20080827

Potato farmer goes from chips to vodka

In the United Kingdom, the name Tyrells usually refers to high-end gourmet potato chips. Now, add vodka to the list.

The Hereford manufacturer was looking for a new use for potatoes too big or too little to turn into chips, or crisps as they call them in the UK.

Will Chase, the potato grower who founded Tyrrells, was faced with a problem -- what to do with all his potatoes that are too small or too large to turn into crisps.

“I came up with the (vodka) idea two years ago,” company founder Will Chase told Real Business. ”I’d been in the U.S. and found out about a guy that that was making vodka out of potatoes, just on a small scale. I thought, ‘I could do that’.”

It took a year to build the distillery and learn the process of vodka making. The first product will make its debut at the Herefordshire Food Festival scheduled for the weekend of October 25-26 at Hereford Racecourse. The first bottle will go on sale in March at a suggested hefty retail price of £40 a bottle, which translates to $73 US.

If you're looking to be the first in your group to sample this new product, you can get contact information here.

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