![]() ![]() Lee and Sarah Nelson wanted to take Danish friends something that screamed “Florida” loud and clear. The idea for the Tampa Bay area’s first premium handcrafted, microdistilled vodka made entirely of Florida ingredients started as a hostess-gift conundrum. Rye, a kind of Polish-American collaboration, then debuted a 100 percent wheat vodka and cordials (cranberry, quince), a white dog called White Dog made of 100 percent rye malt, and introduced Tampa Bay to Starkus, a barrel-aged vodka named for a stork. In 2016, Zbigniew Kozuba, a biochemist by training, elder son Matthias and younger son Jacob put the room of gleaming copper stills through their first paces in a long-empty 1950s warehouse that was once an ice house for seafood storage. It was an uphill battle to sell their premium cordials, vodkas and whiskeys. But the Poles, it seems, didn’t turn to domestic products for the premium stuff. Founded in 2005, Kozuba & Sons was the first privately owned microdistillery in Poland. ![]() Petersburg, hoping to capitalize on the perception that local means quality. During communist rule, there were big government-run distilleries and mom-and-pop bathtub enterprises, but nothing that fit into the artisanal, craft category that has boomed in this country. Poland was known for its eaux de vie and vodkas, mostly made of rye and potato. The Kozuba family had years of distilling experience in Poland, a country that had its distilling heyday between the two world wars. At this point products are distributed only in Florida, and can be purchased at ABC stores, Publix, Winn-Dixie, Walgreens and at the distillery. Petersburg postcards slid into every bottle’s box. The distillery has two copper pot stills reassembled from the 1930s, with cool old-timey St. It won a gold medal for the Fifty Best 2017. 10 has claimed), as well as 13 botanicals such as star anise, green cardamom and coriander seeds in addition to the requisite juniper. The gin is of special note, made in a Florida style, using the entire citrus (juice and peel) of the state’s oranges, lemons and pink grapefruit (something really only Tanqueray No. Pete (tropical gin, sweet corn whiskey, rum and spiced rum, and a vodka), Tippler’s Orange Liqueur, Oak & Palm (spiced rum and coconut rum), and Royal Mead, many incorporating Florida ingredients. ![]() 1 craft vodka, awarded best vodka in the south by Southern Living in 2016), Old St. They offer five product lines of craft spirits: Banyan Reserve Vodka (currently the state’s No. The permits for tours and tastings are in the works, but for now it’s a production facility only. This one burst onto the scene in 2015 with a strong lineup of products. ![]()
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