Ever wished you could come up with a great idea for a product that can appeal to an entire generation of people?

If so, you might want to ask advice from junior business finance and biology  major Justin Reitmeyer and sophomore business marketing major Brett Cohen.

These two have taken their core idea of creating a spirit geared towards a younger generation and made it a reality through planning and persistence.

Just walk into any popular spirit store like Gabriel’s and you’ll likely find the smooth, sweet fruit of their labor, Y Vodka.

The vertical red lettering on a frosty glass background makes it easy to spot. Don’t bother checking the bottom shelf though; at $19.99 a bottle, this isn’t the cheap stuff.

“We’re not trying to compete with the cheaper bottles because they just aren’t the same quality as our product,” Cohen said.

In fact, Cohen and Reitmeyer believe their ultra premium vodka can stand with the best of the $30 alternatives. A closer look at the way Y- Vodka is made reveals what makes it so unique.

“The alcohol is fermented in corn, and it provides a different taste for the palette,” Reitmeyer said. “I feel like the sweetness of it helps it go down easier.”

 Factor in triple distillation and premium water for diluting and it becomes easy to see why Y -Vodka is so different from its grain-distilled counterparts.

Of course, the saturated vodka market isn’t an easy one to break in to. Cohen and Reitmeyer had to face rejection from several distributors before Glazer’s Distributors finally accepted the youth-oriented drink.
“Anyone can come up to these distributors with a drink that tastes good, but it’s the substance behind it,” Cohen said. “They were impressed by the demographic campaign.”
Getting their foot in the door may have been the hard part, but it was equally important that they follow through.
“It’s not as if we make one big sale to Glazer’s every month,” Reitmeyer said. “We have to use our marketing and word of mouth to spread the message.”
It’s been working. Y- Vodka is now found in San Antonio, College Station, Houston, San Marcos and Austin. Not too shabby for a product that’s only been in stores for nearly two months.
The plan is to remain in these five cities for another few months before spreading throughout the rest of Texas. From there, Cohen and Reitmeyer hope to have Y Vodka popping up in several major college towns across the country.

Before that happens, however, you’re likely to see some new flavors alongside the original red-capped bottle. A brief look at y-vodka.com reveals citrus, vanilla and raspberry variations as well as a few simple drinks to mix using each one. You can expect to find these flavors by November.

Despite all of the success Cohen and Reitmeyer have had so far, they remain grounded. When these two marketing masterminds make it big, they don’t intend to forget about San Antonio.

“It’s like our backyard. If we go big, this is where we want people to remember us coming from,” Reitmeyer said. “We want to establish that loyalty and keep it in San Antonio.”