Pekka Pellinen has been travelling the world for the last 20 years, all for the love of his homeland and the story of one spirit.
Pellinen is the global brand ambassador for Finlandia Vodka, and to date he’s visited 70 countries, talking about how the spirit is made, offering cocktail inspiration, and how committed the brand is to environmental stewardship.
Sitting down in Toronto with me to chat about all things vodka, with a healthy dose of Finnish pride, Pellinen introduced me to Finlandia Grapefruit, the latest expression from the brand as they celebrate 56 years as one of the world’s first Nordic vodkas.
The great outdoors, happiness, and real Finnish spirit
At the heart of Finlandia Vodka is the Finnish lifestyle, something that Pellinen defined as a profound trust in people and a reverence for the outdoors.
“Finnish people, they respect nature–they love nature–and they take everything they can out of nature during summer time because it’s 24/7, endless sunlight,” Pellinen said. “[Finlandia] doesn’t have a visitor centre, [instead] we show people Finnish nature.”
Even as the seasons shift from the “magic winter wonderland” of the northern lights to the high-energy summers where people might play golf at 2 AM, the love of nature and spirit of Finland stays strong. Pellinen suggests this cycle contributes to Finland being named the happiest country in the world for nine consecutive years: “Probably because we have four totally different seasons, [and people] are always waiting for the next season,” and excited to get out and enjoy it.
Pellinen also believes there’s a perfect connection between Finland and Canada, since the countries share so many similarities, from the seasons, to the love of nature.
Making vodka in the land of the Midnight Sun
Finlandia is not only produced within a few miles of the distillery’s water source, they also only use 100% Finnish barley, grown under the unique conditions of the Midnight Sun that doesn’t set for 72 consecutive days in northern Finland.
“What makes Finlandia different,” Pellinen explained, “is that we use the ground water in Finland–only Finnish water–and we don’t do anything to the water.”
“We are the only global premium vodka producer who can use water as it is,” he said. “Every other vodka producer, they need to treat the water somehow before they use it, using different kinds of filtration. Most of them need to remove minerals or they need to add something.”
“In vodka production,” he said, “if you don’t have good water you cannot produce good vodka. If you don’t have excellent water you cannot produce excellent vodka.”
“That makes the barley a little bit different. There is a very high starch content and very low oil content, so it’s easy to produce the pure, very smooth, and velvety spirit [with that grain] under the midnight sun.”
A zero-waste distillery and respect for nature
Finlandia Vodka’s focus has been on making their production as environmentally friendly as possible. That’s simply the Finnish way, as Pellinen explained. Today the distillery operates as a 99.9% zero-waste facility, reusing nearly every byproduct of the production process.
“The sustainability is one of those core things,” he said. “When [the barley seed] comes to the distillery, first we take the outer layer–the husk–off and there is a bio-waste energy power plant in the distillery. So we burn that husk and that gives us all the energy, all the electricity, that we need during the fermentation and also the distillation process”.
“We also sell [excess electricity], if there’s some leftover for the locals. During the fermentation process, there’s a lot of CO2; we capture all of it and sell it to business and greenhouses.”
Finlandia even sells the leftover fermented mash as cattle feed to local farmers, making the whole process practical and eco-friendly.
A few tips for enjoying Finlandia Grapefruit
Just in time for summer, Finlandia’s new Grapefruit vodka is a versatile spirit that’s perfect for trying something different.
“If you think about most of the fresh cocktails, there’s always a citrus element… so it’s very easy to use citrus vodka,” he said. As one simple option, Pellinen said, “if you like gin, replace it with Finlandia Grapefruit.”
Pellinen calls the cocktail a “Finonic,” with Finlandia Grapefruit, tonic water, and some fresh lime, and ice, although he also said that the vodka pairs exceptionally well with cranberry juice.
“Most people are surprised by the freshness of the grapefruit taste in Finlandia and then immediately, like bartenders, when they taste it, I see they start to think about the combinations, because grapefruit is quite a trendy ingredient in a something like a Paloma.”
Pellinen personally also enjoys it as a sipping vodka, or a chilled shot paired with a few different dishes. “I always take the bottle of grapefruit with me if there’s a seafood on the table. Chilled grapefruit with seafood, or fish; it’s a beautiful combination.”
Ingredients
- 40 ml Finlandia Grapefruit flavoured vodka
- 120 ml tonic water
- Pink grapefruit
- Ice
Instructions
Fill the glass with ice.
Add the vodka.
Add tonic water and garnish with a slice of grapefruit.
Photos by W. Andrew Powell/The GATE.
