Malayali's brew of Polish vodka & Ayurvedic herbs wins Warsaw spirit contest

Polish tipplers are getting a bang from Kerala entrepreneurs' award-winning fusion of Indian ayurvedic herbs and vodka. Meet Midhun Mohan, a native of Kodungallur in Thrissur, the mind behind Ayurvod, a vodka-based herbal liquor inspired by Indian flavours and crafted in Poland.

Containing 40 per cent alcohol, Ayurvod places quality at the forefront, according to Midhun. The drink recently won a gold medal at the 2025 Warsaw Spirits Competition in the herbal liquor category, putting the Indo-Polish blend on the global map.

The name Ayurvod itself reflects the philosophy behind the brand. A blend of 'Ayur' from Ayurveda and 'vod' from vodka, it symbolises the combination of Indian spices and Kerala's traditional Ayurvedic flavours with Polish vodka- two cultures with deep-rooted traditions, distilled into a single bottle.

The story of how Midhun- a former journalist and lawyer-turned-businessman with no background in the liquor industry- went on to create a herbal liquor brand was almost accidental.

Midhun has been living in Poland for over eight years now. On June 1, 2018, friends from the UK and the Czech Republic visited him in Warsaw. As part of sightseeing, they spent the evening hopping between pubs and clubs in the city centre.

"I'm not someone who drinks alcohol. However, my friends insisted that I try something, but I discouraged them and kept refusing," Midhun said. Eventually, they offered him a popular European botanical liquor. "It had a strong herbal aroma, a spicy taste, and was unlike anything I had tried before. That unique flavour stayed with me," he said.

Curious, Midhun began researching about the drink. He soon discovered that despite being known as 'Ayurvedic' liquor, it had no real connection to Ayurveda or India. "But what struck me was that almost every European country had a drink deeply tied to its culture- and many of them used spices sourced from India. Yet India didn't have a comparable drink of its own," he said.

Digging deeper, Midhun found references in ancient Indian texts to Ayurvedic alcoholic and medicinal drinks. One such drink was Sura. The Ramayana also mentions Panabhoomi- drinking halls or spaces for revelry within Ravana's palace. "Ravana was often described as an expert in drinks," he noted.

"Somewhere along the way, we lost our Indian botanical and Ayurvedic drinks in the name of morality," Midhun said. He added that he initially had no intention of turning the idea into a business. "I didn't know the difference between whisky and brandy, let alone how alcohol was made."

What began as curiosity soon turned into sustained learning. Midhun started studying the basics of alcohol production, consulted Ayurvedic experts, visited distilleries, and pitched the idea of reviving an Indian botanical liquor rooted in indigenous knowledge.

"By then it was 2021. Many large distilleries turned down the idea," he said. "But smaller ones were interested, as they saw it more as a creative experiment than a financial project," he added.

Multiple recipes were tested. Instead of caramel and artificial sweeteners, jaggery was used, which gave the drink its distinctive brown colour. "We experimented with different formulations and added cardamom and a variety of Indian spices. Eventually, the recipe included 75 ingredients," Midhun said.

Around the same time, several spirit competitions were being held across Europe, including in Poland. At parties and industry meetings, the concept of an Indian Ayurvedic-inspired drink was presented to master distillers, with the idea of introducing it to these competitions. It was suggested that the botanical blend could be paired with a European base spirit to make it competition-ready.

"That's how we chose Polish vodka as the base. We blended the Indian Ayurvedic mix with Polish wheat vodka. That's how Ayurvod was born," Midhun explained. The ingredients used in Ayurvod include clove, cinnamon, cardamom, gooseberries, cumin, dry ginger, black pepper, star anise, javitri (mace), turmeric, coriander, dry grapes, among others.

Midhun, who is also the founder of business consulting firm Mercado 360, said Ayurvod is currently positioned in premium bars and cocktail programmes, high-end restaurants, select retail outlets, and export markets.

"In such spaces, people value the story behind a liquor, and that's what I'm aiming for. The brand speaks equally to Indian audiences who are proud of their heritage and to international consumers seeking something distinctive and meaningful," he said.

Midhun said his immediate focus is on increasing the brand's visibility across Europe, while plans for entering the Indian market are also in the pipeline, though he acknowledged that several challenges remain.

Created to bridge India's absence in the global space of unique Ayurvedic herbal liquors, Ayurvod is something Midhun ultimately hopes will also appeal to Indian palates. "When conditions are right, it will be available in India as well," he said.