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Not many US dairy farms are open to the public. In a non-typical approach, guests are allowed to roam the farm, spend time in the Cowlebrity barns and even eat lunch alongside new baby calves if they want to. Guests are surprised to see how many sustainable practices are standard at the Dairy. Most notably, their intentionality in using everything is shown in their path to whey vodka (they call Cowcohol). TMK’s innovative fermentation and distillation process allows whey leftover from making cheese to become vodka without any waste. When you add to that TMK pure vanilla extract and retail cocktail and beverage sales, the public can see how TMK puts everything to its best use. 

Listed among the Best 30 Top Shelf vodkas in the world, mashed.com says “Cowcohol is one of the creamiest vodkas on the market… It's no exaggeration to say that vodka enthusiasts will fall in love at first taste. Cowcohol might be a little odd, but it's got all of the flavors of your traditional high-end vodka, plus a beautiful satiny finish that will make you believe in moo-ricles.” 

This week, The Dairy Show podcast, a product of the World Dairy Expo, talked with Owner Todd Koch about the creation of the Creamery and Distillery and how sustainable practices led to Cowcohol. Listen here: https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-f9cpj-13a2b5c. 

TMK is a strong advocate for the dairy industry. By opening the dairy to the public, they’re able to answer questions about how they care for their Cowlebrities, why the work they do is important and inspire future generations of animal and environmental stewards. Visitors learn about modern agriculture, including the milking process, housing, feeding, milk storage and nutrition. Additionally, offering free youth events throughout the year inspires passion in the sciences and/or farming. Each year, numerous private group tours, behind the scenes milking events (Watch here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VB1Qd2tNZQ) and classes catering to popular trends are held. Plus, as they navigate creating new processes and products, TMK is committed to sharing their sustainable values and practices with other creameries to help others reduce waste.

Saving the Planet: A variety of products can be created from waste, including alcoholic beverages, hand sanitizer, cleaning alcohols, and fuel used for power generation.The leading edge technology created for TMK Distillery can be used in a variety of upcycling processes, either to expand product offerings or to process waste into fuel. Any waste product that contains sugar, such as whey from cheese and yogurt, fruit, vegetable or grain processing, even molasses or paper manufacturing! And, as a key differentiator, the TMK system can run 24 hours a day.

TMK seeks to partner with global outreach organizations to build, install, and instruct local community action teams to create products or fuel, using waste elements. TMK is ready to share the process, fundamentals, access to the technology, and what they have learned in the research and development stages to create strong, worldwide applications. The development of additional stills and overall awareness of sustainable distillation of waste products, will shine a light on dairy innovation in every community it touches, with TMK leading the way from the top shelf.

ABOUT TMK
TMK Distilley, and sister operation TMK Creamery are located in Canby, Oregon in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. TMK exists to bridge the gap between urban and rural families by providing remarkable experiences that deliver a transparent look at farmstead cheese-making and sustainably upcycling useful byproducts into creative offerings like ice cream, vanilla extract and Cowcohol. TMK began a registered holstein dairy program just over 30 years ago when owner, Todd Koch, bought his first Holstein heifer in middle school. TMK is the first Farmstead Creamery + Distillery. To find out more about TMK, please visit our website www.tmkdistillery.com. 

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Contact: 

TMK Distillery 

27221 S Dryland Rd, Canby, OR 97013

Tessa Koch, Owner/Operator

503-683-3397  |  savetheplanet@tmkdistillery.com