Drop of the Creator
Liked
Atmosphere, cocktails, food
Lacked
Cold enough air conditioning for a Texas tasting room
Loved
Local-first focus that emphasizes community and supporting families (sometimes mom and dad just need a drink!)
Curiously Crafted in HTX
Back in March of 2024, Chris got the best kind of text from a work friend - a new Houston distillery was breaking ground in April and was set to open in September. That distillery (and brewery, and local pizza place) was Drop of the Creator Spirits Company.
Owner and co-founder Lori Murphy was making hand sanitizer during the pandemic and sensing an opportunity to do more with her passions for both gin and her local community. Lori and her husband, Jeromy, set out to create a neighborhood spot for families to bring their kids, enjoy great drinks and food, and watch “sports ball” (they may not be sports people themselves, but they still support those of us that are). Jeromy would up-scale his home brewing experience in combination with Lori’s distilling prowess and a handful of sourced spirits to create a diverse enough beverage offering to meet most preferences, including fresh squeezed juices for the kids. They found a great corner lot just a few blocks from their home that was previously a Discount Tire and then a cross fit studio, and wanting to avoid another local carwash (which is in itself an act of service to the community), they set about learning new trades and getting organized for opening in late 2024.
September 2024 came and went, and despite the permit delays, renovations, storm damage, and general building of suspense, our team stayed focused on visiting Drop of the Creator as soon as possible. Our own delays led to us missing the soft opening in late April 2025, but we made the trip down to Westbury on a Saturday in mid-May to try out what the locals were already loving.
First Impressions
Westbury is a family-friendly neighborhood in south-west Houston that sits a few miles outside of the 610 loop. That puts it about 40 miles from our Houston team, despite it still being in the same city (Houston is big, y’all). I arrived right after they opened at 11am and pulled into one of the ~20 parking spots in the lot to start taking photos. This really is a former Discount Tire - the main entrance is nestled in the floor-to-ceiling windows you’d expect from the tire shop and bay doors run along the back. Along the right side of the building is a beautiful mural from local Houston artist Mark Deleon, and both the mural and the color of the building make it stand out in the area. It’s easy to spot from the road and easy to park, and sometimes that’s half the battle in visiting a distillery!
The building is split into a few main sections - walking in the front door I was greeted by the gray and red tiles of the original Discount Tire that soon gave way to a well-appointed and designed tasting room. The main bar sits off to the left with seating across couches, chairs, and tables on the right. Immediately to the left of the bar is the small kitchen area with a substantial pizza oven and fridge space for fresh foods and ingredients. Straight ahead you can see the walkthrough to the restrooms and then a door out to the old working area complete with the bay doors opened to let in light and whatever breeze you’re lucky to snag. That back area (called The Drop Warehouse) has additional seating, TVs, fans, and a connected play area for kids that is only accessible from the back area itself so that you can corral the kids into it and keep them from running off into the road. Behind the tasting room is the production space, with a 250-gallon still for spirits and two 150-gallon tanks for brewing beer using Houston’s first EZBrew system. Everything that is currently finished is thoughtfully and artfully designed, which makes sense given both Lori and Jeromy are architects.
I happened to come in while Lori and Jeromy were on site, and they graciously gave me some of their time to talk about their progress and plans, and “force” me to sample food and drinks. They currently offer four spirits which are available as a flight and in various cocktails:
A New American-style gin that Lori distills (90 proof). Lori creates her own extractions of ingredients like grains of paradise and thyme, and prefers fresh oranges over dried ones.
Vodka (90 proof). I don’t really have more to share on this except that it was surprisingly good neat.
A 99% Blue Agave sprit imported from Jalisco, Mexico (90 proof). You can’t legally call it tequila, but it tastes like a high-quality tequila at a low price because Lori got all the permits to import it herself.
A Texas whiskey (90 proof) that is sourced from Bone Spirits out of Smithville. This is technically a straight bourbon, but the team intentionally labeled it at as a more generic whiskey to give them the space to experiment without needing different, more granular labels.
BONUS: In the future they will be distilling their own American Single Malt
The tasting room is where I sat with Lori, and it feels more like a cocktail lounge with its comfortable seating, darker colors, music, and adjustable lighting. Jeromy shared pretzels from Slow Dough, a local bakery, and buffalo wings that he was pulling fresh from the oven. I also saw a delicious veggie tray and charcuterie platter that another group ordered, and Lori told me about their test run of pizzas from the previous weekend that had me wanting to come back once pizzas were officially on the menu (update: pizza is available as of 5/23). All the food and cocktail ingredients are locally sourced, and Patrick - the main bartender - was cutting fresh mint and peeling citrus in between helping customers or making recommendations on and off of the menu.
The business model for Drop of the Creator is very much local first, with any distribution as a future phase only after feeling content with their local impact. That focus is evident in the space and how they are balancing a tasting room for adults (21+ by law) and an expanded area in the back that welcomes families and friendly dogs (though honestly we don’t want to visit a place that welcomes unfriendly dogs, especially not when we’re trying to enjoy a drink!). The menu is simple but varied, the space is open but welcoming, and the people are as enjoyable as the drinks - which to be clear are very much enjoyable.
Lasting Memories
Our rule at Distillery Reviews is to visit a place twice before writing about it, but while sitting in the tasting room and reviewing my notes it was clear to me that even our rules may need to be broken when the experience needs to be shared in a timely manner to help drive awareness of a new distillery. Lori and Jeromy have created something that just feels right, and their community is already taking notice. In the three hours I was there I saw about a dozen parties come through, and all but two of them had brought along kids (or dogs!). Even my friend from work that originally tipped me off to the distillery dropped in to refill his growler and to be jealous of my Drop of the Creator hat that I snagged online before they ran out of stock on basically all merchandise.
We always value the time we get with owners and/or distillers, and this was no exception. The biggest takeaway I left with is that Drop of the Creator is taking a deliberately iterative approach to rolling out their space and offerings that is clearly working well for them. The food that Jeromy shared was being tested in the new pizza oven to help them speed up cook times and scale to meet demand. Patrick made me two variations on a new cocktail he was creating, each one more refined than the last (orange and jalapeño - you need to try it). There are plans for a secondary bar in the back area with beer on tap so that parents can order drinks without going into the tasting room, and the team is even working on getting the licenses necessary to offer wine. Most pieces of the operation felt in flux and under control at the same time, and the passion from Lori and Jeromy shone through in every new plan they shared and every plan they had already executed on.
If you live in the area and you haven’t yet been to Drop of the Creator, then now is the time to visit. Their iterative approach means there may never be a grand opening, so do yourself a favor and go now! It looks like things will only get better from here, but they’re already good enough for me to want to return with more of the team whenever we have a weekend free.
Summary
Drop of the Creator is a new, high-quality distillery and brewery with a local focus that we hope finds sustained success with the surrounding community. Founders Lori and Jeromy Murphy are living the art of incremental improvement, and we expect that visiting each week would reveal new variations and subtly enhanced experiences that keep you wanting to come back for more.
We look forward to bringing more of our own team and families down soon to enjoy the atmosphere and offerings. Cheers!
Our Stats
First Visit: May 2025
Visit Count: 1
Tours Taken: 1
Spirits Sampled: 4
Favorite Spirit: Texas Whiskey
