Okolehao - Current Production

Current Production

Island Distillers in Honolulu makes 100 proof Hawaiian Moonshine, a re-creation of the original okolehao. There have been several past and recent productions of an okolehao type liqueur which is made by blending extracts of ti plant root, or ground up and emulsified ti root, with sugar syrup, rum, neutral spirits, bourbon, and other artificial and natural flavorings. On Maui, Haleakala Distillers makes such a liqueur. Liqueurs are generally sweet from the heavy sugar addition and are considered rectified spirits and not distilled spirits. These "liqueur" products are generally sweet, between 60 and 80 proof, and taste much like a sweet fruit brandy, bearing little resemblance to the original. True or original style okolehao generally had a random proof of 85 proof to 100 proof, the proof was dependent on the efficiency of the distillation process. The finished product was determined at the point the moonshiner decided that their okolehao had the right "hit" or "punch". Some full strength okolehaos were and are made at a proof up to 130 proof, 65% alcohol by volume, the proof obtainable by most illegal pot stills in a single pass.

While the Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco, now the TTB, once recognized okolehao as a unique class, like vodka, gin, bourbon, tequila, whiskey, liqueur, etc., it is now recognized as a distilled specialty spirit (DSS), which requires the producer or distiller to include the exact ingredients and general formula on the label.

For the short time okolehao was legally made in Hawaii after the war and into the sixties, the State of Hawaii granted okolehao a reduced tax rate to assist in its appeal and cost. That reduced tax was ruled by the Federal Government to be illegal due to discriminatory taxation of a spirit product.