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What started as just a “fun thing” with a few friends has now turned into a full-fledged distillery company, growing rapidly and already garnering accolades. Santa Cruz Spirits Flagship vodka recently awarded ‘Double Gold’ for 2023 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, The competition is hosted by the Tasting Alliance, which holds similar events in New York and Singapore. Entries that receive a Gold rating from the entire jury will be awarded Double Gold.
The idea for Santa Cruz Spirits began before coronavirus. The company has been producing vodka for about two years, but it’s only been on the market for half a year, says a joint venture with more than 35 years of experience working with wine and liquor companies and bringing new brands to market. Owner Art Danner said. .
“From the feedback and my experience, I’ve found that we have a very good taste profile,” said Danner.
Made from organic grains and five times distilled, the vodka also comes in flavors like grapefruit, lemon and cucumber.
With production in Scotts Valley, the company is currently making hundreds of cases a month (12 bottles per case), but that number is growing quickly, Danner said.
“We want to expand, and we do it right,” said Danner of the company’s growth goals. “I’ve seen so many brands that get off to a great start end up dying because they rushed too fast without proper planning. [our] Santa Cruz County, Santa Clara County, Monterey County, and other counties were home, and later expanded to Northern California, Central California, and Southern California. ”
The company also aims to expand sales to all of Nevada, and then all of Arizona and Hawaii, by the end of 2023. By then, we would like to increase monthly sales to 3,500 to 5,000 cases, and aim to reach 10,000 cases per month by the summer of 2024. It will depend heavily on the right distribution partner.
“We feel that the time is now. [vodka] The category is a little dated and a little boring,” Danner said. “We are excited. [Santa Cruz] Names really attract people. ”
The company currently makes only vodka, but Danner said it’s keeping the door open to adding other spirits to the mix. Locally, Santa Cruz spirits vodka is available at Deer Park Wines & Spirits, Bittersweet Bistro, Harbor Liquor, much more.
