Goodnight Loving Vodka

The Austin vodka brand took over the 30,000-square-foot building on East 290 on August 1 — tasting room date still TBD

If you've driven East 290 since summer and wondered what's going on at the old Deep Eddy place, here's the answer. Goodnight Loving Vodka, an Austin brand, took over the 30,000-square-foot distillery and tasting room at 2250 E US Hwy 290 on August 1. A tasting room is part of the plan. An opening day isn't — as of this week, the company still hasn't named one.

The news. Deep Eddy closed its Dripping Springs tasting room to the public in June, after announcing it would consolidate production at its main distillery in Buda. In April, Goodnight Loving announced it would take over the Dripping Springs building and, for the first time, run its whole spring-to-bottle operation under one roof. The company says the facility can produce more than a million cases a year, which is a big step up for a brand that started as a side project. The public side — a tasting room and visitor experience — is coming, with hours to be announced. The company has said this fall. We'll tell you the minute there's a date.

The place. Plenty of people around here already know the building: it was Deep Eddy's Hill Country outpost for years, with the big tasting room right on 290 on the east side of town. Goodnight Loving gets a facility that was built for exactly this — making vodka and pouring it for visitors — and Dripping Springs keeps a working distillery on that stretch of highway instead of an empty one.

What's pouring. Vodka, and only vodka. Goodnight Loving was started in 2020 by a father-and-son team, Tim and Timothy Osburn, with a circle of friends. The water comes from the Goodnight Loving Spring, an artesian spring on the family's ranch in Mason, Texas. It's corn-based, distilled seven times, 80 proof, naturally gluten-free, with no added sugar. It has picked up a platinum award at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and Forbes has called it one of the world's best vodkas — not bad for a five-year-old label.

The brand's website runs a long list of house cocktails — a Texas Martini, an Espresso Martini, a Prickly Pear Cooler, a Zilker Sunset, a Watermelon Lemonade — which gives you a decent idea of what a tasting room bar might lean on once it opens. Until then, you'll find the bottle around Austin-area stores and bars.

Good to know. The tasting room is not open yet, so don't make the drive expecting a pour. Watch the brand's Instagram and Facebook for an opening announcement; we'll run it in Drinks Watch as soon as it's official.

Local Eats covers every new opening, closing and coming-soon spot around Dripping Springs, Driftwood and Wimberley — free, every Thursday. Subscribe at https://www.localeats.news/austin-hillcountry.