Lansdale, PA’s Boardroom Spirits Beet Spirit is made completely from beets. From a classification standpoint, it would be closest to a brandy. Brandies that are made with vegetables, though, are fairly rare here in the US, so the government merely calls it a spirit.
Nose: Earthy and sweet, it smells exactly like opening a can of pre-sliced beets (or, for the more industrious ones out there, cutting up a fresh beet). Often, a spirit that’s made with X, Y, or Z does smell like its namesake, but with some other notes. In this case, this smells like beets and pretty much only beets.
Palate: Warmth that quickly gives off sweet notes backed again by beets and earthiness. On its own, neat (and neat is the optimal serving method, according to the bottle), it’s not unpleasant at all. While it isn’t labeled as a vodka, the Beet Spirit definitely resembles one on the palate, as it doesn’t have the body that you might think of in a brandy.
Finish: Medium, lingering heat on the tongue. Again, everything comes back to the beets on this. The taste in your mouth is as if you just had a beet salad, but without the creaminess of the goat cheese to blend with the earthy beets.
Final Thoughts: I like what Boardroom has done with this spirit and I appreciate that they did not add color to it to make it the same color as the beets, which could’ve easily made this into a very gimmicky spirit. Another thing to consider, which I appreciate—Beet Spirit is 45% ABV, yet it does not come close to registering that sort of strength. It has the same punch as, say, Malibu.
Beet Spirit retails for $30.
