If I had to guess, I’d say 42-year-old David Souza III is a gambling man. Not because he dropped out of college to be a successful entrepreneur in the Las Vegas restaurant and club promotions industries, but because one day in 2007 he took a complete 180-degree turn, without any formal training, and decided to open the only craft distillery in Atwater, CA. The kicker is he planned on differentiating his spirits with an ingredient few distillers in their right mind would touch—the sweet potato.
Kōrui shōchū is made from sweet potato, potato, and corn. It is generally produced in modern large factories. Distillers make Kōrui shōchū by weakening the distilled alcohol.
The Start of an Empire
Risk seems to course through the veins of the four generations of Souza men who’ve been farming sweet potatoes in CA’s Central Valley since 1917. During World War I, at 16 years old, Souza’s great-grandfather John emigrated from the Portuguese Azores to Boston with nothing but the shirt on his back, a proficiency for growing sweet potatoes and a whole lot of entrepreneurial gumption. Eventually he made it out West and, with earnings from working in mines near Santa Cruz, CA, bought a small plot of land in Atwater. You could say he literally went back to his tuberous roots.
Three generations later, the Souza family runs an agricultural empire, producing 40 million pounds annually, making them the second-largest sweet potato grower in the state.
“We’re definitely the highest producer as far as bins per acre,” David Souza said with pride while touring a portion of his 2,000 acres on a 106° morning in the middle of the harvest.
His First Big Bet
But sweet potato farming wasn’t always Souza’s master plan. Needing a break from tractors, sorters and the caked-on dust he had to wash off every time he operated an almond tree shaker, he went to Vegas and amassed a network of movers and shakers in the restaurant scene. That’s when the light bulb burst. He devised a plan to sell booze to Sin City. So, he returned home, improvised a still from a copper column and a beer keg, then figured out how to make vodka from the crop he had an endless supply of—sweet potatoes. By then he’d been bitten by the distilling bug and decided to go all-in.
He reached out to consultants for help, but nobody paid him much attention once they heard he was working with sweet potatoes: low in sugar and starch, producing less alcohol and requiring greater time and energy to break down than most other bases. The input costs of sweet potatoes and the commercial-grade enzymes required to break them down are high, and it takes 10–12 lbs., almost twice the amount of regular spuds, to yield one bottle of vodka.
Souza caught his first break when San Jose’s Frank-Lin Distillers recommended he reach out to Lance Winters, master distiller at St. George Spirits, who was generous with his time and knowledge. He also suggested Souza sit through the training seminars hosted by the local Holstein equipment broker.
It took two years to develop the vodka recipe, which was initially named High Roller. It took another 18 months to design and source a bottle covered in diamond pyramids reminiscent of the rubber bumpers you find on the sides of craps tables. Souza tried several vendors in Mexico, but couldn’t get the glass made to his specifications. It was nearly impossible. A year and half later, Souza found an Italian manufacturer for his bottles, which have become the brand’s trade dress. With a name and bottle inspired by rolling dice, he was on the road to producing the perfect Vegas vodka. Or so he thought.
As many others have learned, not every bet you place in Vegas pays off, and by the time Souza returned to Sin City, many of his contacts were gone and he could only get into a few high-end restaurants.
“The real volume in Vegas is in the casinos and clubs,” he said. “On top of that, I was a new father and I wasn’t going to move back to Nevada to hustle and try to make it happen.”
“You don’t have enough money to launch the brand properly and you don’t have a celebrity endorsement to help you sell it,” a representative from Southern Wine & Spirits told him, “so sell your family story.”
Souza dropped the High Roller name and focused on his family story instead, which is why his family’s crest appears on every label. Getting the trademark was another challenge. Souza was too similar to Sauza Tequila, and David is the name of a major sunflower seed producer in the region. So he went with Corbin Cash, his son’s name (inspired by Easton Corbin and Johnny Cash).
How To Make Sweet Potato Vodka
FAQ
Can you make alcohol out of sweet potatoes?
Is there a liquor made from sweet potatoes?
Is vodka made from sweet potatoes?
What brand of alcohol is made from potatoes?
Should sweet potatoes be turned into alcohol?
Turning sweet potatoes into alcohol would be a value add for an already valuable crop. He researched, thought about it, and researched some more. Eventually, Donna told Harvey that if they were going to do it, now was the time. Finally Donna stepped in, which is the role she often plays in their relationship.
How much sugar is present in sweet potatoes?
Sweet potatoes are high in carbohydrates but have a low glycemic index. Sweet potatoes are known to be beneficial for individuals with diabetes, especially due to their high levels of magnesium and fiber, which can help reduce insulin resistance and stabilize blood sugar. For 100g of sweet potatoes, 4. 2g of sugar can be found.
How many liters of whiskey does sweet potato spirits use?
They use a 150-liter still for gin and vodka, and for whiskeys a 2,500-liter still, which took 18 months to receive from Germany and upon arrival was three inches too large to fit in the distillery doors. Sweet Potato Spirits produces 200 barrels of spirits, of which they sell 1,800 cases annually.
Who is sweet potato spirits?
Sweet Potato Spirits was the first distillery in the area, so county administrators didn’t know how to proceed with his licensing requests. It wasn’t until they visited the site that they understood craft distilling to be a much smaller operation than they had envisioned.