Tom Segura and Bert Kreischer are each crushing comedy with successful specials, sold out tours and individual TV and film projects in various stages of production. They have legions of fans who love their brand of often crass comedy and they dish it out together co-hosting popular podcast ‘2 Bears, 1 Cave.’ Recently, Bert and Tom, friends for the better part of two decades, have entered the spirits business together with their new vodka Por Osos, translating to ‘For Bears.’ We caught up with them for real talk about their friendship and their vodka – both in which they’re very invested. Rather than take the easy route of white labeling (where they just put their name on a brand’s product), they went all in and chose a route where they’ve been hands-on at every step, from choosing the Texas-based distillery for their gluten-free premium vodka, to the honeycomb top - because bears love honey.
Did you toss around other names or was it always Por Osos?
Tom: We were going to do Dos Osos, but there’s a small brewery that has Dos Osos Beer.
Bert: Tom is fluent in Spanish, so we wanted to incorporate that as well and give a little nod to his mom's Peruvian heritage.
You have a podcast “2 Bears, One Cave,” what do bears symbolize to you?
Tom: The vodka is Por Osos, which is by bears, so it’s by us, we’re the two bears. The podcast and all of this starting was a happy accident. We were going to try the podcast and maybe do it once a month and then we went to twice a month and we had to figure out what to call it and it just became our identity. At the time, we were substantially fatter, we were two husky guys with beards and we just embraced it.
What made you decide to get into the spirits industry?
Bert: We’d been approached with different deals and it's a natural fit. But, Tom said if we're going to do this, we're not just going to slap our name on a label, we're going to really invest our money and make this product and have it be something we can stand behind and are passionate about. It took a while to figure out what kind of alcohol we would do, but we felt like vodka was a little open space for us. So, we tasted 14-16 different vodkas from a Texas distillery we found and it’s the best decision I've ever made, not even investment-wise, but because it's just been so much fun.
Tom: It has been so much fun and to reiterate what Bert said, just white labeling stuff is not appealing to me. I know a lot of people do it and it’s obviously easier, but it just didn't feel right. Getting the chance to do this, everything from finding the distillery and to the actual shape of the bottle, it really feels like we can stick our chests out with this thing to anybody and we're thrilled with it, it's made in Texas and a really high-quality product.
The tagline for Por Osos is ‘Make Friends.’ How long have you been friends?
Bert: I met Tom just after my daughter Georgia was born, so 19 years. I've been with Tom as long as I've been with my wife.
Did you guys meet doing comedy?
Bert: We did. We were opening for the same guy and I walked in the green room and Tom was watching a Florida State game. I told him I went to Florida State, he said, ‘That’s my favorite team.’
Tom: Then we toured together for a while and our careers evolved from there, but we were broke as a joke and just comics trying to find our way.
What do you value most about your friendship?
Bert: One of the coolest things in this business that you can get is someone you can trust, who you can ask questions to and confide in about where you are in your career and where you're going who will know the right decisions to make. And Tom, despite being younger than me, blew up before I did. His podcast got money before I did and his tour was bigger than mine. When it started to happen to me, there was no ego involved, ever. I could always ask him any question and he gave me the right answer, and I knew that I could trust it, and I've known that I could always trust Tom. Whenever I have a deal going through Hollywood I always talk to Tom and I know it's a brotherhood of trust in that no one is going to tell their agents, no one's trying to pivot to get one up on each other, which does happen in this business. Honestly, I wouldn't be where I am today without him, and I’m being dead serious.
Tom: That's very sweet. I also feel like there's something where when you meet somebody and they’ve just had their first child, it's a different type of dynamic in your friendship. I'm not just friends with Bert, I’m friends with his family. I've seen his family grow and he feels like family to me. We talk to each other more like siblings would than friends and we have a lot of fun. We tease each other and we talk trash to each other, but ultimately, we really celebrate each other.
Por Osos tagline is “Make Friends.” Women tend to do more social networking mixers than men and it’s difficult for men to make friendships as adults.
Bert: I was just up speaking at Harvard speaking on behalf of Por Osos and I jokingly said we should have an app like Tinder, but for dudes to make best friends.
Your go-to vodka drink?
Bert: Vodka and soda
Tom: Since I’ve learned more about vodka, I’ve learned the premium ones like the one that we have, which is wheat-based, has a better flavor and you can have it just straight up and can sip it just on ice. That's actually my preference.
Por Osos says it’s made with special technology
Tom: Premium vodka is premium because of how intense the distillation process is, and Persedo, the distillery that we work with, has a proprietary super high-level process and it also injects nitrogen, so it strips out all of what you don't want and gives it a boost.
Bert: I will say this - I've been enjoying our drink every evening lately, and I'm working out at 7am every morning and I'm feeling freakin’ awesome. It’s a very clean vodka and I can get up and perform the next morning and have a great day. I am filled with joy today and I was partying pretty late last night.
Tom: That's a nod to Persedo and what they do because if you have a cheaper or less refined vodka you’re going to feel worse, the premium stuff you just don't. That doesn't mean you should drink a gallon at a time, but you definitely can have a few and you don't feel like you're beat up.
Check out Tom and Bert’s June and July tour dates on their respective websites and find Por Orsos at local liquor stores and restaurants and bars around town.