42 Below

42 Below at a Glance

42 Below has 1 distinct product with 1 total TTB label approvals, including Vodka 80-89 Proof. Labels approved between 2021-09-17 and 2021-09-17. Label origins on file: New Zealand.

At a Glance data sourced from public TTB records.

42 Below Vodka: The Story of Geoff Ross's New Zealand Vodka Brand

Geoff Ross got the idea for 42 Below while head of client service at Saatchi & Saatchi in Wellington, after an ad for an American vodka at a US conference struck him as bizarre, iStart reported. In 1996 he began distilling in his garage, the first bottling sold in 1999, and the vodka is now distilled from GM-free wheat in a four column process, Difford's Guide says.

Why the vodka is called 42 Below

The name comes from New Zealand lying on the 42nd parallel, and the marketing centres on location and the purity of the spring water used, Difford's Guide says. A giant banner in mock-Soviet propaganda style at the head office read "Our recipe is so secret that we have to KILL all of our staff every six weeks!", iStart reported.

From a hundred cases a month to 90,000

Three years after he began, Ross had a vodka his friends seemed to prefer to the ones they could buy, and he started selling a hundred cases a month to a small number of customers, he told iStart. Sales climbed to a projected 90,000 plus cases that year, revenue rose 2,116% over two years, and the markets were the US, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, in that order, iStart reported. The company concentrated its US efforts on New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas.

Where 42 Below is made

Manufacturing was outsourced to a New Zealand-based bulk distiller and bottling plant, iStart reported. It is made to the company's recipe and specifications, and every batch is taste tested, Ross said.

The 2010 bottle and the flavour names

In spring 2010 the brand unveiled a new bottle, tall and slender but slightly shorter to fit standard shelves, with each flavour in its own colour, Difford's Guide says. Manuka Honey became Honey, Passionfruit became Passion, Kiwifruit became Kiwi, and Feijoa stayed Feijoa, the guide quoted the release as saying. The original 42% alcohol by volume was brought in line across markets to 40% globally, the guide adds. Every approval is listed in the TTB label records for 42 Below on this page.

Sources

• iStart (istart.co.nz). “Geoff Ross: Liquor legend.” Undated. https://istart.co.nz/nz-feature-article/geoff-ross-liquor-legend/
• Difford's Guide. “Pacific Dawn Distillers (42 Below).” Undated. https://www.diffordsguide.com/producers/543/pacific-dawn-distillers-42-below
• TTB Public COLA Registry via BUY.VODKA data snapshot (src/data/labels.json, local build 16 October 2026). “42 Below” label approvals. Local read-only query, 16 October 2026.

Produced At

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Related Questions

• Where is 42 Below vodka made?
• Who makes 42 Below vodka and who owns the brand?
• What proof is 42 Below vodka?

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