Review: You and Yours Vodka
You and Yours Vodka or as the bottle reads Y&Y Vodka is made in San Diego’s East Village. The You and Yours Distillery was founded in 2017 by Laura Johnson. She was inspired by a trip to Cuba she took with her father as a High School graduation gift. After touring the Havana Club Distillery she became fascinated with the whole distillation process. The distillery currently also crafts two gins, a Summer Citrus Vodka, and a line of canned cocktails. The vodka was originally going to be comprised of a blend of grape, corn, and potato, but to create a blend you have to perfect each component first. They started with grape, and they liked to result so much they decided to let it stand alone. Y&Y is made from California wine grape varietals distilled from bulk wine in a 250 gallon hybrid eau de vie still with a brandy cap and eight plate 10 foot column. Y&Y is bottled unfiltered. Read more 
Review: Glass Vodka
Glass Vodka was launched in 2012 with the opening of the Glass Distillery in the SOHO area of Seattle by Ian MacNiel. Glass Vodka may be best known for its 100% crystal bottle made with a one of its kind stopper. Glass vodka is made from Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc Grapes. It is distilled in a kettle and column still custom made in Germany. The distillery currently also makes Kona (coffee), Nectar (honey), and Spice (cinnamon) vodka from the Original Glass vodka base. They also produce Gridiron Vodka made from grapes and California Organic Wheat. Read more
Review: Two Titmice Vodka
Two Titmice Vodka is named for the Tufted Titmouse, the most common backyard bird in America. $1 from the sale of every bottle of Two Titmice goes directly to patients fighting breast cancer. Founder Ed Malin created the vodka while his wife was battling her own breast cancer. Two Titmice is crafted with six different sweet potato varieties grown in the field surrounding their distillery in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley of California. The potatoes are cured, mashed, and fermented onsite. Ten average sized sweet potatoes are required to make every bottle of Two Titmice Vodka. After a small batch double distillation, the spirit is slowly blended with pure spring water and filtered over five days to reduce to 80 proof. The vodka is then chill filtered at 28 degrees. Read more
Review: Sonoma Coast Spirits Vodka
Sonoma Coast Spirits Vodka is one of six vodka varieties currently crafted in Petaluma California across the street from Lagunitas Brewery at Sonoma Coast Spirits. Jill Olson opened the distillery in 2011. Her husband Doug handled sales and marketing until he passed away in 2018. The distillery is now owned and run entirely by Jill Olson. The other vodka varieties include Citrus Basil, Jalapeno Lime, Sweet Ginger, Rose, and Espresso. Oprah Winfrey enjoyed the Citrus Basil, and Jalapeno Lime Vodka so much they made the O list in Oprah’s July 2018 magazine edition. The distillery also produces a line of all natural RTD cocktails. The flavor lineup currently includes Lemon Drop, Pomegranate Cosmo, Raspberry Lemonade, and Mango Tango. Sonoma Coast Vodka is made from 100% corn and is distilled 6 times in a pot still, filtered, and bottled on site. It is currently sold in California, or you can purchase a bottle directly from the distillery and have it shipped to you if your state allows. Read more
Review: Pacifica Vodka
Pacifica Vodka was released in the summer of 2017. It is crafted by owner and Master Distiller Jason Tripp at the Tripp Distillery in Pacifica California. They also produce a gin and rum. More spirits will follow. Pacifica Vodka is made from 200 pounds of organic cane juice sourced from Paraguay and 200 gallons of water. It sits and ferments for 7 days before it is pumped into a hand made 220 gallon, hour glass shaped still for 16 hours. The spirits rests for 30 days in stainless steel and is then distilled another 16 hours. The spirit, now a rum is kept in oak barrels just long enough for the chemical reactions between oxygen, carbon, and alcohol to settle the bold flavors of the spirit. Once mellowed, the rum is filtered through coconut shells for 4 days and then redistilled by hand in a copper pot still, where it is reborn as Pacifica Vodka. It is hand bottled and labeled at 80 proof. The bottles neck is hand dipped in wax. Read more
Review: Rocket Vodka
Rocket Vodka was introduced in the fall of 2016 with the Limited Launch Edition of 1000 bottles. Founder Darius Paczuski soon followed that up with a second Launch II release of 2000 bottles. I am reviewing a bottle of their IV release. Rocket Vodka is handcrafted at Dry Diggings Distillery in El Dorado Hills California. Darius Paczuski was born in Poland but he soon moved to Norway with his parents. Darius picked ground apples for his fathers moonshine, which smashed and fermented fresh apples and then aged the spirit in oak barrels. At 20 Darius came to the US on a Cal State Long Beach University swimming scholarship. Darius first came up with the idea to craft a vodka while skiing in Lake Tahoe. Darius was a skilled and fast skier earning him the nickname The Polish Rocket, hence, the Rocket Vodka name. Rocket Vodka is made from a combination of fresh apple juice and apple concentrate from Fuji, Golden Delicious, and Granny Smith apples which are sourced from Barsotti Farms in Apple Hill California. Yeast and pure Sierra Nevada Mountain water are the only other ingredients. Rocket is distilled twice in two different pot/column stills and is double carbon filtered. Read more
Review: Haymakers Vodka
Haymakers Vodka was introduced May 2019. It is made from fresh California grown Pink Lady and Fuji Apples and white potatoes that are mashed and fermented six times in a pot column hybrid still made from scratch at Ventura Spirits in Ventura California. Ventura California is located halfway between LA and Santa Barbara. Brothers Anthony and Andrew Caspary, and two of their friends, James Greenspun and Henry Tarmy opened the distillery in 2013. They previously made a vodka distilled from California strawberries, thanks in part to 500,000 pounds of frozen strawberries abandoned in a contract dispute that they acquired for a steal. Wilder Gin, Opuntia Prickly Pear Spirit, and Strawberry Brandy are also crafted at this distillery. Read more
Review: Ghost Coast Vodka
Ghost Coast Vodka is made in a 17,000 square foot distillery in downtown Savannah Georgia from a blend of 49% Corn and 51% wheat. The vodka is distilled in a Vendome copper pot still and triple filtered and finished through carbon impregnated filters. Ghost Coast is the first legal distillery in Savannah since Prohibition. The distillery also crafts whiskey, rum, liqueurs, and fernet. Ghost Coast vodka was originally named Vodka 261 after the number of years between the end of the first Prohibition in Georgia, and 2017, the year the spirit was first distributed in Georgia. Ghost Coast gets its name from its location on the Atlantic coast and its paranormal history. The American Institute of Parapsychology gets more reports about Savannah than any other city. Read more
Review: Loft and Bear Vodka
Loft and Bear Vodka was crafted in the heart of the Los Angeles Art District. It is currently produced by another distillery to the same specifications while their new distillery is being built. After graduating from UNC Chapel Hill Paul Ryan, aka Bear embarked upon a journey to create a vodka purely for the challenge of developing something unique. The summer of 2014 in a loft in downtown LA, he did just that. Loft and Bear is made from soft organic winter wheat and California sourced spring water. At launch it was crafted in a 30 liter copper pot column still. It was distilled four times and filtered once. Once open the new distillery will distill the vodka in a 1300 liter pot and column still. Read more
Review: Tahoe Blue Vodka
Tahoe Blue Vodka was launched March 2012. Founder and CEO Matt Levitt grew up in Maryland. After earning a business degree, Matt drove to California in his blue Econoline van for a two week vacation. On his scheduled last day Matt arrived in Lake Tahoe and fell in love with the brilliant blue color of the lake and never left. Tahoe Blue is made to Matt’s specifications at Essential Spirits Alambic Distilleries in Mountain View California. It is distilled from a three spirit blend of 50% Sugarcane, 25% Grapes, and 25% Corn. Each is distilled separately. They are then blended together and distilled two more times. Pure water from Lake Tahoe, the second deepest lake in the US, is blended to reduce to 80 proof. Read more