THE DCU’S KING OF THE SEA (AND REAL-LIFE ENVIRONMENTALIST), JASON MOMOA, TESTS HIS SUPERHERO TALENTS IN NEW WATERS WITH THE LAUNCH OF MEILI VODKA

BY WILL HARRI

If the actor best known for playing Aquaman is going to enter the celebrity spirits game, then why not embrace the “aqua” side of things and help not only the environment but also secure a bit of extra publicity in the process? One can reasonably presume that this was at least a portion of the thought process that went into Jason Momoa’s decision to team up with longtime friend and entrepreneur Blaine Halvorson to deliver Meili Vodka unto the sipping scene.

“I hired him to help me with roles that I’ve played, from Frontier to even Aquaman,” Momoa told Forbes in 2023. “I wore all his original [Made Worn] clothing in the very beginning. When I started directing things, from Carhartt to Harley-Davidson, he assisted in ways like creative director. We just love working together, and we both love impressing each other. He’s who I hold the highest, and if he likes it, I’m good. So, we built our friendship off of that creating and making things.”

Although it initially hit the market in 2023, Meili was the end result of a seven-year search to secure the best possible natural water and ingredients for their product. The goal was “to deliver a vodka that was predicated on only four core components: water, grains, single distillation, and sustainability.” Produced in Montana, Meili’s grains come courtesy of local farms for the mashbill, with the water sourced from springs fueled by snow and rain water. In addition, the vodka is bottled in 100% post-consumer recycled glass, which effectively guarantees that no two bottles will be precisely identical.

“I obviously do a lot of stuff and am very passionate about our planet,” Momoa told Forbes. “I’m big on making something that’s completely 100% post-consumer glass. Blaine found someone who makes the best glasses down in Mexico. What’s been great about this is we’re going to be making them out of Pennsylvania, so we’ll be 100% made in the U.S. Down to every little detail, it’s pretty intense to make the bottle that beautiful. It’s our little baby.”

And speaking of Pennsylvania, to go the extra mile, Momoa and Halvorson teamed up with the Clean Water Fund, vowing to donate $1 to the Clean Water Fund for every bottle of Meili Vodka purchased in Pennsylvania.

Water is the essence of life – it’s also the secret to Meili Vodka,” Momoa said. “However, many people lack adequate access to pure, drinkable water, and with the help of Clean Water Fund, we’d like to change that. Meili’s roots are deeply aligned with sustainability, and together, we can help preserve and protect clean water for the future of Pennsylvania.”

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