Ian Somerhalder & Paul Wesley Reveal Their Bourbon Brand Was Inspired After Drinking Tea on 'Vampire Diaries' Set

Ian Somerhalder has opened up about one of the reasons why he and Paul Wesley decided to start their own liquor brand, Brother’s Bond Bourbon.

The former Vampire Diaries stars, who played on screen brothers, debuted the brand just a few years ago, and in a new interview, revealed that some of the inspiration comes from filming the former CW series.

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Ian explained to Page Six that during filming, the cast were actually drinking iced tea during scenes when they appeared to have some sort of liquor in a cup.

“We had the most insane anxiety issues because there was so much caffeine,,” he shared. “You’re drinking 20 to 30 cups of tea, so by the end of the day you’re, like, ‘Ahh!’ We didn’t [sleep].”

Paul agreed, saying it was “take after take” with copious amounts of tea.

The anxiety only lessened when the tea was switched to decaf.

Ian and Paul then revealed that the excessive iced tea helped to inspire them to create the Brother’s Bond brand.

“The South is sort of a great place to drink bourbon, so that was part of the reason that we created Brother’s Bond, as well, because we were drinking a lot of it off set and on set,” Paul says. “It was kind of being like at sleep-away camp.”

Ian adds, “Our cast and our crew were so tight. We had local watering holes, but it wasn’t just the cast that would show up. It was cast, it was grips, it was electrics, it was assistant directors. It was everybody.”

Get more details about the Brother’s Bond brand here!