Pegasus Distillerie introduces Shooting Star Vodka, a vodka infused with original chondrite meteorite.
Collected in 1977 in Nebraska, experts believe the meteorite named Huntsman (b) weighed 10.2 kg when it fell to Earth in 1910. Another meteorite with the same composition was found about 4.8 km away, leading astronomers to hypothesize that both specimens belong to a larger rock that broke apart while traversing the atmosphere.
Pegasus vodka uses meteorite for infusion. (Photo: Pegasus Distillerie)
The Huntsman (b) meteorite came into the hands of Pegasus founder Maxime Girardin through an intermediary in Arizona. Although he is an heir to a long-established winemaking family in Burgundy, France, Girardin has pursued a different path with his new company by experimenting with extraterrestrial ingredients.
According to Popular Science, Shooting Star Vodka has a slight bitterness mixed with sweetness despite containing no sugar. Pegasus’s distillation process relies on organic wheat and barley sourced from France, and pure water is collected from an underground river flowing through limestone layers 150 meters below the company’s distillery in Burgundy. After producing the vodka, the company infuses it with the meteorite.
This infusion beverage, which has been around for thousands of years, follows a relatively straightforward osmosis process, where the alcohol seeps into the outer layer of the infused compound, creating certain chemical characteristics responsible for the flavor. The practice of infusing alcohol rarely uses mineral materials like meteorites, but many organic components within them can influence the flavor profile of the vodka, such as Shooting Star.
During the 18-month infusion process of Shooting Star, the use of two-handled jars enhances its unique flavor. Thanks to their porosity, these earthenware jars allow oxygen to permeate the outer layer, acting as a bridge between the vodka and the dissolved mineral content of the meteorite. However, the producer cannot rule out unintended consequences from consuming alcohol made from meteorites exposed to cosmic radiation for billions of years. Yet, the level of radioactivity is even lower than that found in household kitchen appliances.
