Deep in the heart of Texas, vodka distillers try to break into market
Posted on Sunday, October 21, 2007
SAN ANTONIO — The Lone Star State, which has long claimed national bragging rights for its picante sauce, mesquite-smoked barbecue and chicken-fried steak, now boasts no fewer than three vodka distilleries.
All three vodkas are made in and around Austin. The distillers hope to tap into the global thirst for vodka, which is the world’s most popular alcoholic spirit.
Tito’s Handmade Vodka, celebrating its 10 th anniversary this year, is the granddaddy of the Texas distilleries, with distribution in all 50 U. S. states and Canada. The other two distillers — Dripping Springs Texas Vodka and Savvy Vodka — have only recently gone into production and have limited distribution in Texas.
With so many vodkas from Russia and other countries to choose from, is there room in the Lone Star State for three homegrown brands ?
Bill Owens, the president of the American Distilling Institute, says “da.” “The U. S. alcohol business is a $ 49 billion-a-year industry,” Owens said.
“Just give them 1 percent.” When Bert Butler Beveridge II, a native of San Antonio known as “Tito,” launched his vodka label in 1997, he had the only licensed still in Texas. He sold just 1, 000 cases that first year; production this year should come close to 200, 000.
Beveridge (yes, that’s his real name ) got into the spirits business because of his Christmas spirit. During the Christmas season, he used to make presents for friends by blending store-bought vodka with jalapeno, black cherry and other flavorings. Rebuffed in an attempt to sell his creations through a local liquor store, Beveridge told the owner he might make his own vodka instead.
“He said, ‘If you can make it smooth, you might have something, ’” Beveridge recalls. “I said, ‘ How do you do that ?’ and he said, ‘I don’t know. You’re the guy who wants to get into the vodka business. You figure it out. ’” Beveridge was no ordinary bootlegger. With degrees in geology and geophysics from the University of Texas and experience in the oil patch, he had the scientific and mechanical ability to make his own pot still. He also got a federal permit for it.
Beveridge still makes his own stills and condensers. Like the other two Texas vodka makers, he starts out with a corn-based, neutral spirit purchased from an outside source.
Tito’s is distilled at least six times before it’s cut with ordinary Austin, Texas, tap water — filtered at the distillery — to bring the alcohol content down to 40 percent, which is 80 proof.
“We just try to make vodka every day that we like to drink,” Beveridge said. “Fortunately, my palate’s kind of in the bell curve there, and it just happens to be what a lot of people like.” Like Beveridge, the distillers of Dripping Springs Texas Vodka also make their spirits with potstill technology. It’s traditional and popular, featuring a large copper vessel that holds the raw product, called “mash,” as heat is directly applied.
In all stills, most of the impurities in the mash escape as boiled-off vapor, which distillers dub “the angels’ share.” Dripping Springs just rolled out in May, but sales have soared to 3, 000 cases a month, and they’ve already increased capacity from two stills to four.
Unlike some other pot stills that can crank out 400 gallons or more at a crack, the copper stills at Dripping Springs only handle 50-gallon, artisanal-sized batches.
“We view distilling very much as a craft,” said Kevin Kelleher, one of three brothers who are among the partners at Dripping Springs. “People sort of throw that around, but it means different things. You get a different taste profile when you use different distilling equipment.” Like Tito’s, Dripping Springs sells for $ 14 to $ 18 per bottle, a price point aimed squarely at the heart of the vodka market. Savvy Vodka, however, sells for $ 20 to $ 25 per bottle, which puts it in a segment that includes some of the industry’s pricier players.
Unlike its other Texas competitors, Savvy refines its product with a column still. Made out of stainless steel, it rises 20 feet from floor to ceiling, connected to condensers, tanks and other apparatus with a maze of copper tubing. Because it can distill continuously, rather than heating a single batch in a pot, a column still can do a more efficient job of separating the good alcohol from the bad stuff.
Column stills, however, are harder to run than pot stills. They’re also expensive. So is the top-quality mash that Savvy uses as its primary, neutral spirit. And so are the fancy, acid-etched bottles that hold the finished product. That’s why Savvy typically has the same price tag as Absolut, Stolichnaya and other premium labels.
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