Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/148134
Tito's Handmade Vodka Tito's is distilled six times in old-fashioned copper-pot stills in Austin, Texas. Tito Beveridge (yep, that's his real name) supervises the distillation process, and the method produces a liquid that's fit for sipping or mixing. Matt Brennan, the brand's Northern California Market Manager especially likes the vodka's sweeter vanilla notes. "Tito is still there every day," Brennan said. "He'd go crazy if he didn't work." Matt Brennan is the Northern California Market Manager for Tito's Handmade Vodka. FEW Gins FEW Spirits put two new gins on the market last year: FEW American Gin and fine-sipping FEW Standard Issue Gin. Ironically, the company is based in Evanston, Illinois, considered the birthplace of the American temperance movement. Tom Street of Young's Market pointed out that Evanston was the home of temperance movement leader Frances Elizabeth Willard, whose initials now grace the brand's bottles. The irony is intentional, of course. FEW built Evanston's first legal distillery (the city was dry until the 1990s), and the FEW gins are less botanical-forward than some others, with citrus and vanilla notes. Both are distilled in pot stills and arrive full and robust. gin and agave • august 2013 15