial running several new flavours including one that embraces the taste of kelp instead of sing it just for smoothness, the abundance of the kelp ingredient results in a distinct red/pink colouring but George fears this colouring will make it less marketable as in the vodka market colourlessness is seen as a marker for strength and quality
Another principle of Morgawr vodka is its dedication using local Cornish ingredients harvested in an environmentally friendly way such as wildflower bee honey, George McEwan also detailed the benefits of using seaweed due to its overabundance around the shores of Cornwall several species of seaweed can be harvested sustainably for the making of their vodka without jeopardising the local ecosystems. Using the haircut method the tops of seaweed can be removed but leaving the plant intact and able to regrow the top part again continuously with both the method of acquiring and adding the seaweed to the vodka George predicts that we may see a vast increase in seaweed infused vodka across Cornwall and perhaps the entirety of the UK.