Tequila Education and Reviews
Alma del Jaguar Review
A new additive free tequila that also supports wildlife. Alma del Jaguar. Alma del Jaguar brand new from 1414 Sergio Cruz is the master distiller, so collaboration with Adam Fodor, the genius behind the International Tequila Academy. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jay Baer (@tequilajaybaer) $50 for this Blanco and proceeds go to benefit the Mexican Jaguars. So let's see what we got here.Cool. Cool Bottle too, right? Super recycled glass, the label, the regular cork. It's really neat. Great packaging. Oh, I like that. Yeah. It's very saline on the nose and also on the flavor too. Like a little bit of like a black olive saline. It's not fruity floral at all. It's got a lot more body character to it.This seems to be the approach that Adam takes a lot in the brands he works on. It's just got a lot of activity going on there. I don't think it'd be great in a cocktail necessarily, but man. I like this for a blanco. Yeah, for you it's. Yeah, it's pretty tasty. Nice. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. And in this market, as prices go up $50 for a blanco of this quality that's a fair deal now.I'm actually going to give this one a seven, which is. Yeah, pretty solid. Pretty high for a blanco for me. Yeah, it is. Yeah, I enjoyed it. I don't know if I'd sip it straight, but I also don't really sip tequila straight so. Only on camera. Only on camera. Only for you people. Only for you. So I'm going seven. Seven. Eight for me, I like it quite a bit. It's definitely a buy, especially at this price. Sergio, Adam, nice job, Alma del Jaguar
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Guy Fieri and Sammie Hagar Own This Tequila Brand!
Guy Fieri and Sammy Hagar own this tequila brand, but should you drink it? Santo Reposado. Yep.Additive free, aerated as well to kind of soften it up a little bit, let's see what you think. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jay Baer (@tequilajaybaer) Four or five months in used American Oaks, a little longer than it needs to be as a Reposado and I think to be able to tell that in the body.Yeah. Think about this tequila, and actually all the products from this distillery, you just get such a sense of earth, right? It's like wet soil, wet leaves, forest floor. It's just really, really like the terroir if you don't be too nerdy about it, it just tastes like soul. I like it a lot, it's nice. It's not that light kind of fruity minerally type tequila at all. No, it smells super earthy. Yeah, wet is a weird way to describe it, but very accurate. Um. It doesn't have that really oaky, butterscotchy caramel character that you get from some Reposado, it's just really different. Yeah. I actually, it's very tasty. Mm-hmm. It's easy to drink. It really is. For sure. Yep. And it's not super hot. It's just a solid tequila all the way around. I think it's a good effort. I dig it. I like their Blanco too, but I think their Reposado was my favorite of their tequilas. What do you give it? I'm going to give it an eight. I actually really like it. I don't love drinking stuff straight, but in a Paloma Yeah. Would be really top notch. I really enjoyed it. It's not too hot cause I don't like when things are too peppery and hot. And yeah, like you said, it's earthy.It's pretty good. Yeah, I'd like it too. I also give it an eight.
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Don't Get Surprised by the Size
Can you spot the hidden difference between these three bottles of tequila? Yeah, they're from the different distilleries and they've got different price points and different flavors but each of these bottles also contains a different amount of tequila. Now, a few producers, including Cimarron, make one-liter bottles. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jay Baer (@tequilajaybaer) It's a great deal because you're getting 33% more than in a regular bottle. Check the label and you'll see it says one liter. Now in the US, most spirits are typically sold in 750 ml like this G4. But for most of the rest of the world, the standard size is actually 700 ml. In 2020, the US government finally changed the rules to allow for the sale of 700 ml bottles in this country.And so what smart producers are doing, like Siete Leguas, is they're jumping on this opportunity. Most new bottles are not 750 ml. They are 700 ml. Price is going to be the same typically but the consumer gets less tequila. It's essentially a 7% price increase, and it makes their bottling process a lot easier because only need one bottle for the whole world. Now, this is a great tequila so I'd buy it at any size but you'll start to see this more and more in tequila. So before you purchase, check to see just how much tequila you're getting. Follow for tequila education and reviews.
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27 Additive-Free Mexican-Owned Brands
So people ask us all the time in the comments, in particular in DMs, which of these brands are actually owned by Mexican citizens? Yeah it's not an easy question because there's not really a great list that you can look at. It's not really written down like that. Yeah. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jay Baer (@tequilajaybaer) Anywhere. No. You would think it is, but it's actually not. And there's, I don't know, 2200 total brands of tequila now and more like literally every day. So we couldn't figure that out. That was, that would be insane. But what we did do is we went to Tequila Matchmaker and we looked at the list of confirmed additive free brands, and that's like a couple hundred or something like that.And then we actually did the research by hand to figure out which of those brands are, as far as we can tell, owned by Mexican citizens. Therefore, the revenue staying in those communities. How many did we end up with? I think about 27. 20? Yeah, I think that's right. 27 or so. Currently confirmed additive free brands, there is a lot more brands than that that are owned by Mexican citizens.Again, this is not in exact science, but people asked us enough, we're like, let's just put the time and effort into it to try and figure it out. So the list of the 27 brands that we believe to be at least 51% owned by Mexican citizens is available in the caption. Save the post if you've got questions or you're like, what about this one?Let us know in the comments and we'll see what we can do. Yeah. Sounds great. Thanks.
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Like a Mojito but Different
This cocktail is called the Sotol and Sage. It's kind of like a mojito. Yeah. But with like a lot of different ingredients. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jay Baer (@tequilajaybaer) So about 10 sage leaves. Yep. And then about an ounce of fresh squeeze lime juice. Nice. And pour that in there. And then muddle that up a little bit.So this drink calls for Sotol. We love Los Magos. These guys are an amazing Sotol producer. A couple ounces of the Los Magos. Yeah. And then after you do that, we're also going to do about half an ounce of the agave syrup, little agave syrup or agave nectar, whichever. Yep, yep. I'm going to do a little of that guy a little squeeze here.I'm not going to overthink this. Okay. That's great. And now we're going to shake. Shake it up.It's coming. There we go. All right. Strain it into the glass.And then we're going to top it with some Q mixers club soda. Q Club soda. Okay.Ooh. Ooh. That's nice. That is nice. It's really sagy. It's earthy and delicious. Ooh. I would never think to put sage in a drink. Yeah, but it's not like Thanksgiving... but it's good. It doesn't taste like a Thanksgiving Turkey or anything. The lime really freshens it up. And so this Sotol is so good.Ooh, this is a nice, nice drink. Yeah. Sotol and sage.
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Is this the best inexpensive tequila money can buy? Arette Blanco
Is this the best inexpensive tequila money can buy? It's Arette Blanco!Arette is actually the name of a horse! Which you probably did not expect. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jay Baer (@tequilajaybaer) Name of the horse of a Mexican Olympic gold medalist in a horse jumping. This is made at 1109 in the Valley of Tequila. Additive free as well, which is pretty cool. Let's give it a shot. Okay. They aerate this tequila as well. They pump oxygen into it and stuff to make it a little softer. Okay. I was going to say it's not. I'm not picking up a ton on the nose. Subtle. Subtle.Yeah. But a little bit, a little grassy, a little citrus. It's nice. Yeah, it is nice.All right! Yeah, solid! Nothing wrong with this at all. It's pretty good! It's not quite sweet enough maybe for me to drink straight but I would mix it. Absolutely! Got a little pepper characteristic to it, some softness, definitely some residual sweetness from the agave. Very easy to drink. I think it's right up there with the best, inexpensive tequilas in the world. And as you said, I don't know that I would reach for this around a fireplace. But in a Paloma with the Q sparkling grapefruit, oh baby! Bring it to me! What do you give this one?I think I'm going to give this one a seven. Very solid. I also am going to give Arette Blanco a seven. Good choice if you're looking for a tequila that won't break the budget. Arette Blanco!
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Don Vicente Reposado Review
Is this another winner from El Pandillo? Don Vicente Reposado. Don Vicente Reposado additive free, $60, just a few months in used oak. You can see how light this is for a Reposado like you can barely, hardly any color to it. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jay Baer (@tequilajaybaer) And they also oxygenate this. They pump some oxygen to soften it up. Okay. That smells really nice. Beautiful smell. All the tequilas from 1579 have that incredible like Agave forward sweet but also soil. I want this as a candle. Ooh. That's juicy in the mouth. Yeah. There's a little pepper. For sure. Yeah, but it's still pretty sweet. That's yummy. Oh yeah. It's got a lot of sweetness on the back end and it is very chewy in the mouth. It's got a lot of viscosity to it. I said juicy, almost like like juicy fruit gum in a tequila is kind of my read on this. I like this a lot. if you don't like Reposados that have a lot of like butterscotch, cinnamon, caramel, this is it. This is essentially Blanco plus, right? That's pretty much where we're at here. I dig it. I was going to say this is like probably your type of Reposado. Totally my jam. A hundred percent. Yeah. I'm going to give this a seven. I normally like something a tiny bit sweeter but it's still really solid. A little more wood for you. Yep. I am super into it. I'm going nueve.
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Patron Smoky Tequila - Is it Any Good?
Patron has a new smoky tequila. Is it any good? This is the Ahumado Silver for $70. Patron is thinking, Hey, a lot of people are liking Mezcal now, so maybe we should make like a weird Mezcal tequila Frankenstein. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jay Baer (@tequilajaybaer) Minerals? Uh huh and a tiny bits smokey. Yeah, it's not crazy. It's not any different than like a Matatena we've had on the show or Arte NOM 1123. It's a little smoky but it's not overwhelming at all,- yeah, not at all. But it's clean I like it. I don't mind the nose. Uh huh, I don't either. Oh. Hmm. Yeah. That's not my favorite. No. I feel like I smell like a campfire my breath now. I'm not a huge fan of smokey things. Yeah. I get you. But, I mean, if you like a Mezcal maybe. I don't know. And that's it, I love mezcal. I like Mezcal before I like tequila actually and so I don't mind the smokey character of it. It's actually the finish that gets me. It finishes kind of like the weird sweetness. I don't know if there's additives in this, but it just, it feels a little awkward. Like it's several different flavors like try to put together like a Lego set that doesn't really match up. It just doesn't really feel or taste harmonious to me. Now if you wanted to make like a smokey margarita and you didn't have mezcal, like you could use just like the regular Q M argarita Mix and just put this in there and like, boom. Done deal. I mean, I, yeah, I can't get past the smokiness, so I'm going to give it a four. A matter of Pass from Maddie, four. I like it a little bit better, but I feel like if you want this flavor profile, there's better options. I'm going to go a five.
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What Tequila Should You Buy for $50, $100 or $200?
What tequila should you buy if you've got $50, $100 or $200 in your budget? Come on, let's figure it out. Here at Big Red Liquors in Bloomington, Indiana, my home at liquor store, I've got a lot of tequila options now. And it's hard, right? Because you walk into a store like this, I don't know what to buy. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jay Baer (@tequilajaybaer) If I had $50, I'd get this 818 Blanco. Actually, no. No, I wouldn't. Actually, if I had $50 and just wanted a bottle, this Tequila Ocho for $49.99 is my pick. The fact that this is the same price as 818, I can't figure it out. But actually I think what I would do is get this a Suerte Blanco for $39.99 and then get myself a pack of this here, Q Ginger Beer. Make myself some delicious Mexican mules. You get like two bucks left for limes. If I had $100, I would want to get one Blanco tequila and then something with a little aging. So if I had $100 here in this store, I would get the Cascahuin Blanco for $45, followed with the Tequila Ocho Reposado for $55.If I had a $200 budget, especially if I had friends coming over, I'm trying to get one of each of the main expressions. I'd start off with this additive-free Partida Añejo for $55. I'd also get a delicious Mijenta Reposado for $70. And then the coup de grâce on this, great price here at the store, Siembra Valles. This is incredible blanco for $62. You still have a little money left over for some mixers. So there you go. If you get a $50 budget, a $100 budget, or a $200 budget for your tequila, those are my picks here at Big Red.
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