How Many Times Is Tito's Vodka Distilled?

As the main alcoholic ingredient in everything from screwdrivers to cosmos to the historic Bloody Mary, vodka is versatile and tasty. In the United States alone, the vodka market is worth more than 13 billion dollars with Smirnoff (3.3 billion) ranking among the most valuable spirit brands in the world. Tito's is another of the world's most popular vodka brands and its founder, Bert "Tito" Beveridge (that's really his name), is estimated to be worth more than 5 billion dollars as Tito's sells millions of cases a year.

If you know anything about vodka then you know that it's distilled. Distillation involves heating vodka until it turns into vapor and then turning that vapor back into liquid vodka to eliminate any and all impurities from the alcohol before it's bottled. Most vodka distillation is done in a column still, but craft distilleries will often use a pot still. Which is why Tito's proudly announces on its label that it's "crafted in an Old Fashioned Pot Still."

If you've ever looked at a vodka bottle, you may have noticed some information about how many times that particular vodka has been distilled. Tito's is a little secretive about its craftsmanship and doesn't mention the exact number on its website. The consensus, however, seems to be six times. This attention to detail and distillation process results in a smooth, clean vodka that's a delicious addition to drinks.

By comparison, Grey Goose is distilled one time, Smirnoff is distilled 3 times, and Trader Joe's 10X Distilled Vodka is distilled, you guessed it, 10 times.

With so many brands and varying levels of distilling, the biggest question remains, is all that distilling worth it? The answer is murky and seems to depend on who you ask. While all the top vodka companies want to create the best product possible, more distillation doesn't always mean better. In fact, more distillation can lead to lower-quality vodka.

A definitive statement about whether multiple distillations increases the quality of a vodka is a tricky thing to stand by. In many cases, a higher distillation number is used as a marketing ploy to sell more vodka to customers because people associate more effort with better quality — but it isn't that simple. Multiple distillations will affect the flavor of a spirit as with each successive distillation you remove more impurities (which help give the vodka flavor). But, although the number of distillations does tell you something about the distillery and its ethos, it doesn't say as much about the vodka itself as most people seem to think.

Rather than the number of times distilled, the quality of good vodka comes down to the quality of the ingredients (did you know you can make vodka from honey?). From the potatoes to the water quality to the grain quality, better ingredients means better vodka. For its part, Tito's has its own distillery in Texas to produce corn-based vodka and taste tests every batch that comes out of its pot stills.

To be fair, Tito's has a bad reputation in the craft distilling community as an international corporation capitalizing on the consumer preference for local, artisanal products through good marketing. Regardless of how you feel about the brand, Tito's remains one of the world's most popular vodka brands and can be enjoyed in all kinds of ways (responsibly of course).