Tito’s Handmade Vodka is an America’s Original Craft Vodka that is produced today right in the United States at the oldest Texas legal distillery in Austin, Texas. Since the beginning, this product is produced batches using old-fashioned pot stills, but making sure each bottle is perfect using their taste-test method. Tito’s Handmade Vodka was inspired by all connoisseurs and casual drinkers with the aspirations to make every sip enjoyable.
Tito Beveridge, founder and owner of Tito’s Handmade Vodka, graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in geology and geophysics. Straight out of college, Beveridge began working in the oil and gas business that moved him all around the world from places such as Texas to Venezuela to Colombia. While he was there, Beveridge managed heli-portable dynamite seismic crews but soon returned home to Houston to create a drilling company. It didn’t take long before Beveridge eventually decided to move back to his college town of Austin, Texas.
Once in Austin, Beveridge found himself working in the mortgage business while on the side producing flavored vodka for his friends as Christmas presents. At a party in the mid-1990s, Beveridge was approached by a stranger stating that he “was the vodka guy.” Beveridge questioned this stating, “no, I’m the mortgage guy.” However, at this moment, this is when Beveridge birthed the idea to consider selling is infamous flavored vodka.
Time after time, Beveridge would enter local liquor stores and ask if the vendors would buy his flavored vodka. Each time, vendors explained how there was dust building on the bottles currently on the shelves, but if he could produce a vodka that was smooth and went down like water, then he has a chance.
The problem Beveridge faced now was that he did not know how to do this. Beveridge began the trial and error process of figuring out how to distill the vodka as there was no internet at the time to help him. With the help of a library, Beveridge hit the books, used old pictures of moonshiners and handmade his own similar stills. With his determination, Beveridge worked continuously, making batch after batch of vodka until he became the best vodka producer at the time.
Once Beveridge finally thought he has a winning formula, he created a blind taste test for his friends against two other brands, asking them which they believed to be the best. And in the end, it was Beveridge’s that came out on top.
Beveridge began trying to gain financial backing for his product, but was stopped in this tracks due to banks stating he would never get the proper permits. They explained to him that there was never a legal distillery in the state of Texas and it was doubtful he would even get a distributor.
This did not stop the driven ‘Vodka guy’. With the money he earned overseas, Beveridge created an $88,000 one-man distillery to start out his own business venture. Day in and day out, he would wake up, make his vodka, sell it, and repeat.
One day, Beveridge received a phone call from the world-renowned World Spirits Competition. After entering his flavored vodka into the competition, Beveridge beat out 72 other world flavored vodka produced and earned both the double gold medal and unanimous judges choice award.
Since then, Tito’s Handmade Vodka has become one of the most popular brands of vodka around, begin sold in millions of different liquor stores and bars around the globe.
In addition to the product, the Tito’s Handmade Vodka company has partnered with over 6,000 non-profit organizations including Direct Relief, Folds of Honor, and EMANCIPET which help all humans and canines alike. Buy purchasing Tito’s Handmade Vodka, a large percentage of the proceeds goes towards any of those worthy causes.
