Each week, the Gazette takes to the streets to unearth something being manufactured right here in Hackney. This week we speak to Jack Cartwright from Our London, which blends and hand bottles vodka at a micro-distillery in the railway arches underneath Hackney Downs station.

Hackney Gazette: Our London VodkaOur London Vodka (Image: Our London Vodka)

The brand is part of a “global family of vodkas” franchised by multinational, Pernod Ricard.

“They come and build the distillery and teach us how to make the vodka, and we are left to develop the brand ourselves,” explains Jack.

“There’s a recipe for the global product but each one is slightly different - it varies with the water you use and what you make it with.”

Vodka is a neutral spirit and can be made from anything that has sugar in it. Our London use wheat grain sourced from high-quality farms in the Midlands, to make a “smooth and citrusy” product.

While the fermentation is done off site because of the terrible smell it gives off, it is then brought to Hackney and blended with a “flavour component” from Sweden, redistilled and bottled.