In a crowded craft-beverage market, the Industrious Spirit Company (ISCO) — a Providence distillery opened in 2020 by Manya K. Rubinstein ’07BUS, Doug Randall ’08BUS, Dan Neff, and John Curtin — is known for a unique offering: liquor distilled with oysters. The company’s popular Ostreida vodka doesn’t just pair well with seafood; it actually tastes a little like the Atlantic.
“The whole oyster goes in — shell, meat, and all,” explains Rubinstein, the CEO, about the final stage of distillation. “Next, we add pure water to dilute the alcohol to a drinkable strength, and you end up with a creamy, delicious spirit with notes of minerality and brine.”
This year, ISCO began partnering with the Billion Oyster Project to donate a portion of Ostreida’s proceeds to the restoration of New York Harbor’s oyster reefs, which are a natural defense against storm damage. The distillery also just launched an oyster gin called Seaflow (flavored with citrus, seaweed, and flowers), one of several new and upcoming spirits that channel what Rubinstein calls an “obsession with everything maritime.”
This article appears in the Fall 2024 print edition of Columbia Magazine with the title "Vodka and Brine."
