Michael Hepworth
TITOS HANDMADE VODKA
“I figured if I could make a vodka so smooth that women would drink it straight, I’d really have something.”
By Kay Schroeder
TEXAS(Spiritsman)9/17/16/–For weeks friends have been telling me about a new brand of vodka called Titos. Surprisingly, they all used very similar words to describe its taste and mouth feel. Those words were “It’s so smooth.” “It doesn’t sting my mouth like other vodkas.” “The satisfying, delicate flavor is what is different about this vodka.”
Hearing these comments, I didn’t want to be left out of the conversation so today I purchased Titos Vodka for $19.99 for 750 mL at BevMo. Tonight I served it chilled in a martini glass. In my personal taste test, Titos Vodka differed from other vodkas I have tasted in two very specific ways: it did not have a medicinal flavor, nor the sharp bite typical of other brands of vodka. Titos Vodka is priced considerably less than Grey Goose at $27.99 and Belvedere at $24.99.
However, perhaps the proof (no pun intended) in the test was the fact that this vodka delivered excellent flavor without the addition of the standard mixers (i.e, grapefruit, pomegranate, orange, or apple, juice, or liquors like Frangelico, Orange Curacao, Rock Sake Nigori, Yellow Chartreuse or grenadine syrup. Titos is truly a vodka that can stand alone on its own merits!
Wine Enthusiast Magazine recently gave Titos Vodka a whopping 95 points, outshining four other highly respected brands. WE Magazine awarded Kettle One 89 points, Grey Goose 84 points, Belvedere 84 points, and Absolute 84 points. And the kudos just keep coming. The L.A. Times described Titos Vodka as “Exceptionally clean, smooth and easy drinking.” Spirit Journal put it succinctly “Impeccable quality, delicious”. CNN weighed in with “Smooth, I mean really smooth.”
Founder and owner, Tito Beveridge explains that they make Titos Vodka “in small batches, use old-fashioned pot stills, and taste-test every batch. Tito’s Handmade Vodka is designed to be savored by spirit connoisseurs and everyday drinkers alike. Our process, similar to those used to make fine single malt scotches and high-end French cognacs, requires more skill and effort than others, but it’s well worth it.”
After working in the oil and gas industry in Venezuela, Columbia, and Houston, Tito decided to return to Austin where he went to work in the mortgage business. As a University of Texas, Austin graduate with degrees in geology and geophysics Tito may seem like an unlikely candidate for starting a handcrafted vodka company. However, he was a vodka lover, and in the early 90’s he started making flavored vodka for friends. Those friends really loved his handmade vodka and encouraged him to turn it into a full-time business.
During his research, Tito learned that one of the characteristics that distinguishes one vodka from another is smoothness, so he set about tinkering with the process and ran trial and error experiments until he came out with a vodka that friends agreed was smoother than any other vodka on the market.
Obtaining financing brought new challenges when prospective lenders turned him down saying that he would never be able to get the required permits because there had never been a distillery in Texas (legal distillery, that is). They also told him that he would never find a distributor for his product. He decided to go it alone.
Eventually the tide of fortune started to turn for Tito when he was invited to participate in the World Spirits Competition. He decided to go for it by sending a couple of bottles to the competition. And, you might say, “the rest is history” because Titos Vodka won the Double Gold Medal and the Unanimous Judges’ Choice Award. Titos Vodka trumped seventy-two other vodkas from around the world, including flavored vodkas.
Tito Beveridge has found the key to a better-tasting vodka – and that key is the production of a handcrafted, smoother vodka.
I give Titos Vodka 95+ points.
Check out www.lovetitos.com and listen to Austin City Limits Music Festival songs like Shawn Pender’s “West Coast Dream”, “Just to Be With You”, and “Gotta Thing For You”.
Spreading The Love: Titos Vodka partners with people who spend their lives making the world a better place and, they also sell vodka.
Austin, Texas
Michael Hepworth
287 S.Robertson Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90211
http://twitter.com/MrSpiritsman
http://alquimie.com.au/publicatio