DETROIT -- A Detroit distillery’s popular paczki-inspired vodka is back.
Detroit City Distillery announced Monday that its Paczki Day Vodka will be on sale online beginning at 8 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 11. The spirit is distilled with fresh-baked raspberry paczki from the family-owned New Palace Bakery of Hamtramck.
The release of the spirit has become a highlight for many. Last year, the distillery sold out of 4,200 bottles in just 22 minutes, while many Michigan liquor stores sold out as soon as it hit the shelves.
“The level of excitement and demand for this product never ceases to amaze me. It’s always a huge challenge to work around the clock to try to make enough, but we have so much fun doing it,” said Michael Forsyth, co-owner of Detroit City Distillery. “Due to requests already pouring in, we anticipate yet another fast sellout in 2022.”
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.
This year the distillery will procure over 3,000 glazed raspberry pączki from 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.
Bottles, which are a nod to Polish culture and features the Polish eagle, will be $35 each.
“There are only two ingredients: vodka and paczki. There are no artificial ingredients, flavors or sweeteners that you find in mainstream flavored vodka. The goal is to make a true craft spirit that highlights the taste of these perfectly handmade, glazed raspberry paczki from Hamtramck.” Forsyth said.
“This year, we blended potato vodka straight from Poland with Michigan potato vodka to create a perfect blend that embodies what this spirit is all about. At 88 proof, it’s ultra-smooth, and you can really taste the raspberry and buttery pastry of the paczki.”
The vodka can be purchased online. Customers can collect their purchases at DCD’s Tasting Room at 2462 Riopelle Street in Detroit’s Eastern Market from Friday, Feb. 18 through Sunday, Feb. 27.
Customers may also purchase the vodka at select liquor stores while supplies last.
“When I first made Paczki Day Vodka, my goal was to capture the essence of the Hamtramck’s Paczki Day party in a bottle. Now, PDV has become part of people’s Paczki Day tradition,” said Steve Orzechowski, Distiller at DCD. “It’s an honor to make something we can all be proud of that celebrates our Polish community.”