Television personality and AZfoothills.com columnist Nadine Toren is scouring the area, finding savvy Valley features, bringing readers “on the scene.” Every day she’ll introduce you to celebrities, athletes, and give you an inside look into local events and hot spots. She'll touch on topical issues, and keep AZ fans posted on all the big talkers around town.
Take a shot of this--Phoenix's first homegrown vodka.
Craving a drink? Well, here’s a reason to cheers: introducing Phoenix’s first homegrown vodka distillery. It’s called Arroyo, and the masterminds behind this sipper are sisters Lauren and Morgan Klemp.
“It’s great to do something different that’s not being done right now; we’re really excited,” said Lauren Klemp, co-founder, Arroyo Vodka.
The sleek and simple bottle was born in December 2010, and the Klemps vouge the clean taste will go down smooth.
“It leaves you with a refreshing feeling. There is no lingering burn,” said Klemp.
Oh, nothing like a refreshing shot of liquor after a long day’s work.
The 26-year old Arizona State University grad always wanted to run her own company with her sister Morgan, so the Klemp girls decided to break into the booze biz. They had an interest in micro-breweries, so they did their due diligence and discovered local distilleries were slim. Before launching Arroyo, they found Arizona only had a couple of vodka distilleries, so they figured it was an un-tapped market.
Once they decided to pursue their alcoholic endeavor, they reached out to their entrepreneurial father, owner of AZ Wine Co. and a several strip-malls around Phoenix. He became the girls’ guide to getting started.
“It took many years to get everything approved. We went back and forth with the federal government, and a lot of paperwork was involved,” said Klemp.
Finally the Feds gave the girls a green-light, and so began their enterprise.
Lauren Klemp puts a lot of TLC into her family’s creation. She says the vodka is filtered 20 times, and it takes a week for it to go from beginning to bottle.
“The more it’s filtered, the higher quality it is.”
She says their vodka has exceptional quality using only the best of a watery blend. In fact, it was good old H2O that inspired their baby’s name.
According to Webster, arroyo is defined as a water-carved gully or channel.
It also happens to be the name of the street where the girls grew up.
“As kids, we would play in the dry wash behind our house.”
Now all grown up, the Klemp sisters are spreading the word their newfound nemesis is the hot sipper around town. They even earned “AZ Republic’s Critics’ Pick” award as Best Arizona-Made Spirit.
Currently, you can purchase the $20 bottle at AZ Wine Co., but expect to taste-test the vodka at local bars and restaurants in the near future.
Yep, you’ll be able to take a shot for yourself and savor the taste of our very own Valley vodka.
Salud!
