Along Hwy. 290, past the Austin city limits, is a warehouse full of barrels that were once filled to the brim with organic, aged tequila.

But no tequila is actually made there. (See sidebar.)

And while some drivers on Hwy. 290 might not even know that Dulce Vida Spirits Inc. is headquartered on the road, they can easily find the company’s organic tequila at just about every liquor store in the Austin area, founder and CEO Richard Sorenson said.

The business celebrated its fifth anniversary of selling its first bottle in September 2014. That month the company released a special-edition tequila aged for five years in Napa Valley red wine barrels.

The process for making Dulce Vida  tequila begins and ends in Mexico.

It is then sent to stores in 20 states, including Texas, and to the company headquarters at 11310 W. Hwy. 290. At the headquarters, which is also a warehouse, Sorenson handles business matters including sales and marketing.

The company’s tequila can also be found in China, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Sweden, Norway, The Netherlands, Switzerland and Czech Republic.

Explaining the company’s origins in 2008 as well as the long journey it takes to get tequila from the agave farm to stores, Sorenson said he and another business partner first ventured into making agave soda under the company name Syzmo. From that experience, Sorenson networked with organic agave growers and a distillery in Mexico.

“So it was out of the love of agave and tequila that our business was created,” Sorenson said.

Austin holds considerable branding power in national and international markets, even as far away as China, he said.

“Austin, around the world, carries a lot of cache,” Sorenson said. “But Texas, not so much.”

Sorenson said product distinction is key in a crowded marketplace.

Other distinctions of Dulce Vida’s organic tequila are its “old world” bottle shape and an “upscale, sophisticated” label, Sorenson said.

Sustainability focus

As for distinctions in the production, Sorenson said all the waste from the production becomes compost. In addition, no artificial coloring is used, and the tequila remains at 100 proof, meaning no water is added after the tequila is removed from the still, he said.

The company also hires its own inspector and master distiller rather than outsourcing the production.

Austinites like organic products, Sorenson said, noting that Dulce Vida has organic certifications for its agave plants and tequila-making process. He added that he strove for an organic production to make the product as “pure” as possible.

“We are intimately involved in the production of all the liquid that goes into our bottles,” Sorenson said.