The vision began in 2012 when two students at Saint Michael's College in Colchester, Vermont began testing the purity of water, as a byproduct, in the production of maple syrup. Their project, deciding whether the water was pure enough to drink, was a major success. Through research and studies, the young men found the water source indeed was one of the purest in the state. After realizing that th
e bottled water industry was difficult and too competitive, they believed their background skills in biology and chemistry could help them produce alcohol. With time and effort in the lab and kitchens, Nicholas Kyratzis and Eric MacPherson created an alcoholic beverage simply using potatoes, yeast, malt, reversed osmosis water, and unique fruits from local farms.. In the spring of 2014, the two anxious seniors enrolled in their senior seminar. Joining the team came three business and accounting majors; Matthew Nault, Nicholas Paulson, and Joseph Martin. Together, they thought of new ways to improve the product and process within the new niche market of craft distilling. Elpam Distillery will collect water from local maple syrup companies and buy local ingredients from organic farms to create our unique vodka. Our goal is to create a vodka with pure "Mother Nature Flavor." Once produced and tested, the vodka is inserted into a uniquely designed bottle created by recycled glass from shops and art studios in the area. Our unique distilling process gives us the confidence that Elpam will take the lead in providing a fresh movement to this new niche market in Vermont. We as a company are contacting local breweries, distilleries, and highly positioned distributors to get insight on how they grew successful businesses. With the help from Fiddlehead Brewery, Switchback Brewery, Back East Brewery, Caledonia Spirits, Whistle Pig Distillery, and Seaboard Products Company, we are able to gain insight into the alcohol industry in order to start our own successful distillery. Elpam Distillery appreciates all our customers have done for us. We hope to dominate the competition in hopes to make this product a reality.
