“But we had no money, no back up. Pernod Ricard was not engaged. It took two years to convince it,” she says.
“For me, it was like a new baby. It was beautiful. I had accessed all the information from Pernod so I gave it first chance. But I was a bit naïve about big companies. There were a lot of questions. They were right but they were also scared.
It became Project Tioli, which was an acronym for ‘take it or leave it’. That summed up her frustration with Pernod. Finally after about seven months, the company agreed.
“In the end I said (to the Pernod people): ‘I cannot produce more details’. It is about a gut feeling. If you do not feel it is right, you should not do it.’
“Berlin, our first, took one year, three months and 33 meetings. When it finally opened in Berlin, I knew my opening speech by heart because I had written it two and a half years earlier.”
Asked about the individual vodkas, Caap says the abv varies from city to city depending on what works best for each product. “Doubt kills more ideas than failure,” the ideas lady states.
“Our/Vodka has the same formula in all our cities but we source the ingredients as locally as possible. This means that they are all made from different crops,” say says.
“They’re not all made from grain. We have grapes in LA and hopefully sugar cane in Florida. Our/London is made from wheat. We want to use the crops that are the most ’local’ in each state/country.
“Since the quality of the ingredients we use has such a big impact on the quality of the final product, the global production and sensory team (at Pernod) help the partner with sourcing all ingredients locally,” says Caap.
Asked why the abv for London is 37.5%, Caap replied: “The difference between 37.5 and 40% has nothing to do with the quality of a vodka. The quality of a vodka is defined by the quality of the alcohol, ethanol, you use and this is reached through the right equipment, knowledge and distillery process.
“When you have the right quality of your alcohol, you dilute it with water to the most suitable abv level.
“When we elaborated the Our/London product we found 37.5% to be the perfect abv level for that particular product. It simply brings out the best in that product. It brings out the smoothness and makes it perfect for both cocktails and for drinking it neat.
“If you’re only after a quick result, I assume you would drink any 40% vodka but if you’re truly after smoothness and quality, you would need to understand more about the company, the people behind the vodka and their knowledge of the craftsmanship that it takes to make a good vodka,” pronounces the Swedish wonder woman.
