SOBEWFF: Kate Hudson Dishes on the Process Behind Her Vodka, King St.

It’s 1 p.m. on a Wednesday and Kate Hudson is on the phone discussing her vodka, King St.

When asked to describe it, she recalls a moment in Paris when she dined on caviar served alongside a neat glass of chilled vodka.

“It was a true sipping vodka. It was so nice and clean, and I thought, ‘This isn’t something we really have in the U.S. — a vodka I can appreciate in its purest form and just sip on.’ And I feel like I accomplished that with King St.”

Hudson's career is long and varied. The daughter of comedy royalty, Goldie Hawn, Hudson is an accomplished actor, an author, and the founder of athletic wear company Fabletics. She also cohosts a podcast with brother Oliver Hudson, Sibling Revelry.

Hudson has one more accomplishment to add to her list of accolades. These days, she’s also one of the few women to enter into the world of spirit making.

King St. vodka pays homage to the memories she forged during her time living on King Street in New York City.

Although Hudson chose to create a vodka, she's quick to say she loves all adult beverages. While she readily admits her love for dirty martinis, gimlets, and bloody marys, the entrepreneur equally enjoys wine, tequila, and bourbon.

“When it comes to spirits, it’s all about preference,” she says. “For me, making a good martini is important. So I wanted a vodka that could hold up to mixing or drinking straight. A good sipping vodka is underrated.”

Despite her multi-hyphenate status, Hudson readily admits that — above all else — she’s always been a supreme hostess.

“I’ve always loved to entertain,” she tells New Times. “I have my various roles where I’m focused on eating healthy and working out, but there’s this huge part of me that also likes to have a blast and let loose. And part of that includes having cocktails.”

The epiphany for King St. came when whipping up a batch of dirty martinis for an at-home soirée. She needed a smooth, bold vodka — but everything came up short on both flavor and aroma.

“I had vodka for my cocktails, another one for mixed drinks, but nothing that really stood out in a martini. It just seemed like there was room for improvement,” Hudson recounts.

Beyond that, she realized it’s also an area where women are under-represented.

“At the same time, I realized there’s also this huge space for a female vodka maker. A large segment of vodka drinkers are women — over 50 percent — but there’s no real female representation in the industry,” notes Hudson, who partnered with businessman David Kanbar, co-creator of Bethenny Frankel’s Skinnygirl spirits line and Bulldog gin. “I thought, I’m gonna have fun. I’m gonna make a really good vodka with a really pretty bottle and I’ll be the one to do it.”

For two years, Hudson says, she learned about vodka to better understand what it was she liked — and didn’t — when it came to variations of the spirit.

“I discovered I like more distilled vodkas. They’re smoother,” she says. “I also learned I like a little flavor, which is why we use the alkaline water. It gives King St. a little backbone, and that’s why, I believe, mixologists like it so much. It lends a little character no matter how you’re using it, be it straight up or as part of a more complex cocktail.”

Crafted in Santa Barbara, California, at Cutler's Artisan Spirits by master distiller Ian Cutler, King St. is made from GMO-free corn and alkaline water, seven-times distilled and carrying 43 percent alcohol by volume.

It took Hudson two years to get the “juice” (and the bottle) on point. When the product was finally ready for market, Hudson and King St. faced a launch that synched perfectly with the onset of COVID-19.

“We launched, and the pandemic hit, and everything we had planned we had to put on hold,” Hudson recalls. “It was rough because I’m such a foodie. At the time, I watched the food and beverage industry struggle, and as someone who loves going to restaurants and has so many chef and industry friends — hello South Beach Wine & Food Festival — I really felt that loss. It’s great to be able to have fun with it now and really show people what we’re all about.”

As a parting thought, Hudson shares her cocktail of the moment. If she could only imbibe in one libation using King St. for the rest of the year, what would it be?

“I think I would like to see "Sex on the Beach" make a comeback,” she ventures. “The truth is, it’s a fun, fruity cocktail that — with real fruit juices and a little less sugar — has all the makings of a really great martini. And it’s the perfect pairing for the South Florida heat — especially when you’re using the right vodka.”

This week, Hudson will be representing her vodka at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, where she'll host Peace Love Yoga: A Soulful Yoga Experience, at Nikki Beach.

During the event, philanthropist and marketing maven Arlene Chaplin and yogi Dawn B will lead a morning practice on the sands outside the resort, complete with a selection of healthful bites, beats by DJ Taz Rashid, and, of course, libations made with King St. vodka.

King St. vodka presents Peace Love Yoga: A Soulful Yoga Experience at Nikki Beach Miami. 10 to 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, February 27 at Nikki Beach, 1 Ocean Dr., Miami Beach. Tickets are sold out; sobewff.org.