Tequila Education and Reviews
Coke v. Pepsi Batanga
Coke or Pepsi? Which makes the better Batanga? Batanga has been around since 1961. Simple, delicious cocktails. It's actually a tequila and cola invented at La Capilla, which means the chapel. Very cool little bar in Tequila Town in Jalisco. So let's see how it goes. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jay Baer (@tequilajaybaer) We got a glass, ice, a little salt, and then what?Alright, we're going to do half of a lime in each. All right, and then we go about two ounces or so of tequila. We're going to use the new Siempre Plata from NOM 1414. Love this tequila. Generous pour is the standard in the batanga. And then we're going to fill these with one Pepsi, one Coke. We don't know which one of these are.Let's give it a shot. Okay. What do you think? That's such a damn good drink. It is good. I'm a big fan. Yum. I'm going back in. Alright, switch me.I got a little too much salt.I think this one's a little sweeter. Yeah. This one's a little more carbonated to me. I think I prefer this one.I agree, actually. I was going to say that one's definitely more carbonated and, Yeah, I like that one better. You can't go wrong either way. I don't think it really matters, but yeah, we both agree on this one. What was it? Pepsi. Wow. We both picked Pepsi. Wow. In the Coke Pepsi Batanga Challenge.There you go!
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Jay Baer's Primo Single Barrel Review
It's my first ever Jay Baer single barrel tequila. Do I like it? I'm guessing you do.I do indeed. We worked on this with Primo from 1579. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jay Baer (@tequilajaybaer) One barrel, one barrel only of brand new French Oak with American Oak heads in the barrels. This comes in at 44% ABV. Is very, very flavorful additive-free. There's maybe 175 bottles available period.So if you want one, act fast. You ever have one of those Girl Scout cookies that's just like the sugar cookie shortbread? Yeah, yeah. That's what this smells like to me. Yeah. It smells really good. It is really nice. Pedro Camarena, Felipe Camarena, they did a great job on this. It's spicy. It's got a lot of flavor because of the brand new barrels, but then the finish really smooths out.It's a reposado because it's 61 days, but this is like blanco plus. Yeah.There's so much agave still in this and that's personally the style of reposado that I prefer.I do like this though because it has a little more flavor and it's not quite as hot as the regular blanco. Really good.For me this is a 10 all day long. I will keep drinking this forever. No surprise, and I'm saying that honestly, not just because it's got my name on the bottle, right there. Maddie, you? All right, mine's going to be a 9.Of course.I really liked it. But you're not going to spend $95 on it. So you're telling me? No, I will. I would buy it, although I'm hoping I get one for free. No.
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How Does Additive-Free Tequila Work?
There are about 100 tequilas that are confirmed as additive-free, but how does that list actually get created? The Tequila Matchmaker team samples every tequila looking to be confirmed as free of additives. If those samples pass the taste test... And yes, experienced tequila tasters can pick up on heavy additives, especially sweeteners and oak extract. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jay Baer (@tequilajaybaer) If it passes the initial taste test, the Tequila Matchmaker team goes to the distillery. And at the distillery, they witness with their own eyes the second distillation, when it becomes tequila. They then taste that tequila right off the still. They taste it before it's bottled. They taste it in the barrel. They taste it before it's filtered. They taste it several times. And if anything is off kilter or wonky, then they perform an actual chemical laboratory test and they check for specific additives, typically common sweeteners and glycerin. If everything checks out, the brand is then confirmed as additive-free and is added to the list of brands.Now, confirmation is done on a yearly basis. First year participation is totally free. Renewals are done on a voluntary contribution basis. The Tequila Matchmaker website and mobile app has the complete list of 100, and counting, brands that have been confirmed as additive-free. Drink what you like, friends. But know what you're drinking.
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Santo Anejo Tequila Review
It's a brand new additive-free Añejo from Guy Fieri and Sammy Hagar. Is it worth it? Santo Añejo. This is their very first ever Añejo. This is made at El Viejito, really, really cool distillery. They're an old one, Nom 1107. This is like two years in American Oak. So they definitely rested it for a little bit and I think it's 75. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jay Baer (@tequilajaybaer) Okay. Something like that. Just coming out now, so you might not even have seen it in stores. All right. Mmm. Ooh. It smells delicious. It's got a classic, classic Añejo nose for sure. Sweet. This is like a bakery. Yeah. You know? But not gross fake, but it definitely has those pecan muffin thing.Mm-hmm.This is good. Yeah, it is good. You know what's nice? It's got that sweetness, but it also has enough body and depth and a little spice to it. I mean, you know, you're drinking tequila. Yeah. They're not trying to fake that. Obviously it is additive-free, which helps. Yeah. But it has a little bit of an orange to me, I think. I get a little bit of orange. Orange-ey zest to it, which is really nice and different. It's definitely sweeter, which is, which I enjoy, but it's not just like straight vanilla in your face. I'd say 8, probably 8.5 if we did half points. But I'm going to go 8, which is a conservative score for me.Really nice effort. This is worth picking up. All right. I'm going to go 8. Hey! Also. Yeah. I like this one a lot. Right up my alley.
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Tequila Tonic Cocktail Recipe
Let's say you're having a spa day, but you also want a tequila cocktail. What do you do? You make the fancy lady tequila tonic. We got a little ice in these glasses. We're going to spank some mint here. Spank that. Get your spanking on. Spank this mint. Yep. Going to drop that in there. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jay Baer (@tequilajaybaer) Okay. Okay. Then we're going to add some delicious blanco from our Gran Legado de Vida. Got navita. Oh my gosh. It smells so good already. So good. Going to top this with the Q Elderflower Tonic, which is delish. Give it a little stir. Go for it. All right. Add your cucumber. Right on top. There you go. Thanks.All right, let's try it. Okay. Cheers. The Elderflower.. Refreshing. Yeah, the Elderflower. Oh, man. The bitterness of it and everything. With the cucumber and the mint. Ohh. Wow, that's really nice. That's delicious. You get these glasses on the TequilaJayBaer.com website as well. Fancy lady tequila tonic cocktail. You saw how fast we made that. You should make one too.
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Altos Reposado v. Espolon Reposado
Which is actually better, Espolon or Altos? We're going to find out blindfolded. Okay. We don't know which of these which is, so let's give it a shot. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jay Baer (@tequilajaybaer) Okay. All right. So we're going to do the outside one first. Yep. It's not offensive. No, that's not horrible. Not much to it. It's a little alcohol-ish, but it's all right. I mean, it's a little strong.Okay. It's a little hot for sure. Yeah. And it finishes a little hot. I don't love when it finishes hot like that, so... It's fine. I don't want to spit it out. No, it's fine. Okay, let's go inside. Okay. If I can find it. There it is. I don't like this nose as well. I don't either. So it's got a little bit of a garbage patch vibe.Yeah. This is like a little Oscar the Grouch. Wow. Huh. Those are a lot more different than you would think. Yeah, they are. This finishes like with a little sweet mintiness, which I don't hate. But I actually think I prefer the first one over the second. I was going to say the exact same thing.The first one's a little hot for me, which is why I think it would be better maybe like in a ranch water or something like that. I think the first one is our choice. Both of these are probably better than a mix. I think this is the cute Bloody Mary mix.Which one was the winner? The winner is Espolon! How about that? All right. So there you go. Try it yourself. You'll be shocked at the result.
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Tequila Search Results by State
Where do people care the most about tequila? The results may surprise you. Based on Google search trends, for the past 12 months, these states have the highest volume of overall searches for tequila and related terms. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jay Baer (@tequilajaybaer) In 10th place, South Carolina. Ninth, Connecticut. Eighth, Colorado. Seventh, Arizona. Sixth is Georgia. Fifth is Illinois.Fourth, Florida. Third in search volume, Texas. Number two, California. And number one, a bit of a surprise. Maybe it's Vegas. Nevada. Those are your top 10 states for tequila searches in the last year. And because you're probably wondering the five states that look for tequila the least on Google are Vermont, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Maine.
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What Tequila Should You Buy at Kroger?
What do you do if you got to get your tequila at a grocery store? We certainly prefer you get an independent, liquor retailer, but sometimes grocery stores, what you got? View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jay Baer (@tequilajaybaer) We're here at Kroger. So Maddie, what would you do? Let's go about $50 budget. What would you get here? Okay. Not a ton of options, but I think I would probably go with this El Tesoro Blanco for $39.Or if I was going to put it in a mixer, I would probably do this Altos Tequila Blanco. And I would grab some Q mixers. Great picks. I am going to go over here at a different section of the store with this Hiatus, a relatively new brand based in New York City, but distributed here in Indiana, like these guys quite a bit.This is $49. And then maybe if we really want splurge, Maddie, we could go with the Clase Azul for $180.Only $180. Yeah, I don't think that's probably not what we're going to do.
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Slowdown in Expensive Tequila
Is it game over for growth in expensive tequila brands? Well, maybe NielsenIQ sales reports show that more than half of the growth in tequila sales in the past year are bottles priced between $20 and $30. And growth in the $30 to $40 range is also picking up. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jay Baer (@tequilajaybaer) On the other hand, bottles in the $40 to $50 range are responsible for just 10% of growth in the category, and that's compared to 36% a year ago.Bottles in the $50 to $60 range are just 6% of growth, and tequilas above $60 are basically no growth in the last year compared to 5% the year prior. So there's two possible explanations for this data, both are probably true. First, the number of people who are going to pay $50 or more for a bottle of tequila is finite, and it's not likely to grow significantly over time, especially with so much solid tequila available for less.Second, most of the overall growth of tequila is not people drinking it straight, but in newer cocktails like Palomas and Ranch Waters, where you probably don't need to mix it with an $80 tequila anyway. What about you? How have your tequila purchase habits changed?
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