Austin man's La Caza Tequila brand spreads to stores across Texas

The seeds of La Caza Tequila were planted in Drake Screws at a young age as he watched his father craft his own type of ranch water.

Those moments of creation from his dad, surrounded by family and friends on a weekend in Austin, had a special essence — one he wanted to capture in his own spirit one day.

Now, after 10 years of loving labor, Screws is ready to release that essence to all of Texas with La Caza Tequila.

"We're just super excited to be a Texas-born brand," Screws said. "We give credit to Jalisco where it's actually made, but we're super excited that we're going to build our foundation out of here and continue on this journey."

More: Four Austin breweries among 18 Texas spots to place in 2023 World Beer Cup

The history behind La Caza Tequila

Screws said La Caza Tequila began as a "part-time dream" in 2014 while we attended Texas A&M University. He worked in alcohol distribution and learned more about tequila making, and eventually, he traveled to the Mexican state of Jalisco to explore more than 60 distilleries. All the while, the inspiration from his father remained at the heart of Screws's endeavors.

"Back then there wasn't a huge variety on the market, and so he gave me kind of the inspiration of looking into possibly creating something that could be higher end at time," Screws said. "But I knew it was going to be a long journey, and we just had a lot to do."

La Caza Tequila consists of the bottles Blanco, Reposado and Añejo, all created in Jalisco with Blue Weber Agave from its Highlands region. Blanco is described as "smooth with a hint of sweetness," while Reposado has "a humble barrel-age temperament with full-bodied, hazelnut flavors." Añejo features "enchanting rich vanilla and caramel aromas and introduces subtle citrus and floral tones."

After these tequilas undergo distilling from the Vivanco family, they cook and ferment to classical music for almost 100 hours. Then, the tequila is poured into hand-blown glass bottles.

More: Underdog wine bar, restaurant coming to Bouldin Creek neighborhood in Austin

Where to buy La Caza Tequila

La Caza Tequila is now available in Austin, Dallas, Houston, El Paso, San Antonio and other Texas cities in stores such as Spec's Wine, Total Wine and Twin Liquors. The brand will also soon expand to Florida, Ohio and more, but until then, 39 states can enjoy La Caza Tequila via online purchase.

"We really pride ourselves on being bootstrapped, just from the fact that it did take a long time to do it, and we did not have a lot of money just to throw at the wall to see what sticks or go out and hire people to put this together for us," Screws said. "We really wanted to stay authentic, give credit to those people that are down there in Mexico."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Founded in Austin, La Caza Tequila brand spreads across Texas stores