The craft breweries calling downtown’s Arts District home have a new neighbor, though it’s still in the alcohol-making family.

Our/Los Angeles vodka opened its tasting room and microdistillery last week and will begin selling its small crown-cap bottles in select stores and online next month.

Steven Ocheltree and Tyler Simmons, co-founders of ad agency Sew, launched the brand in partnership with Our/Vodka, a division of Pernod Ricard’s Absolut Co.

Simmons said it took two years and a bit of convincing before the pair agreed to join the venture.

“When they approached us we thought this was really kind of crazy,” Simmons said. “That was our knee-jerk reaction.”

While Simmons and Ocheltree have been running their agency for six years, they had never even dabbled in making vodka – or any other type of alcohol.

But that wasn’t a problem for Our/Vodka, which teams up with local entrepreneurs in cities across the globe who bring local flavors and market the product. Our/Vodka helps them set up the distillery and then hands over the keys to the local partners who manage operations and distribute the spirit.

The first such partnership was launched in Berlin three years ago. Los Angeles now joins Amsterdam, London, Detroit, and Seattle on the roster.

Like partners in other cities, Ocheltree and Simmons use locally sourced ingredients in their vodka.

“If you were to line up all of them together and do a tasting you could make a distinction between them,” Simmons said.

A 375-milliliter bottle of Our/Los Angeles vodka costs $20. Tastings and tours cost $10.

The microdistillery is about a 20-minute walk from Sew’s headquarters. Simmons said he and Ocheltree have hired a staff of four to manage the new venture and will share sales profits with Our/Vodka. He declined to disclose the split.

“For the most part, it’s a pretty smooth operation,” he said.

– Subrina Hudson