Tequila Cheers 0409

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20 | april 2009 www.cheersonline.co

Southern Heat

The Tequila business is booming

for operators as increasing guest

sophistication, new offerings and

innovative marketing take the

spirit up-market.

By Jack Robertiello

MatrixFillmore in San Francisco servesup a variety of tequila-based drinks,

including the Paniolo, made with

pineapple juice and jalapeo peppers.


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H as the ortune o any spirit been more closely tied toits outreach to the restaurants and bar communitythan tequila?ake the ight phenomenon. While a handul o bars that

ocus on single malt Scotch oer customers the chance toorder a trio o various whiskies in one go, its not a commonoccurrence. Likewise, there are plenty o operators that gatherlarge selections o brandies and rums, but the ight conceptnever really has caught on with them.

equila does not suer this problemrom vertical tastingsrom a single distiller to groupings by age or region, tequilaights barely raise eyebrows these days.

Distiller dinners are another example. When a rum maker ora vodka producer comes to a city with a dining and drinkingstory to tell, it can be cause or news. But every day, it seems,tequila producers send their reps out on the road to host special

spirit, cocktail and ood pairings that routinely sell out.Tese are just two o the innovative ways operators are marketingand selling tequila, leading the way or the category by educatingconsumers and generating excitement or the Mexican spirit.

Teir work is paying o: Most leading tequila brands grewlast year, according to Cheersparent Te Beverage InormationGroup (BIG). Category leader Jose Cuervo inched up 0.2percent, Patrn shot up 5.8 percent, Sauza grew 1.8 percent,

Juarez was up a blazing 14.5 percent and 1800 grew more than20 percent. Te top 10 tequila brands grew 4 percent by volumelast year, with the category as a whole up 3.8 percent.

Many suppliers also have been ocusing on new iterations

that oer operators greater diversity: Cuervo now oers themixto Jose Cuervo Especial Silver; Milagro has advancedits second line o Select Barrel Reserve tequilas and Proximorecently introduced Gran Centenario Rosangel, a 100 percentagave reposado tequila nished in port pipes and inused withhibiscus owers.

Quality Rising

While the association with bad collegiate behavior still lingerson some level, tequilas reputation as a quality spirit now is wellestablished or the most part. According to the most recent statisticsrom the Washington, D.C.-based Distilled Spirits Council o

the United States, tequila exploded last year at the highest pricepoints, with volume up among super-premium spirits by 10.6percent. Value-priced tequilas also were up, gaining 6.4 percentby volume in 2008, while premium, the largest category, sank 1.3percent and high-end premium dropped by 9.2 percent.

But it wasnt always this way. Its amazing to see how quicklythings have changed, says David Suro, owner o equilas, aPhiladelphia bar that has been providing quality tequila ormore than 23 years. It was a spirit that was considered sort odangerous, and now its become [one o] the astest growingspirits in the U.S. He shakes his head when he remembers thedierence between the tequila collection when he started the

bar and the 105 pure-agave tequilas he carries today.

I had access to only ve tequilas that I thought were drinkablewhen I opened; it was so bad during those years, I switched rombeing a tequila drinker to a Scotch drinker, he says. You canteven imagine what it was like then. oday, equilas selection

ranges in price rom $7.50 or 1800, Hornitos and Cuervoradicional Reposados to $100 or Gran Patrn Burdeos, whichis nished in Bordeaux wine barrels.

Doing business in Pennsylvania, where the state strictlycontrols entry, made it harder or Suro to get quality brands. Butthe point is well taken: equila has come a long way. Nowhere isthe importance o 100 percent blue agave tequila more obviousthan with the continuing growth o Patrn; its entire productline is made rom 100 percent agave.

In act, many operators like Suro carry only 100 percentagave tequilas. Tere are two basic types o tequila: those madeentirely rom agave, and mixto tequila, produced rom a mix o

51 percent agave and other sugars. res Agaves in San Franciscostocks about 100 oerings o pure-agave tequilas, limited to 30brands in the three major age ranges. As with Phillys equilas,res Agaves also holds monthly distil lery dinners that are hostedby a disti ller or brand ambassador, with mariachi musicians, aspecial menu and both cocktail and ight pairings. Te dinnerscost $75 per person and include tip, tax and tequila.

res Agaves also boosts sales with a passport marketingprogram that allows them to ramp up the inormational aspect

Tres Agaves in San

Francisco serves a bevy of

tequila drinks, including

the Zapatos Nuevos, made

with Herradura Silver

Tequila, watermelon and

ginger pure.

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atmazzera


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o selling tequila. Anything we do is about urthering our missionto educate people about 100 percent agave tequila, says managingpartner Eric Rubin. Customers get their res Agaves passportsstamped with each variety they sample, and guests who ll theirbook have a chance to win a ree distillery dinner or other gits.

o bolster sta training, management also regularly takesservers to Mexico on distillery trips; the restaurant has logged75 unique sta visits in the past three and a hal years.

Sta training and customer education works wonders, saysSuro, who hosts a monthly dinner and seminar that pairs

tequilaboth neat and in cocktailswith ood. Tey ocuson the history, geography and terroir o the spirit, he says. Healso holds a monthly late-night tasting that eatures six brands.During these tastings, he passes around a tray o herbs, spicesand ruits that, according to each producer, tasters mightencounter in the products. Limited to about 18 people, theseevents sell out airly quickly and cost $45 per person.

MoRe than FRozen MaRgaRitas

astings are one way to sell tequila, but its long been theMargarita, Americas avorite cocktail, that has driven thespirits success.

In New York City, oloache che and owner Julian Medinatook a hands-on approach and developed the hal dozen or sorecipes or the restaurants various Margaritas. Like guests atmany other authentic Mexican restaurants, oloaches customersseem to be passing on the old standby, the rozen Margarita.

I thought wed sell more rozen Margaritas then we do, butthe number one seller is the oloache, he says, a $12 signaturedrink made with Frida Kahlo Blanco, hibiscus, blueberries andlime. A shaken, $10 house-made Margarita with El Jimador isthe second largest seller, and all are made with agave nectar, aningredient popular in cutting-edge cocktail programs.

Some o Medinas other creations are proving to be successul,

as well. Ive been trying to make drinks that people will like

BuddingBlancos

Siris uhoriy Sen Ludord o BevX gzine

sys he sures wy o ssess he ribues o

equil brnd is o sle is blnco version, lso

known s l.Brrel ging hs roound ec on equil,

noes Ludord. Blnco equils re le undulered

nd yiclly boled resh ro he sill. When well-

de, heyre vibrn, bursing wih vor, nd bes

reresen he coelling quliies o equil.

In cse youve issed he iniil nre over heir

releses, here re ew silvers youll wn o exlore.

arisnl Jose Cuervo plino is chring blnco

wih such reendous deh o chrcer h i is

gurneed o ke Jose Cuervo household ne.

the hndcred equil is de ccording o he

esenci de gve rocess in which only h r o hegve riches in erenble sugrs is used in disillion.

plino iediely grbs your enion wih n lluring

bouque nd lyered, long-lsing le.

Cuervo plino is genuine lesure o work wih,

ses ad Seger, generl nger, soelier

nd br che Ncionl 27 in Chicgo. No only

is i bulous eured in cockils, i deonsres

o consuers jus how elegn silver equil cn

be, nd [i highlighs] he enhnced vor o Jose

Cuervos high-liude gves.

New ro he besselling brnd o 100 ercen

gve equils is Grn prn plinu. In order oroduce ore brillin, ligh-bodied siri, he

equil is sen hrough rdiionl coer o sill

hird ie. anoher innovive wis is h orion

o ech disillion is ged briey in aericn ok

brrels rior o being blended bck ino he bch.

Bridge alber, direcor o ixology or Souhern

Wine nd Siris o Illinois, describes Grn prn

plinu s equil o be celebred. agve-

orwrd wih hins o cirus, is one o he ew blncos

deserving o snier.

also worh rying is o-shel prid Blnco,

roduced ro ure, ese grown blue gvesculived in he rich, red volcnic soil o ain,

mexico. the is re slowly bked, erened nd

double-disilled in rdiionl o sills beore being

boled resh. prid Blnco is sleek, roic

equil wih wr, sisying fnish.

the os innovive silver king is aericn

debu is ulr-reiu mesro Dobel Diond. this

rnchise lyer is coosed o brrel-ged equils

flered o reove ll rces o color nd iuriies.

the resul is crysl cler, highly roic equil

wih ll he nunces nd colexiy o n ejo.

Robert Plotkin

The classic Margarita is

a popular drink at Tres

Agaves in San Francisco.

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but are not too wild, he says. One is based on the Mexicanstreet snack o a sliced radish jcama dashed with lime and chile.Te drink is called the De La Calle, made with Siembra AzulBlanco, cucumber, jcama, basil and lime, which sells or $12.

At Philadelphias Distrito, a Mexican City-style bistro headedby celebrated che Jose Garces, beverage manager Brian Sirhalalso has ound that rozen Margaritas are no longer as popular.Its not our top selling Margarita, he afrms. When I worked

at Rosa Mexicana in New York, the rozen PomegranateMargarita really drove sales. Here, our house Margarita made with El Jimador outsells everything else by 90 percent. Tedrink sells or $8.

When Distrito opened last year, Sirhal installed a complicated,mixology-driven drink menu. He has since ound that the menuis too challenging; Now were oering things like Margaritasmade with ruit. A equila Manhattan didnt sell well, butthe equila Gimlet dashed with cilantro does much better, hesays. Also popular is the Hemingway, a version o the Daiquirivariant made with chile-inused Hornitos, maraschino andgraperuit. It sells or $10.

Non-Mexican operations also are ocusing on tequila service.At the newly opened MatrixFillmore in San Francisco, owned bythe PlumpJack Group, bar manager Kenneth Luciano choosestequila themes, ights and drinks or equila uesdays. A recentnight eatured a Casa Noble Blanco, Reposado and Aejo ightor $12. Specialty drinks such as the Paniolomade withtequila, jalapeo and pineapplenormally $10 to $12 each, areoered or $7.

All this education seems to have made a mark on customers,as the level o tequila knowledge has dramatically increased,according to most observers. Some operators are driving urthersta curiosity and knowledge by grouping their menued tequilas

not only by age or brand, but also according to the region o origin.equila can be made rom agave grown in ve areas: Jalisco, plusportions o amaulipas, Nayarit, Guanajuato and Michoacan.

About 90 percent comes rom Jalisco, but there are signicantagricultural dierences between soil and climate in towns such as

Arandas in the highlands and Amatitn in the valley.Distrito, or instance, oers a ight o highlands-produced

Patrn, Siembra Azul and Corralejo, as well as a lowlands ighto Cabo Wabo, Casa Noble and Sauza res Generaciones.

Mario Alejandro Marquez, the tequila ambassador at SanDiegos Ca Coyote, says that more o his customers are comingin knowing what avor they want rom their tequila, even i

they dont know why. I always say that i they want a tequilawith more sweetness, they probably want to go to the highlandsbecause the agave seems to get riper quicker there. Agave piasrom the highlands can grow very large, resulting in tequilasthat can be sweeter and crisper, while lowlands tequilas oten aremore peppery and aggressive. However, with so many tequilasbeing made with agave rom both areas, regional dierences arenot always easy to sort out.

At equilas, Suro has gone even urther, grouping brands bythe NOM number given by Mexican regulators to each certieddistillery (Te NOM is visible on every authentic tequila label).Many distilleries produce more than one brand o tequila, and

each will bear the same NOM. For instance, equilas groups

Herradura, El Jimador and Hacienda del Cristero, all made atHerraduras NOM 1119 distillery in Amatitn, on his menu.

equila knowledge is driving sales at all levels, it seems. AtH. Joseph Ehrmanns San Francisco saloon, Elixir, tequila isone o the strongest categories. Accordingly, he stocks morethan 90 varieties. Hes ound that brand recognition still drivesmost sales, and his business is split between customers whounderstand tequila well and like to discuss the spirit and thoselooking or a reasonably priced shot. But these days, even thosecustomers looking or shots are looking or quality.

Tat Ehrmann is seeing more customers o both backgroundsis an encouraging sign or operators. Far rom a negative legacy,

tequila, whether super-premium or not, has a reputation ordeveloping solid on-premise customers. l

Jack Robertiello is the former editor ofCheers, and hes writtenfor the Food Network and publications such as theNew York DailyNews and theWashington Post.

Visit Cheersonline.com/more to learn what

new tequilas have bartenders abuzz, how the

top 10 brands sold last year, as well as which

infused and aejo offerings spirits expert

Robert Plotkin recommends.

AnotherRound

Distrito in Philadelphia opts for innovative tequila

cocktails instead of frozen Margaritas.

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Tequila Cheers 0409