Get Hooked Mermaid Vodka

Collectively, we could all use a drink. Maybe last year left you with the need to cry into a cocktail or perhaps it inspired you to clink a celebratory glass of something special. Either way, it’s becoming abundantly clear that the universe thinks it’s time for you to pour a tall one.

Mermaid Vodka is just the ticket.

You a heavy drinker? A “5 o’clock somewhere” type? It’s OK, you can tell me. Or are you more apt to casually sip something fruity and fizzy at a gal-pal get-together? Are you a spirits snob, researching the history and process behind your preferred beverage? Does the backstory of the business interest you? Could you spend hours discussing aftertaste and the notes you pick up on your palate? Or do you simply want something tasty to toss back while you cook up something in the kitchen?

What is it you’re looking for in a drink? What is it you need? Whatever it is, Mermaid Vodka has it. Every single drop of this brand screams “Drink up!” Responsibly, of course.

This premium vodka is 48 times distilled, 10 times charcoal filtered, made with organically grown corn and water that’s also been filtered almost a dozen times. If you aren’t a spirits connoisseur, well, that’s a lot of distillation. Like a lot a lot. Most of the premium vodkas you could easily name don’t come close to that purity and they add sugar to remove that distinct “vodka bite”—a fact which, by the way, they aren’t legally required to disclose.

Guess who doesn’t add sugar? Mermaid Vodka—a company that has only been around a couple of years but already boasts a bunch of honors and awards for its superior taste.

The company represents Florida through and through with its distillation process taking place in Fort Myers and its headquarters right here in Sarasota. The company is small and its founder is female and a huge, giant, magnificent part of the organization’s mission is giving back to the community it serves.

Oh, and it’s gluten-free for you Tito’s devotees who are always in search of something smooth and starchless with a premium taste without a premium price.

And damn if there isn’t a mermaid on the bottle to boot. A mermaid! A symbol for all things magical and a throwback for most of us who spent a significant part of childhood pretending to be one in the swimming pool or staring at the sea in search of a tail on the horizon. Though that identifier may not influence the taste, for us sea-loving Floridians it’s a nice reminder of what we’re capable of creating—meaning vodka’s identity no longer needs to be connected to countries with colder climates.

How did this brand come to be? Mermaids have a long history for the company’s president, Carol Strickland, who spent her entire youth out on the boat with her dad.

“When you’re smaller, you aren’t always in the action, so a lot of time I’d spend on the boat looking over the side looking for mermaids,” she reminisces. “I’d see whales, sharks, tuna, marlin, but never a mermaid. I was always looking for a mermaid.”

It’s been decades since those days, but she never lost her love for finding one and spent years amassing mermaid collectibles and even creating rooms in her home dedicated to mythical memorabilia. Eventually, she decided to turn her dream of finding magic into making magic by building something a little more tangible: a business. And thus, Mermaid Vodka was born.

Though it’s indeed impressive how Carol built the brand from the bottom to the bottle, what’s even more remarkable is how deeply Mermaid Vodka is embedded in the community.

“It’s our responsibility to give back,” she explains. “As we grow and as the company expands, so grows our philanthropy and our community support. We’re always looking for ways to help, whether it’s through events or auctions or direction donations. Children, animals, medical conditions—if it’s affecting our community, it’s affecting us.”

Currently you can find Mermaid Vodka throughout Florida at retail shops and restaurants, as well as many local events. It’s still a fairly new and small company, but give them a few years to spread from sea to shining sea.

So go on and get a bottle. Give it a sip. Get hooked.

HAVE A DRINK!

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