DU, Please Join Me In A Boycott Of Russian Vodka Until Russia Stops Terrorizing Their Gay People.
Recent videos coming out of Russia are showing police brutalizing gay people.
I do not want to boycott the Olympics (are you kidding me?? I WANT Johnny Weir to go Russia and teach them a thing or two about what out and proud means) but Dan Savage came up with the idea of boycotting Russian Vodka. I can do that.
You can do that.
If every progressive in America stopped drinking Russian Vodka all at once, imagine how quickly Putin would ask for a little lenience for the gays.
Help 'em out DU. Make your martini with a Canadian (or elsewhere) vodka tonight.
Oh, and caviar too. No more Russian caviar. Just in case you were wondering.
If there is anyone good with photo shop, add a pink triangle to the meme!
= new reply since forum marked as read
These people need to join the 21st century, along with some of our own citizens. If you like vodka, may I suggest an American alternative:
http://titosvodka.com/
Quality vodka, made right here in the Austin area. 
You're way ahead of me. 
For me that would be like boycotting Indian elephants - It's just something I just don't buy. And by the way - Although made primarily from Russian ingredients Stolichnaya is actually primarily manufactured in Latvia, a now independent state.
Luxembourg, July 25, 2013
An Open Letter from the CEO of Stolichnaya Vodka to the LGBT community.
The recent dreadful actions taken by the Russian Government limiting the rights of the LGBT community and the passionate reaction of the community have prompted me to write this letter to you.
I want to stress that Stoli firmly opposes such attitude and actions. Indeed, as a company that encourages transparency and fairness, we are upset and angry. Stolichnaya Vodka has always been, and continues to be a fervent supporter and friend to the LGBT community. We also thank the community for having adopted Stoli as their vodka of preference.
In the US, the brand’s commitment to the LGBT community has been ongoing for years. Among the best examples, I can cite the series produced by Stoli in 2006 called “Be Real: Stories from Queer America” which featured short documentaries on real life stories depicting the challenges and accomplishments of the LGBT community in the United States (http://www.logotv.com/shows/dyn/be_real_series/series.jhtml)
Stoli is very proud of its current exclusive national partnership with Gaycities.com and Queerty.com in search of the Most Original Stoli Guy. This is a fantastic program that started as a local initiative in Colorado and became a national platform. Previous national initiatives included serving as the official vodka of the Miami Gay Pride Week as well as ongoing events with focus on Pride month.
Some great examples from other parts of the world are the support to the Durban Gay Pride, in South Africa
(http://www.durbanpride.org), the Pride Parade in Vienna, in cooperation with HOSI and CT, the largest LGBT communities in Austria and the Tel Aviv Pride Parade, taking place this weekend.
This letter also gives me the opportunity to clear some of the confusion surrounding the Stolichnaya brand, based on facts found online that often inaccurately link our company to the Russian Government. The Russian government has no ownership interest or control over the Stoli brand that is privately owned by SPI Group, headquartered in Luxembourg in the heart of Western Europe.
Stoli’s production process involves both Russia and Latvia. Stoli is made from Russian ingredients (wheat, rye and raw alcohol) blended with pure artesian well water at our historic distillery and bottling facility Latvijas Balzams (www.lb.lv) in Riga, Latvia (formerly part of the Russian Empire and then of the Soviet Union). Latvijas Balzams did not recently become part of the Stoli heritage, but has been one of its main production and bottling facilities since 1948. This has allowed the brand to deliver the outstanding quality it is recognized for consistently across the years. What changed in the last years is politics, with Latvia becoming an independent state part of the EU.
We fully support and endorse your objectives to fight against prejudice in Russia. In the past decade, SPI has been actively advocating in favor of freedom, tolerance and openness in society, standing very passionately on the side of the LGBT community and will continue to support any effective initiative in that direction.
Sincerely yours
Val Mendeleev
Chief Executive Officer
http://www.stoli.com/#lgbt
http://www.stoli.com/downloads/LGBT_Community_Letter.pdf
It's Austin made and delicious. 
Texas vodka - sounds counterintuitive, but it is very good.
Stoli's my favorite. I think it makes the best vodka martini. I'm going to have to swear it off now, though. 
I drank a liter of it on Mardi Gras this year, and I was fine the next day.
No problem. 
Now what to replace my beloved corn tortillas with... *scratches head*
Awful stuff, no flavor 
How is one expected to mix a proper Screwdriver if this insanity continues?
Perfectly good vodka to make mixed drinks with and MADE IN AMERICA!
Now you too can be patriotic while you get shit faced.
Response to undeterred (Reply #54)
I have not tried this, but my brother says it is surprisingly good.
http://www.mainedistilleries.com/cold-river-classic-vodka.html
My favorite vodka...
http://reyka.com/
There are only six Carter Head stills in the world and ours is the only one used to make vodka. Through its labyrinth of copper pipes, we distill a grain spirit made from the finest wheat and barley, then filter it through lava rocks to imbue a distinctive flavor.
As the distillate starts to flow from the still, it's our skill to know when to capture its heart - the purest part of the vodka - and ensure the heads and tails, which are just not good enough, never make it into the bottle.
The final stage is adding Icelandic water to bring our vodka down to 80 proof. Our water comes from the Grabok Spring, which runs through a 4,000 year old lava field. It's purer than bottled water and you can drink it directly from the source.
An excellent vodka and the jail bankers.
