Four of us took a tour of Kozuba and Son's Distillery on a Friday afternoon recently. According to…read moretheir website, the Only thing that excites them more than their spirits, is the opportunity to share them. "Handcrafted" isn't just a label to them, it's what they do. Devon, our guide, explained that every part of the process is guided by their hands. They begin with hand-selected grain, then hand-mix and hand-mash the grain to get the perfect blend before distillation begins.
We were warmly greeted by Devon, and we were each offered a taste of Kozuba Lemon Flavored Vodka which was very fresh tasting. Definitely there was no chemical aftertaste as I often find in the commercially flavored vodkas.
We walked into the distillery and learned that this dream started in 2005 in Poland. Zbigniew "Papa" Kozuba, a biochemist and businessman, retired and moved to the countryside. While there, Papa began tinkering with cordials, continuing a tradition of infused spirits that many Polish families honored. His sons joined him and Papa and his sons turned the hobby into a business. After a few years producing a successful line of cordials, they ordered a hybrid copper still and shortly thereafter, they were distilling vodkas. Later on, the first Polish single malt whiskeys and other varieties of the brown spirit evolved.
The family decided to move the business to Florida's Grand Central District - an area thirsty for small-batch, local spirits. They have two handmade German hybrid copper stills which they brought to the U.S., one is for vodkas and the other is used for whiskey. I recommend that everyone take a tour to learn for yourself about the processes.
We headed back to the tasting room and experienced several delicious types of vodkas, whiskeys, Sunshine State Agave and cordials, etc.
The BarBox Negroni and the Cranberry & Juniper Flavored Vodka were my favorite that day. I'm looking forward to the bourbon being ready soon too.
We stopped in their on-site store and did not leave empty-handed.