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92

Price: $48.90

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Quantity in Stock: 8

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Producer	Tito's
Country	United States
Region	Texas
Subregion	Austin
Style	Vodka
Sku	06497
Size	1.75L
ABV	40.00%

America's Original Craft Vodka

Tito’s Handmade Vodka is America’s Original Craft Vodka. In 1995, Bert “Tito” Beveridge obtained the first legal permit to distill in Texas and created Tito’s Handmade Vodka. We batch distill our corn-based vodka using old-fashioned pot stills and the vodka is naturally Gluten-Free. Tito’s Handmade Vodka is distilled and bottled by Fifth Generation Inc. in Austin, Texas on the very same land where the whole venture started.

Tito Beveridge wasn’t always known as “the vodka guy.” Born and raised in San Antonio, Tito went to Vanderbilt for a year before returning to Texas to attend UT (University of Texas at Austin), where he graduated with degrees in geology and geophysics. After college he got into the oil and gas business. He did that in Texas, and then found himself down in Venezuela and Colombia running heli-portable dynamite seismic crews. He came back to Texas, again, and started a drilling company in Houston. Eventually he got “tired of chasing the buck,” and decided to move to Austin.

In Austin, Tito got into ground water geology, and then thought he would give the mortgage business a try. It was around this time, in ’92 or ’93, when he started making flavored vodka as gifts for friends. One night he was at a party and a stranger came up to him and said “Hey you’re the vodka guy,” and he said “No, contraire, I am the mortgage guy. “ But, that really got Tito thinking…

When mortgage rates went up a couple points, he started going to liquor stores to ask the owners and managers if they would buy his flavored vodkas. They all turned him down saying, “No, go look at all the dust on the shoulders of those bottles there!” But then they told Tito that if he could make a vodka that was so smooth you could drink it straight then he might have something.

So, naturally, Tito, who had never distilled anything in his life, asked them how one might do that. They said, “Well I don’t know, you’re the guy who wants to get in the vodka business!”

So Tito set out to learn about how to distill. It was the mid-nineties, and pre-internet, so there really wasn’t any information readily available, and it almost seemed as though there had been a book burning at the library on any subject matter related to spirits and distilling. Eventually, through his research, Tito uncovered a bunch of pictures of old moonshiners and prohibition-era busts. He started building stills based on photos using copper pipe and a simple outdoor fryer for heat, and started cooking. He just kept messing with the still and the recipe until he found a process and a recipe that his friends seemed to like. “I basically just kinda kept working at it and working at it. We bought every vodka that was on the shelf, we put them in little mason jars and tasted all of them and came up with the two best ones. When mine consistently beat those two then I figured that I had my formula right.”

What's in the Bottle?

"I was raised that if you are going to do something, do it right, do it better than anyone else, and charge a reasonable price." -Tito

1 You Aren't Paying for the Bottle.

If we put it in a frosted, painted bottle then we would have to charge more. We’d rather put our money into the actual juice.

2 Tito Made the Label Himself in 1994.

We love it for its simplicity and authenticity—two elements at the core of everything we do.

3 Our Vodka is Distilled from Corn, so it's Naturally Gluten-Free.

Tito's Handmade Vodka is certified Gluten-Free by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization. Some folks add a bit of mash back into the spirit after distillation, which could add gluten, but we don’t do that.

4 Texas Born and Raised.

Tito built Texas’ first legal distillery on 12 acres of land in southeast Austin, which he bought with a credit card check and financed through the seller.

5 Harder, but Worth it.

We use old-fashioned pot stills and taste-test every batch. Our process, similar to that used to make fine single malt scotches and high-end French cognacs, requires more skill and effort, but we think it’s well worth it.

6 Turning Spirits into Love & Goodness.

We support nonprofits all around the country (and the world!) through our Love, Tito’s program. Tito wants to make the world a better place, and has empowered each member of the Tito’s Team to figure out what that means to them and take action.

The initial nosing passes find subtle traces of charcoal and roasted grain which are followed by sweeter aromas of sweet grain mash and pipe tobacco. Entry is smoky and charred; the midpalate is oily, moderately viscous, semisweet and robust. Ends on a delicious oily, bacon-like note. A very well-made American pot still vodka.