Ayurvod, the herbal liqueur from Poland, blends Ayurvedic flavours with Polish vodka

Discover Ayurvod, a gold medal-winning herbal liqueur blending Ayurvedic spices with Polish vodka, crafted by entrepreneur Midhun Mohan.

According to Midhun Mohan, a Malayali entrepreneur from Kodungallur living in Warsaw, Poland, the story behind Ayurvod, a vodka-based herbal liqueur inspired by the Ayurvedic traditions, goes back to 2018, when he was out barhopping with his European friends. At one of the watering hole , a friend suggested he try a German herbal alcoholic drink, claiming it was inspired by Ayurveda.

Intrigued, Midhun set out to find the Indian roots behind the drink. While he discovered that the ingredients, such as spices and aromatics for this century-old beverage, were imported from India, it had no direct relation to Ayurveda, despite some equating it with an arishtam (traditional Ayurvedic fermented herbal liquid medicine).

This inspired Midhun to distil Ayurvod, a name derived from the portmanteau of terms Ayurveda and vodka. The drink recently won a gold medal at the 2025 Warsaw Spirits Competition in the herbal liqueur category.

Ayurvod won a gold medal at the 2025 Warsaw Spirits Competition in the herbal liqueur category.   | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

“After I came across the German beverage, I enquired about alcoholic beverages in Ayurveda with Ayurveda practitioners in my circle. While there were fermented drinks like arishtam and asava, they were considered medicines and not used for recreational consumption. The only alcoholic drinks my friends found in the ancient texts were sura and phalamadhya, which were fruit-based,” says Midhun.

The entrepreneur adds, “As Indians, we do not consider making alcohol a prestigious business. But countries like the Czech Republic and Italy have herbal drinks such as Becherovka and Amaro, respectively. India has the heritage of making such botanical beverages, but other countries are using our ancient techniques.”