The Journal
From the house.
Notes on putting a name on a bottle. 21+.
Producing · Label requirements
What Has to Go on a Liquor Label? Required TTB Label Info
Brand name, class and type, alcohol content, net contents, bottler name and address, and the government warning. Here is what every spirits label needs and what is left for you to design. 21+.
UGC · Instagram
How to Promote Your Liquor Brand on Instagram
Age-gate to 21, say plainly that the bottle is yours, and use Reels, Stories, and a pinned post to move fans from waitlist to checkout. Here is what Instagram allows and what sells. 21+.
Selling · Influencers
Can Influencers Launch a Liquor Brand?
Yes — influencers can launch a liquor brand without owning a distillery. On a Handled drop, licensed partners produce and sell; you own the brand and earn 20% of SRP. 21+.
Producing · Rum
Launch Your Own Rum: Style, Aging, and Where to Start
Yes — you can launch a rum brand without owning a distillery. On a Handled drop, we purchase rum barrels and bottle them; you own the brand. Style and aging choices shape the label. 21+.
Selling · Distillery
Do You Need a Distillery to Launch a Liquor Brand?
No. On a Handled drop, licensed partners produce and bottle; you own the brand and the audience. You do not build a still house or buy inventory up front. 21+.
Producing · Bottling
How Are Spirits Bottled? From Tank to Labeled Drop
Spirits get bottled when a licensed producer fills, seals, and labels approved glass under federal rules. On a Handled drop, that work sits with licensed partners — not the creator. 21+.
UGC · Pre-launch week
What to Post the Week Before Your Liquor Drop
The week before your liquor drop is for proof, clarity, and warm demand — not random posting. Use a simple daily cadence so launch day is not your first ask. 21+.
Selling · Timeline
How Long Does It Take to Launch a Liquor Brand?
On a Handled drop, the timeline typically runs around 10 weeks from signed agreement. You do not build a distillery or buy inventory. Licensed partners handle production, label approval, and retail. 21+.
Producing · Whiskey
Launch Your Own Whiskey: Style, Barrel, and Proof
To launch your own whiskey, pick a style (and whether TTB class/type can truthfully be bourbon), a barrel story, and a proof — then a licensed producer bottles it. You do not distill. 21+.
Producing · Label approval
What Is a COLA? TTB Label Approval for Creator Spirits
A COLA is TTB’s Certificate of Label Approval. Interstate spirits cannot ship without one. On a Handled drop, the licensed producer files it.
UGC · When content flops
Your Drop Video Flopped. Now What?
A step-by-step way to diagnose a spirits drop video that underperformed — hook, hold, or ask — and fix the one thing actually broken.
Selling · Business setup
Do You Need an LLC to Launch Your Own Spirits Brand?
No — you can launch a spirit as yourself. Here is what an LLC actually changes, and when it starts to make sense.
UGC · Objections
How to Handle Objections in Your Spirits Drop Content
The four objections that stall a spirits drop — price, taste, shipping, and skepticism — and the content that answers each one before checkout.
Producing · Vodka
Launch Your Own Vodka: Base, Filtration, and Flavor
Vodka is the most flexible spirit to launch as a creator — here's how to choose your base, filtration, and flavor without ever touching a still.
UGC · Product shots
How to Film Your Spirit So It Looks Premium (Product Shots & B-Roll)
A phone, a window, and a clean surface are enough to make your bottle look expensive on camera — here's the exact setup.
Producing · Gin
Launch Your Own Gin: Botanicals, Style, and Where to Start
A creator's guide to launching your own gin drop: choosing a style, picking botanicals, and getting it made without distilling a drop yourself.
Selling · Audience size
How Big Does Your Audience Need to Be to Launch a Spirits Drop?
You don't need a million followers to sell out a spirits drop. Here's the real minimum, and why engagement beats follower count every time.
UGC · Going live
How to Sell Your Spirits Drop on a Livestream
A step-by-step play for using livestreams and real-time Q&As to reveal your bottle, answer buyer questions, and close your drop.
Producing · Tequila styles
Choose Your Tequila Style: Blanco, Reposado, Añejo
The difference between blanco, reposado, and añejo — and how to pick the right tequila style for your creator drop.
Selling · Getting paid
When Do You Get Paid? Creator Payouts
Exactly when the money hits, who collects it, and how your 20% is calculated on a creator spirits drop.
UGC · Creator collabs
Team Up With Creators to Sell Out
A practical playbook for co-launching a limited spirit with another creator: what to make together, how to split it, and what to post.
Producing · Bottle size
Why Your Spirit Drop Uses a 750ml Bottle
Every Handled drop ships in the standard 750ml bottle. Here's why the full-size format works best for your label, your price, and your buyers.
Selling · Managing risk
What Happens If Your Spirits Drop Doesn't Sell Out?
The honest answer to every creator's biggest fear about launching a spirit — and why you're not the one holding the bottles.
Producing · Bottle & closure
Choose Bottle Closure: Cork or Screw Cap?
Glass shape, weight, and cork vs. screw cap all shape how your spirit looks in a reveal and feels in hand. Here's how to choose.
UGC · Tasting content
Film a Tasting Video for Your Spirit
A simple, creator-native framework for filming a tasting video that makes people want your bottle—no sommelier vocabulary required.
Selling · Average order value
Raise AOV With Bundles and Add-Ons
The fastest way to earn more from a drop without finding new buyers: sell more per order with bundles, add-ons, and limited sets.
Producing · Barrel aging
Aged or Unaged: Does Your Spirit Need Time in a Barrel?
Whether your drop should be aged or unaged, what a barrel actually does, and why you don't have to wait years.
UGC · The final push
The Final 48 Hours: What to Post
A post-by-post plan for the last two days of your drop, when most of the buying actually happens.
Producing · RTD & canned cocktails
Launch Your Own Canned Cocktail (RTD)
What it takes to launch your own ready-to-drink canned cocktail — the format, the flavor, the economics, and the timeline.
Selling · Age verification
How Age Verification Works When You Sell Your Spirit Online
Age verification for a creator spirits drop happens in three layers — and Handled handles the parts that carry legal risk, so you never touch a customer's ID.
UGC · Batch filming
Batch-Film a Month of Content in One Day
A creator's system for shooting weeks of launch content in a single session — shot list, setup, and run of show.
Selling · Email & SMS
How to Use Email and SMS to Sell Your Spirits Drop
Why owned channels convert better than the feed, and the exact email and SMS sequence to run around your spirits drop.
Producing · Proof & ABV
What Proof Should Your Spirit Be? How to Choose Your ABV
A creator's guide to picking the proof of your own spirit — what the numbers mean, what they cost, and how to choose for your first drop.
Selling · Drop mechanics
Pre-Sale or In-Stock? Two Ways to Run Your Spirits Drop
The two ways to structure a spirits drop, and how to pick the one that fits your first release.
UGC · Customer content
Turn Customers Into Content: Post-Drop UGC
The drop that ships is only half the story — here's how to turn buyers into a steady feed of unboxing clips, reviews, and reorder fuel.
Producing · Recipe & flavor
Develop Your Spirit Flavor (Not a Distiller)
You don't distill anything yourself — here's how creators actually shape the taste, proof, and character of their own spirit.
UGC · The announcement
Announcing Your Spirit Launch: Video Guide
The first video where you tell your audience you're making your own bottle sets up the whole drop. Here's how to script and film it.
Selling · Waitlists
Build a Waitlist Before Launch Day
A step-by-step guide to capturing demand and emails before your first bottles ever exist.
Producing · Naming & Branding
Name Your Spirit Brand (Label Approval)
A practical guide to naming your spirit so it's distinctive, available, and clears TTB label approval.
UGC · The build-up
Content Ideas: Around 10 Weeks of Spirit Production
The 10 or so weeks your spirit is being made is free content — here's what to post so you launch to a waitlist, not silence.
Selling · Your first run
How Many Bottles for Your First Drop?
A simple way to size your first spirits run so it sells out instead of sitting in a warehouse.
Producing · Label & Packaging
Design Your Liquor Label: Creator Control
The name, the art, and the story are yours. The legal approval isn't your problem. Here's how a creator's bottle label actually comes together.
UGC · Captions & CTAs
Captions and CTAs That Sell a Spirits Drop (With Examples)
The caption does half the selling — steal these caption frameworks and CTAs built to move a limited spirits drop.
Selling · Release strategy
Build a Spirits Release Calendar for Success
Your first drop proved the demand. Here is how to turn it into a repeatable release calendar instead of a one-time fluke.
UGC · The reveal
How to Film a Bottle Reveal That Actually Converts
The bottle reveal is your highest-stakes 30 seconds — here is how to shoot one that turns scrollers into buyers.
Selling · Shipping
DTC Alcohol Shipping Explained: How Your Bottle Ships Legally
Getting a glass bottle of spirits to a doorstep legally is the least glamorous part of a drop — and the part you will be happiest to never touch.
Producing · The economics
Cost to Make Your Own Liquor
Picturing a distillery and a five-figure check? The creator model looks very different. Here is who pays for what, line by line.
Selling · The launch
The Spirits Drop Launch Sequence
The two-week, day-by-day sequence creators run to turn followers into a buyer list that clears the shelf on drop day.
UGC · Behind the bottle
Behind the Bottle: Your Origin Story
The most valuable content for your drop is not the ad — it is the real story of how the bottle came to exist. Here is how to film it.
Producing · Your bottle
White-Label vs. Custom Spirits
The first real fork in your drop is not the label — it is whether you brand an existing spirit or shape your own. Here is how to choose.
Selling · Pricing
Pricing Your Spirits Drop: Set Bottle Prices
How to land on a bottle price that feels fair to your audience and still makes the drop worth doing.
Producing · Choosing your spirit
Choose Your Spirit: Whiskey, Vodka, Tequila, RTD
The first real decision of your drop isn't the label — it's the liquid. Here's how to match the spirit to the audience you already have.
Selling · The legal side
Sell Alcohol Online Legally: Creator Guide
The rules around selling spirits online are real — here is the plain-English version, and the part you do not have to handle yourself.
UGC · Short-form
Post Your Liquor Drop on TikTok & Reels
The creator's playbook for promoting a spirits drop on social without tripping platform rules or killing your reach.
Selling · For Creators
What Creators Actually Earn From a Spirits Drop
Bottle price, margins, and the 20% you keep — the real money math on a drop, laid out line by line. No income promises.
UGC · Short-form
7 Short-Form Video Hooks That Sell a Liquor Drop
The first two seconds decide everything. Seven compliant hooks for TikTok, Reels and Shorts — and what you can't do.
Producing · For Creators
Start Your Own Liquor Brand With Zero Upfront Cost
No distillery, no warehouse, no money up front. How creators are putting their name on a real bottle — and what it takes from you.
Producing · Licensing
Do You Need a License to Sell Your Own Whiskey?
Someone needs a permit. On a creator drop, the licensed partner holds it — you don't.
Producing · From the still
How Custom Liquor Gets Made: 10-Week Guide
Our Master Distiller walks the real route from your idea to a sellable bottle — sourcing, blending, label approval, bottling.
Selling · The Drop
The Drop Playbook: How Limited Spirits Releases Sell Out
A drop isn't a product launch. The tease-reveal-countdown sequence behind limited releases — average sellout under 60 seconds.