Tito's Handmade Vodka

Bert "Tito" Beveridge Jr. — a geologist and entrepreneur from Austin, Texas — became fired up in the mid-1990s with the idea of creating his own vodka. The problem was that at the time Texas had no legal distilleries: local legislation effectively blocked small-scale spirit production. Tito spent several years lobbying for enabling legislation and in 1997 received the first legal distillery licence in Texas — a historic moment for the American craft spirits movement.

Production began in the literal sense in a small shed on the outskirts of Austin. Tito used old-fashioned copper pot stills — the type used in whisky and cognac production, but extremely rarely for vodka. Such distillation is more costly and labour-intensive than column distillation, but yields a distillate with a richer, more expressive character.

In 2001 Tito's won a Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition — the competition's highest honour. This success sent a signal to the market: a small Texas distillery was making world-class vodka. No advertising budget — just word of mouth. Bartenders recommended Tito's to their guests, who told their friends, who told more friends.

Growth was gradual but relentless. By the late 2000s Tito's had expanded beyond Texas; by the mid-2010s it had become a national phenomenon. In 2018, Tito's Handmade Vodka became the No. 1 selling vodka in the USA by volume, overtaking Smirnoff, Absolut and Grey Goose. This is an exceptional case in industry history: no other independent craft brand had ever reached such a position.

Fifth Generation Inc. remains independent, family-owned and directly owned by Tito Beveridge to this day. No corporate buyers, no IPO — an extraordinarily rare story in the spirits market.

The base material for Tito's is yellow corn. The choice of corn over the wheat or rye traditional to vodka was deliberate: corn naturally contains no gluten, making Tito's suitable for those with intolerance to this protein. Corn also contributes a characteristic light sweetness and soft texture.

The key production feature is the use of pot stills. The vodka industry is dominated by continuous column distillation, which produces neutral spirit in enormous volumes. Tito consciously chose the technique used in bourbon production: pot stills produce batch distillation in which it is impossible to achieve a completely neutral spirit — but what you do get is a distillate with character.

Tito's is distilled six times. Each pass through the copper still further purifies the spirit and concentrates the characteristics Tito wanted to preserve: a light corn sweetness, vanilla notes and a soft texture. After each distillation the master distiller manually cuts the heads and tails.

Dilution water comes from Austin, Texas's limestone aquifers. Limestone filtration naturally softens the water and gives it a clean, neutral flavour. A similar principle is used in Kentucky bourbon production — hence the metaphor of "American bourbon-style technique applied to vodka."

The Mockingbird Distillery in Austin today occupies considerably more space than the original shed, but the technology is unchanged: the same pot stills, the same six distillations, the same corn.

Tito Beveridge has explained his refusal to expand the range on multiple occasions: "Better to do one thing well than many things poorly." In a world where every major vodka brand releases dozens of flavours and series, Tito's remains a single-product brand — and that is precisely what distinguishes it from the competition.

The absence of flavoured versions also aligns with the brand's positioning: Tito's is vodka for those who want a genuine, unadulterated distillate — not a fruit drink on a vodka base.