This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Welcome to the Queendom: Casa Malka
By Melita KielyCasa Malka is a Tequila brand that focuses on women and fashion, and has ambitions to be in the hippest bars around the world.

*This feature was first published in the February 2025 issue of The Spirits Business magazine.
“We respect the tradition, but say ‘f*ck it’ to the rules.” That’s the statement on Casa Malka’s ‘Our Story’ web page – bold, and unapologetic. The Tequila brand burst onto the spirits scene at the end of 2024, high-energy, high-end, and eager to share its individual approach to agave spirits.
That individuality epitomises the co-founders of Casa Malka, Malka Roth and Jayson Winer. Once married, the pair now raise their three daughters and run their Tequila business, born on the cusp of their separation. The respect Roth and Winer continue to have for one another is palpable throughout our conversation, and it’s a sentiment they extend to the provenance and heritage of the Tequila world, of which they are now part of.

“Malka is a fantastic mother, and being a mother has always been her number-one priority,” says Winer. “After about 10 years, I was working on Wall Street, and Malka became a spin instructor.”
“My background was really all fitness,” Roth continues, telling the story of how Casa Malka came to fruition. “I became a spin instructor at a small boutique and I built a big following. I started running, got my running certification, and started running marathons, then actually coaching people to run marathons. I’m a very disciplined person. Health and fitness is really important to me, but I also love nights out with my friends. So [Casa Malka] is really a reflection of my life.”
Tequila lover
Roth was a long-time Tequila lover, and the person who introduced Winer to the spirit. It was happenstance that one day, during their marriage, Roth and Winer were in the kitchen when: “It popped into my head: Casa Malka, ‘house of the queen’,” explains Winer. “I thought that would be such a good name for a Tequila company, and there was Malka sitting right in front of me.”
‘Malka’ translates to ‘queen’ in Hebrew, and ‘casa’ means ‘home’ in Spanish. The pair looped Winer’s sister and Nhilo Branding Agency into the idea, who backed the concept wholeheartedly, and helped to design the bottle. When it came to the liquid, Roth and Jeff Diego, also a co-founder and president of Casa Malka, led the way. “The design of Casa Malka was created by women, and Jeff and I created the juice,” adds Roth. “It took around eight or nine months,” she explains about finding the perfect recipes for the inaugural two Tequilas. “We tried hundreds of samples, and we narrowed them down to two distilleries. During the whole process we were really set on keeping it ‘clean’, with no flavours or anything to be added into the Tequila.”
Staying true to the liquid was a non-negotiable for the trio, even when the potential to sign with an influential distributor came about. “There’s a big distributor in Texas that was pressuring us to change the profile of the product – basically telling us to add some additives to it. That was a tipping point in our company. But we kept our heads, and we’re not with that distributor right now because of that – and that is fine that we’re not there. There are many opportunities in the world, and we’re really proud that we are seeing interest in Casa Malka grow, and that we have been able to stick to our guns, and what we want this brand to represent.”
The Casa Malka portfolio comprises two 40% ABV Tequilas: Casa Malka Blanco and Casa Malka Reposado. Both are made entirely from Blue Weber agave, without the addition of any caramel colouring or sweeteners.
Casa Malka Blanco boasts notes of fresh citrus, agave sweetness, floral hints and, for Roth, “a hint of vanilla at the end, which just adds to the beautiful smoothness of this Tequila”. Casa Malka Reposado spends six months in used American oak barrels before being bottled. The time in barrels adds caramel, crème brûlée, and dried fruit flavours to the Tequila, and showcases a more “complex, luxurious” flavour profile.
So far, Casa Malka has secured distribution in seven US states: New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Florida, Texas, California, and Nevada. Through its partnership with Total Wine & More in the US, Casa Malka is available in more than 30 stores. “We are also sold through our website in 45 states,” adds Diego. “We are about to venture into a couple of markets this year: Hong Kong, Bangkok in Thailand, and Tokyo in Japan. We’re in Israel, where Jason goes almost every month to see his family, so that was a natural step to bring our products there.”
Europe will be a key focus for the company this year as well. “The UK is our target; London and Paris will be our primary targets. We’re also looking at Portugal.
“In European markets, we’re very open, and it will also depend on our partners and the collaborations we make over there,” Diego says, adding that Cape Town is also on his market wish list.
“We want to be everywhere,” says Roth. “We want everyone to be able to access Casa Malka as they should.”
The ‘sceney’ areas
As a premium lifestyle brand, Casa Malka is also seeking to secure spots on the back bars of “the best bars in the world”, Roth says, noting the brand has also agreed “up-and-coming partnerships in New York and Florida, including renowned restaurant Nobu. We want to stick to the ‘sceney’ areas.”
While the brand had a clear vision of who its target audience would be – consumers with a keen interest in fashion, art, music, and lifestyle brands – the feedback from retail partners has been pleasantly surprising.
From men in the military to a broad spectrum of age demographics, it’s further confirmation for the team that consumers are connecting with Casa Malka Tequila.
“Casa Malka really stands as a brand that encourages you to better yourself. To drink better-quality spirits, to lead a better lifestyle, to be on a growth path – everything we strive to do is to better yourself,” says Winer.
Roth adds: “We are coming from a totally different approach to any other Tequila out there, from our bottle, fashion, music, design, art, we wanted all of that in our bottle. That was really our initial target to hit that type of society. From a fashion point of view, we’re modernising Tequila. Obviously, we respect it, we love it. We love our Tequila – but it’s a totally different angle. And another thing, there are no big faces here.”

“We’re not celebrities; we’re just common people, normal people,” Winer says.
New products are already planned for 2025, including the addition of Casa Malka Cristalino to the brand’s core portfolio. Plus, a ready-to-drink canned cocktail will also be available in the near future. Named Queen’s Brew, the RTD is the brand’s riff on an Espresso Martini.
“We’re actually collaborating with Wandering Bear Coffee for this launch. The can is created, the product itself is also created, and it should be out super soon,” Roth says excitedly.
“When this all started,” continues Roth, “I wanted a bottle, a drink that all my friends and my crowd would look at and think, ‘I want that’. We were very conscious about our pricing, positioning ourselves as an aspirational brand, but making sure we can be accessible in that middle price range. We always joke that Jayson is the ‘casa’ and I’m, obviously, the ‘Malka’, and with that we really want to be an inclusive brand that people can really connect with.”
For Diego, who has been working in the spirits industry for 10 years, the response to Casa Malka so far has been above and beyond any of his previous experiences, he says. Though the brand may currently comprise a small but mighty team of seven, its ambitions are big. This time next year, what would a successful 12 months look like to the trio?
“The goal of any brand is to sell cases, right,” says Diego honestly. “But for us, it’s also about enjoying the process of growing this brand that we all believe in and raising awareness of Casa Malka. If we are still here, still growing our markets, growing our audience, I think that will be a good measure that we’ve been successful.”
Winer says: “And to add to that, if we are also seeing accounts that ordered in 2024 re-order in 2025, that will be the real test of success. We don’t want to just be a ‘one and done’. We want to show up and have people adopt us as their own.” Roth concludes: “We are ready to work to keep spreading the love of Casa Malka, and keep growing.”
Related news
Tequila and RTDs keep US spirits industry afloat