Channing Tatum is bringing his magic to the world of vodka. The stripper-turned-actor recently collaborated with Grand Teton Distillery in Idaho for his very own vodka brand: Born and Bred Vodka.
Born and Bred is a potato based vodka, 40 percent alcohol by volume, and is distilled 25 times. Yes, 25 times is a bit excessive, especially when you consider classic brands like Tito’s is only distilled six times, and Grey Goose is only distilled five. Normally when people want their vodka distilled down that many times they just put it in their Brita filter. But not Tatum — he won’t accept any stripped down version of his dreams.
Tatum has dreamed of owning a vodka brand for quite some time now, Tatum told Bon Appétit. It all started when he and a friend Jack went on a tour of the United States to find the best tasting domestic vodka. They tasted 25 (he’s got a thing for that number, I guess), and liked about three of them. In the end, he pursued a partnership with Grand Teton Distillery because they made a vodka that has “a cool feeling in your mouth,” and “the after taste doesn’t burn.”
It’s a story that’s almost too perfect to be true, but in the age of American exceptionalism, is it so hard to fault someone for wanting good American vodka? After all, things between Russia and the United States have been a bit … tense. Yet vodka, the number one selling spirit by volume in the United States, remains a distinctly Russian drink. Perhaps Tatum can change all that.
So what’s this ridiculously distilled vodka like, you may be asking yourself. After all, celebrity wine doesn’t usually end up all that great. But you’d be asking the wrong question. The right question is who is this vodka like?
It’s “refined and quality enough to wear a tuxedo with, but that’s not where its roots lie,” Tatum told Bon Appétit. “So the vodka would wear whatever opposite of everyone else. So if it’s a backyard party, he probably shows up in a tux. If it’s a tux thing, he probably shows up in cutoff jeans shorts and a tank top, with some cowboy boots. He’s just wildin’. He wants to just mess it all up.”
Right on. And if you ever doubt for a second that you can do (almost) whatever you want when you grow up, just remember: Channing Tatum, actor, dancer, funny man extraordinaire, is now helping make a vodka.
“Well, if you had asked me this back when I was stripping that would have seemed more feasible to me than becoming an actor,” Tatum told Bon Appétit. “Now, I’m a stripper that became an actor that I guess is working in vodka. Nothing surprises me anymore.”
Read the full interview at Bon Appétit
