Two weekends ago, Dane and I ventured into Honolulu to check out a new-to-us place — Island Distillers. I had been seeing their delicious-looking coconut rum around town and I thought…I need to taste some of that! It turns out, Island Distillers’ location might be the best kept secret on this island. They have an expansive property in Honolulu tucked beside Koko Head. It’s an amazing distillery on Oahu with delicious product and today I’m going to share a little bit about touring Island Distillers + their tasting room! Make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom for an amazing giveaway!
Touring Island Distillers + Tasting Room
Before we went, I read the following on the Island Distillers website:
“Island Distillers was born from the idea that excellent spirits could be made right here in Hawaii from our abundant natural resources and perfect climate. How could such a great place not produce great spirits? So I set out to do just that. It took a lot longer than I imagined. I spent years in the Caribbean learning about sugar cane alcohol. Then I spent more years learning about blending. After a few more years of planning, Island Distillers, Honolulu’s premier distillery, was launched.”
I was so excited to learn more about this new-to-us distillery, so we headed out and admittedly, thought we had gotten lost. If you’re driving there, you will weave through several neighborhoods before finally arriving. Their building sort of pops up out of nowhere, but you can’t miss it. Look at that awesome mural! There’s lots of parking, which is great, too.
Once we arrived, we met the owner, Dave, and we happened to be the only ones there, so we had the place to ourselves! The property has two large buildings — one for the tasting room and one for the actual distillery where all the magic happens. There’s also a huge outdoor space, complete with a pizza oven, which Dave said they are in the process of marketing for events. Note to self: Reserve that for the sole purposes of using that pizza oven! Also — ON SITE DOGS! Hello, give me all the distillery dogs!
Once we learned a little bit about Dave’s process from farm to bottle (it’s awesome – 10/10 recommend booking the tour), we got to sample each of the flavors they had on site. I was most excited for the coconut vodka and Dane was most excited for the hibiscus vodka.
We tried all the vodkas both alone and then with a recommended mixer. I was pretty surprised by how smooth they all tasted alone –I’m well beyond the days of ripping shots and everything we tasted was something I would totally sip over ice by itself. That said, my absolute favorite was the coconut vodka with a dash of pineapple juice. It tasted like a skinny pina colada!
I was prepared to love the chili pepper vodka, but definitely did not imagine loving it as a Bloody Mary (I’m not a fan). It turns out — I did! Dave explained that he wanted to make it his mission to create a chili pepper vodka specifically for Bloody Mary’s where all you needed to add in was tomato juice and accoutrement. It made Dane and I start discussing some brunch parties for when football season starts back up 🙂
If you’re looking for a fun activity that is something a little bit new and different on Oahu, Island Distillers is definitely something to check out! We are now proud owners of every varietal and I can’t wait to mix up something sweet 🙂
And now, what you’ve been waiting for…the Island Distillers giveaway! I’m giving away two bottles of Island Distillers to one lucky winner (21 years of age or older)…head over to Instagram to enter or click on the post below 🙂
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