Meet Trea Feist | Founder at Dank Vodka

We had the good fortune of connecting with Trea Feist and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Trea, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Dank Vodka was just a fragment image in my head 7 years ago, I knew I had always wanted to own my own business but I did not know exactly what I wanted to do. I had failed so many times at countless jobs over and over and over again, which was where I found out I was meant to be an owner operator and to stop working for others who had already made their dreams come true, it was time for me to Dank my dreams come true!

I am a Army Veteran and bartender by trade, I was initially going to start my own bar but knew that would not provide the generation wealth I was looking for. I have a daughter, Audra Jaylin Feist, that I knew I needed to provide for, and not just her I wanted to provide for as many generations as I could after her.
‘
So the wheels in my head started turning, as I was just starting out as a cocktail bartender, mid way through my bar career. Not only was I a bar manager I was and am a cannabis activist and wanted to combine the rising markets but do it federally legal and where it was not frowned upon by non cannabis enthusiasts. I saw both markets rising at high exponential rates and knew there had to be a solid way to combine them both without disrupting one or the other parties, “how can I bring cannabis and alcohol enthusiasts together under one roof?” I thought.

Well after long thought process I knew it wasn’t going to be a roof I brought them under but instead it would be a cork.
I got tired of seeing premium brands not have premium spirits on the inside, particularly Vodka & I wanted to change the status quo on vodka. I wanted to make a odorless flavorless vodka but still somehow tie in cannabis in some way.

I watched a show called Bong Apetit on ViceLand TV and found out what Terpenes were, they are natural organic compounds found in citrus fruits and plants, but mostly known for their medicinal properties in essential oils or CBD/Cannabis.

Then the bartender in me looked up, “Terpene Alcohol” in as many ways as I could and realized no one in the World had ever created a liquor brand using Terps as their “Flavor”. This is when I knew I had an amazing idea, I mean after all there are several countries with legal cannabis for decades and no one had done this with liquor. There are CBD, Hemp & even THC liquors but ZERO liquor or liqueur with Terpenes.

I was set out to make a odorless flavorless vodka but with a modern hint of Citrus based Lemon Haze Terpenes. I knew if I could make a true premium spirits with a refreshing zesty hint of terps I would bridge a gap between said cannabis and alcohol enthusiasts and spark relationships that may have never formed just by the words “Dank Vodka”.

This idea became a dream, then it became a business plan and finally turned into a real product 5 years later as I took that final leap of quitting the service industry and diving head deep into my own real life living dream. I knew this was something that can take care of my children’s children for decade after decade after decade.

At some point I just had to give in to my fears and just tell myself, “if someone else can do it, SO CAN YOU, but you’ll do it better, Trea.”

Then the hustle started and here I am 3 years after starting my company really Danking my Dreams Come True with the smoothest, most refreshing and World Original Terpene Liquor Brand, Dank Vodka!

What should our readers know about your business?
Dank Vodka is a corn based Vodka produced in Waxahachie, Texas where we have the cleanest water in Texas by pulling directly out of our aquifers to ensure the cleanest and purest water to blend in with our high quality Vodka.

Dank is different that then rest in many other ways, our biggest difference is we are the Worlds First Terpene Liquor Brand, using citrus based Lemon Haze Terpenes.

Terpenes are just the zest in citrus fruits, sweet smell in plants and are aromatic, flavorful, naturally sweet and extremely medicinal. Since they are all of these things Dank Vodka has ZERO added sugars, artificial natural flavors, citric acids or oil by products making it the cleanest Vodka on The Planet.

We at Dank pride ourselves on quality and strive to offer the best Vodka on the market, therefore, we carbon filter our Vodka through 5 carbon filters over 3 days. After this process we distill our Vodka 6x then run what is called a infinity or continuous distillation for up to 4 hours. Yes, this is a lengthy and very expensive process but it removes all the grainy impurities that are associated with almost all other Vodka’s. These grainy impurities are what exhaust a grainy smell, taste, harsh burn on your throat and headaches later.

So yes with the trifecta of no added sugars or impure byproducts, carbon filtration and Terpenes there is no better vodka to drink as we are the cleanest Vodka on the planet!

We always say Dank you, We Dank Responsibly and we make the best Dankarita (margarita) you will ever have!

We are here to create a movement and take over the nation as the next best and most sought after vodka on Planet Earth #DankNation

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I have a few places I would take them..

One we would start out at Katy Trail Icehouse to see the largest volume beer garden in Texas for some crafty beers, then we would head over to Tipsy Alchemist for some molecular cocktails, then I would take them out to the Frisco area and hit some of our top seller places, Shakertins as well as The Nook in Celina.

The most fun places are on the lake, but they don’t serve Dank on the lake lol

I think the most fun people are the ones who can carry a conversation, have a sense of humor and know how to hold their liquor in order to have a Danktastic time. If you can’t hold your drinks down or hold yourself together then we probably wont have the greatest time going out. Now, don’t get me wrong I don’t always drink, I love going out on the lake to surf, board or tube but if I am not doing that then we are definitely dropping a line in a creek or on a boat and catching some fish. I am an angler at heart and love sitting out on a bank or boat catching dinner.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My shout out goes to a military brother of mine, mentor and big role model Steven Turner. Steven was a bar owner I worked for who actually fired me, doubled my last paycheck and gave me the 32 page business plan for his business and told me “If you haven’t started your own company in 3 years, I… I have failed you”.

That saying right there stuck with me and sure enough it was just a little over 3 years when I pulled out that old business plan and started to get to work on building an empire that will be known as the best thing to ever hit the liquor industry.

Also, I have to give a shout out to my lifelong friend, Jason Lemle, who is the President for graves county economic development in Mayfield, Ky. Jason is a extremely smart individual and was the one I always brought my “Million Dollar Ideas” to, which he turned all of them down saying, respectfully, “thats dumb” haha!

That motivated me to keep coming back with ideas until I had one that caught his attention, when I brought Dank Vodka to his attention, he gave me the time of day. Jason thought for a minute and finally replied with “Tell me more” then once I explained the concept he gave me a little grin and said “I think you have something there bud, how are you going to fund it, build it & more importantly how are you going to sell it and why are people going to buy it?”

Website: Www.DankSpirits.Com

Instagram: @DankVodka the one with less than 500 followers is ours, we got hacked a couple months ago and are building up our following.

Linkedin: Trea Sample

Twitter: @DankVodka

Facebook: @Dank Vodka @trea Dank Sample

Other: TikTok @DankVodka

Image Credits
Adam Cooper with Creative Customs Fl Samantha Salmon with Samantha Salmon Photography Zack Williams with ROI Marketing Firm