Cypress Creek Reserve

This place is the cutest, most quaint little gem. If there’s a local distillery, I always want to try out their goods. I didn’t expect it to be at someone’s home, though! Not that it’s a bad thing. Rum, for me, is a take it or leave it type spirit. I typically use it only in cocktails. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to sit down with a glass of rum. Now bourbon? That’s a different story.
On arrival, I just expected a tasting only, but they actually make cocktails. They have a small menu, or you can request whatever you want from the mixers they have. Mojito? Of course. Want to go dive with a great rum and just some Coke? They won’t judge you for that, either. They make their own version of Rumchata in house and it was SO DELICIOUS. For real. And they’ll give you the recipe.
Pick your favorite of the three varieties: Crystal, Gold, Vanilla and buy a bottle. Then pick up a bottle of vanilla extract. If you don’t cook, make your mom very happy. That stuff is fantastic. In the hotter months, don’t be a jerk and demand a tour of the actual distilling barn. We all know how distilling works. If not, the internet is your friend. They don’t want to be in the high temperatures, and neither do you. Let them explain the process to you while you sip a nice, cool drink instead.

Great people, great place. …and the rum is terrific… we had no idea such a cool place existed. …just went to their website and downloaded the drink recipes

Recently added an outside bar area with tastings, mixed drinks, and nice covered area to sit. This place makes rum, and you have the option of buying a bottle to take with you. It is locally owned and operated, and they are super nice and friendly.

So you don’t need to go to Brazil, or Puerto Rico to enjoy this sugar cane spirit. All you need to do is travel down the windy hill country road towards Dripping Springs to get a brief yet quality tour and tasting of rum from a local distillery. Yes, I said distillery. Don’t get me wrong, I love going to different wineries and breweries, but visiting a tiny distillery was a nice break off the beaten path. The owner gave my beau and I a tour of what appeared to be a small shed/​garage where her and her husband got their creative juices flowing one day to make rum. They use blackstrap molasses syrup for their natural sweetener and process everything onsite and sell for distribution. Five bucks gets you a cool tour full of info making you think if only they taught you how to make spirits instead of launch model rockets in chemistry class, and then maybe you would have paid attention more. Either I was still buzzing from the previous winery we had just visited, or this ladies infectious enthusiasm for science that makes her awesome rum, had me ready to jump in a lab and and get nerdy to see what kind of liviations I could make on my own. At the end you get to sample both of the rums they make. The vanilla rum has won a global award for being one of the top 5 entered from different countries. We both took a sip of the straight shot to taste the quality and both realized that we would suck as judges in a competition from the smooth low burn that follows. No worries, you don’t have to drink it straight though if you’re not interested as several mixers are on hand. I loved the vanilla rum and blood orange flavored club soda together! $ 23 later clenching our 750 mil vanilla rum in hand, we were off to get inspired on what new science project we could become famous, or at least profitable for inventing. Thanks Cypress Creek for making me realize that compounds and molecules are cool because Bill Nye apparently failed to do so.

David has a true passion for makin’ rum. And it’s a good rum at that. The $ 5 tour is small in distance — just in one building — but you’ll learn a lot about the distilling process, the property and even David, his wife and the family. You’ll also get two full tastings during the tour; David’s wife whips up some pretty delicious cocktails for you to enjoy –especially if it’s during the summer heat.

David and Laura were absolutely wonderful during our visit. We went during the week (made a reservation the day before) and had the entire place to ourselves. It was so special. David showed my husband all of the ins and outs of the distillery, taking care to show the fabulous still that turns out all the run. Laura answered all my questions about the business of distilling while making us a spearmint mojito. After a bit, we enjoyed another beverage using their vanilla flavored rum that was equally delicious. They make their own vanilla extract which I purchased while I was there. It was a bummer that they cannot sell us their own product until after September when the law changes, but we will definitely buy a bottle or two at our local liquor store. The kind nature of the owners combined with the delicious product made them a winner.

Laura guided my boyfriend and my tour through the distillery. She tries to schedule them so each party has a separate tour. It’s a really nice touch, because it shows they aren’t trying to blow through tours by combining as many people as they can into one group. The tours are $ 5. We emailed her to set ours up.
We started with a tasting. Laura had bartended for several years before the business started, so she made us a Vanilla Rum mixed drink in a sample cup. It was nothing short of delicious. Absolutely fantastic drink.
Atfer that, the tour started. Laura explained how the business started up, showed us the distillery and explained all the functions, and then showed us the bottling room. She answered all of our questions and was very personable.
We concluded the tour with 1 more sampling of their normal rum combined with a mixer. Again, a totally refreshing drink. We stayed and talked to Laura for about 20 minutes after and were on our way.
This was a great experience. It’s a humble distillery with a growing presence. They’ve won a couple of major awards and you can definitely they definitely love what they do. Makes for a really enjoyable tour.

How sweet is David, distiller, maker, and bottler of Cypress Creek Reserve? Let’s examine the facts:.
– He led us through a tour of his small but highly functional distillery.
– He answered all of our questions about the process he uses, and even showed us some of the machine parts he’s made.
– His wife made us two (nicely sized) tasters: a mojito, and another thing I drank even faster than the mojito that tasted like a lemon drop.
$ 5 each later, we skipped right down to Wimberley Valley Spirits to get ourselves a bottle, because the law is mean and David can’t sell any of the goods on the premises. Stupid Republicans, or something. Now we check out our unopened souvenir, plotting and planning, totally giddy that we pulled into that questionable-​looking lot with the signage for rum. Who were we to say no?