In the last decade, San Diego has become increasingly known for its male-dominated craft beer culture, currently residing at No. 2 on Thrillist\u2019s Best Beer Cities in America.<\/p>\n
Several local brewers have since expanded their ventures into the craft distillery world \u2014 offering their take on various spirit varietals \u2014 and at least one has migrated to spirits altogether.<\/p>\n There are a number of stand-alone craft distilleries throughout San Diego County as well, but none is more intriguing than You & Yours Distilling Co., a boutique urban distillery that popped up in East Village at the corner of G and 15th streets in March.<\/p>\n With a welcoming and expansive tasting room and clever, well-thought-out cocktail menu, the proof is in its three years of planning. Current offerings in its \u201cflagship\u201d line of spirits are Y & Y Vodka and Sunday Gin, with a seasonal Winter Sunday Gin to be unveiled in a soft release on Dec. 6.<\/p>\n The founder and co-owner of You & Yours is 25-year-old Laura Johnson, a Texas native who after less than a year of operation has already landed herself a spot on Forbes\u2019 coveted \u201c30 Under 30\u201d list for 2018, which was announced Nov. 14.<\/p>\n Johnson arrived in America\u2019s Finest City seven years ago by way of University of San Diego (USD), but becoming a San Diego resident was not her original intention.<\/p>\n She had applied to the University of Southern California, which she was \u201cdead-set on\u201d attending, with USD as a back-up. While she liked the campus, USD\u2019s small Catholic-based environment was \u201cexactly the opposite\u201d of what she had envisioned for herself, but when she didn\u2019t get accepted to USC, she decided to enroll at USD and reapply; hoping to transfer to Los Angeles for her sophomore year. When that moment rolled around a year later, however, things had changed.<\/p>\n \u201cNo. I\u2019m exactly where I need to be,\u201d Johnson said she told herself. \u201cI love USD. I love San Diego. Everything happens for a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n Johnson\u2019s journey into distilling is an interesting one and to say that she has a flair for what she is doing here in East Village is an understatement.<\/p>\n Always drawn to the allure of cocktails and spirits rather than beer and wine as a precocious teenager, Johnson said looking back, it was a post-high school graduation trip to Cuba with her father and a behind-the-scenes tour of the Havana Club distillery that became the \u201ccatalyst\u201d for the path she is on today.<\/p>\n During her college years, she began to take in distilleries on every road trip and getaway she could, but wasn\u2019t thinking about its place in her future.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was something I knew that I loved, but I didn\u2019t really know what it meant,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI didn\u2019t see it as a passion yet.\u201d<\/p>\n After she graduated with a degree in international business and economics from USD in 2014, she traveled to Washington state for a one-week course on distilling, and it suddenly all became clear. For the next nine months, she said went through a \u201crabbit hole\u201d of distillery education; a self-described \u201cdog on a bone,\u201d chewing up as much knowledge as she could. She took courses, workshops, master classes, distillery tours and apprenticeships, immersing herself into what she now knew had become her passion.<\/p>\n \u201cI had found something that really got me up in the morning,\u201d she said. \u201cI fell in love with distilling. The creativity side of it was just so intoxicating.\u201d<\/p>\n She returned to San Diego, knowing she wanted to get into the industry and eventually have her own concept, but had no idea what the timeline would be.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I really wanted was more time on a still, actual production experience,\u201d Johnson explained. \u201cI felt like I had great theory and a great grasp of where the industry was, all the different kinds of components \u2014 like what it takes to open your own spot, packaging, going to market and distribution \u2014 I felt like I had really done my homework, but what I didn\u2019t have was production experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Determined, she reached out to every distillery she could find online located up and down the coast. The response was dim, until one came from a member of the newly formed San Diego Distilleries Guild.<\/p>\n Johnson showed up at the guild\u2019s very first meeting and introduced herself; then she just kept coming back until her persistence started to pay off and she began to hone relationships. Unfortunately, the odds were against her. No one was taking this educated, motivated, steadfast and able young woman who wanted distillery production experience seriously.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Oh, you\u2019re cute,\u2019\u201d Johnson said they told her, symbolically patting her on the head. \u201c\u2018We have a position in the tasting room or the marketing department.\u2019 It just wasn\u2019t happening.\u201d<\/p>\n While many young women would have just accepted one of those positions, sheepishly acknowledging the industry\u2019s patriarchal view of her role and seeing it as a step in the door with a possible promotion later on, Johnson wasn\u2019t having it. She decided to do it herself.<\/p>\n With a business plan already started, a little fundraising experience and myriad connections, she cut out the middle-man and did her own crowdsourcing. She pitched family, friends and the dozens of industry contacts she\u2019d made over the past year and within a month, had the funding she needed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt felt so good when the money came in,\u201d she said. \u201cEvery time I felt that support, it reiterated to me that \u2018yes, you can do this. Keep going.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Johnson said it took approximately three years from the time she finished her business plan to the day she opened the doors of You & Yours \u2014 and 14 months of that was spent haggling over the lease.<\/p>\n \u201cEast Village seemed like a great area; I kind of wanted a little bit of that gritty up-and-coming funk vibe \u2026 an industrial diamond-in-the-rough-hidden-gem kind of thing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the same time that I was falling in love with distilling, I was falling in love with gin,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI knew I wanted gins to be our focus. That\u2019s what gets my creative juices flowing the most.\u201d<\/p>\n Vodka was an obvious byproduct because, according to Johnson, \u201cto make gin, you have to make vodka, as gin is essentially just a flavored vodka.\u201d<\/p>\n After trying a number of fermentable sugars \u2014 corn, potato and grape was her first blend \u2014 she realized the grapes alone offered everything she was looking for. Her spirits are 100 percent Northern California grape-based. She said American vodkas are traditionally corn-based, while French are wheat-based and others are potato-based. Ciroc is another popular vodka on the market that is grape-based.<\/p>\n \u201cThe best way to keep this whole venture authentic was to create something I wanted to drink,\u201d she said. \u201cI was looking for something bright and fresh and modern and juicy and citrus-forward, and that\u2019s exactly what [Sunday Gin] is.\u201d<\/p>\n Johnson said the staff \u201caffectionately refers to their Sunday Gin as a \u201cgateway gin,\u201d since many who first come in either don\u2019t care to try gin or have tried it and have had what she calls a \u201cgincident.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI welcome you to come in and we will facilitate your \u2018gintervention,\u2019\u201d she said, laughing. \u201cIt is a great entry point if you don\u2019t like gin. If you do like gin you should not mix it with anything, just enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n Their cocktail program \u2014 executed by a five-person staff led by tasting room manager Tom Burnett \u2014 is unique in that each cocktail is created with ingredients that highlight the flavor notes of their craft spirits, not mask them or shift the focus to the other ingredients.<\/p>\n \u201cOur spirits are what we want to showcase and what we want you to taste,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n After spending some time at You & Yours, it is hard to believe Johnson is just 25. Though she is at times chatty and playful, she is also fiercely confident and affirming, with an absolute wealth of knowledge about the industry. It wasn\u2019t surprising to learn that making Forbes\u2019 list was a personal goal.<\/p>\n Johnson has also had a hand in every aspect of her business, from raising the capital; choosing the location; designing her own custom still; curating the spirits; conceptualizing the cocktail menu; and designing and outfitting the tasting room. As such, Johnson has truly made You & Yours California\u2019s first destination distillery, just as its website claims.<\/p>\n For the curious, she said they do indeed plan to venture into other spirits down the road, but for now, she\u2019s quite content with their offerings.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want people to think we are making gin because we are waiting on the whiskey to age,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe are making gin because this is what we want to make. I never want anyone to think these spirits are an afterthought. This is who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n You & Yours Distillery Co. is located at 1495 G St. in East Village. Their operating hours ate Wednesdays through Fridays, 4\u201310 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays, noon-10 p.m. They offer workshops, distillery tours, pairing events and their expansive tasting room is available for holiday parties, office meetings or even private parties. On New Year\u2019s Eve, they can only pour until 10 p.m., but she said it\u2019s a great place to start your evening. To learn more, visit youandyours.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Exactly](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/MGM8542-1.jpg\")
How she got here<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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The products<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Johnson\u2019s Sunday Gin is her \u201cpride and joy.\u201d<\/p>\n