The start-to-sip story behind one of the nation’s few black-owned spirits conglomerates

While on a charity trip to his native Haiti in 2010, the last minute decision to go to dinner instead of checking in to the hotel where he often stayed, saved Dieuveny “DJ” Jean Louis’ life. That January 12th, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the small island, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 250,000 Haitians, including the 800 guests who were in the same hotel as Louis. That experience pushed him to take a leap of faith into the highly-competitive liquor industry and follow his dream of creating the world’s first ultra-premium, unflavored vodka. “Having my life spared inspired me to come up with the name, Toast, because every day above ground is a good reason to toast to life,” he says emphatically. “But I didn’t want another vodka to have with mixers, I wanted it to stand on its own.”

Louis was born in Haiti and moved to West Palm Beach at age 10, where he excelled as a guitarist at church and in school. By age 14 he was collaborating with musicians producing tracks. This turned into a lucrative business and by 21 was part of the Miami nightlife and entertainment industry. He eventually had a music production, event management and concert promotion company, mingling in celebrity circles that included Pitbull and Rick Ross. Louis is also a restaurateur, whose restaurant group owns Kuba Cabana in Doral and Heaven, which is also opening in Doral..

Upon his return to Miami after the earthquake, Louis embarked upon four years of research and development to create what he calls ‘the world’s best vodka.’ “We saw how coconut water was trending across the nation and thought ‘how do we marry the two without creating flavored vodka?’,” he says. “And it worked. The use of unflavored coconut water in our six-time distilling process from 100% corn gives Toast Vodka unparalleled smoothness and it can be simply chilled, sipped and enjoyed.” The vodka is gluten-free and non-GMO, with 40% alcohol by volume.

SPIRITED JOURNEY

After launching in Florida, Louis worked with distributors to put his vodka on store shelves and in bars across the U.S., bringing it to market in 2015. Almost immediately, Toast garnered national and international awards, winning GOLD in the Los Angeles International Spirits Competition – beating out established brands such as Grey Goose and Tito’s. In 2016, Toast became the official vodka of the prestigious America’s Cup race and of the Sundance Film Festival in 2017.

Louis soon acquired 49 percent of the Miami Distilling Company -- the regional leader in the production of distilled spirits which produces Toast Vodka™ as well as Voka Vodka™, Amazing Brands and TMDC™ Spirits and others -- buying the remaining 51 percent in November of 2019 and making Toast Distillers the parent company. “Toast Distillers is the contract manufacturer for Miami Club Rum, Pitbull’s Voli Vodka and E11EVEN Vodka, the official vodka of E11EVEN Miami,” he says. The recently-launched e-commerce site, www.toastvodka.com, makes it easy to purchase Toast Vodka, which ranges in price from $22.99–$42. It is available in Florida, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, California, Canada, Bermuda and Haiti with plans to expand in 2021 to more than 30 different states.

Louis supports orphanages and hospitals in Haiti and jumped into action when a hurricane hit Tampa, the Bahamas and Puerto Rico. “Giving back is part of our blueprint,” says Louis. “Since we are in the alcohol business, when COVID hit we also produced hand sanitizer. We shipped it throughout South Florida supplying hospitals, first responders, the Army, Navy, then to different states,” he says. “I was given a second chance, so every day is a toast to life, to love, to us.” toastdistillers.com

This story was originally published February 8, 2021 at 12:00 AM.