I wrote this article after a comment made from one of our team members. The headline above is written on our t-shirts and is really a statement of who we are, our attitude, and our transparency. I know that it bothers some brands, with my team getting mild to slightly upset reactions from others in the industry.
What I have noticed is that most people aren’t upset that we are stating we use the best, most traditional practices, but rather that they know they’re lying, and they don’t like being called out.
We don’t lie, we don’t bullshit, and we tell you every detail of what we do and why. We will never be in a lawsuit about our claims to you. We value our relationship with you, and we would never lie to you, try to deceive you, or take your intelligence for granted.
We have honor, integrity, a personality, and something honest to say about tequila—how it is made and why the choices we make are important.
What is happening with brands being sued is a lot more common than any spirits fan realizes, and within the industry in Mexico we have witnessed it happen. We know the CRT doesn’t enforce the rules for the large tequila brands, instead they’re choosing a literal “don’t slap the hands that feeds you” approach.
Every brand likes to tell a story, to embellish and cajole consumers with talk of tradition, cleanliness, good technique, yada yada. Good storytelling is certainly important, but when your brand doesn’t have anything real to say because they use diffusers and additives it gets tough, mostly because there’s no truth to their story.
And they certainly can’t say “we make shit tequila and cover it up with sugar, glycerin, and caramel color and then try to hide that from you also.” So they create a fantasy of some invented history, “so and so’s uncle made this once for his family and we recreated that recipe.” It’s always bullshit.
Instead, we decided to build an entire brand that doesn’t need to invent a story by creating a never-before-seen brand and style from the ground up. And then we just told the truth. 5 years ago I wrote down in a notebook all the changes I wanted to bring to the traditional process, a detailed point by point list with every change. We didn’t have to invent a story—we invented an entirely new brand using an entirely new process.
Our story is the change we are trying to bring.
Our story is just a description of what we do every day. No need for a marketing team to create something. We just have to speak about what we do day in and out. When I tell our story I just describe what happened and speak about my cousin calling me with the surprising idea to create a tequila. That’s what is real about what we do.
There is no question that we cannot answer with the best possible honest method. And it’s easy for us because we went and did it. All of it.
If other brands get asked why they use a diffuser, they explain that “it’s not that bad” and it’s such a great modern process. They lie, and it’s as plain and as simple as that.
If other brands get asked why they use autoclaves instead of brick ovens, they say “oh we use them gently with lower pressure.” Notice that this not actually an answer, well it is an answer for a politician, but it’s not a real answer.
When other brands get asked why they don’t use a tahona wheel they have some other platitude espousing the amazing qualities of a stainless-steel roller mill.
There are roughly 5 brands in the US that use only the traditional techniques of making tequila for ALL of their tequila.
5 out of roughly 400 active brands. Why? Btw this is what tradition means:
We re-introduced another old technique that has been set aside in recent decades: full malolactic secondary fermentation—a full 3 days of it after primary.
We are the only brand that uses all 4 traditional techniques AND performs full malo. No one puts this much care and tradition into their brand. No one.
As a quick run down here are my feelings on the other methods that are used:
Diffusers – most efficient, fastest and cheapest way to make tequila. The only reason is money, that’s it. There is no redeeming quality behind this non-agave-cooking chemical driven process.
Autoclave – faster cooking than brick oven. The only reason to use this is for speed. Agave cooked in this manner never has the richness and depth of flavor brick ovens provide.
Roller Mill – faster, more efficient than tahona. The only reason to use stainless steel rollers is because it extracts more juice from the fibers and it does it a lot faster. This manner completely sidesteps the chemical reaction between the acids, sugars, and water of the mosto and the volcanic stone of the tahona wheel and pit.
Stainless Fermentation Tanks – cheaper, longer lasting, and easier to clean and maintain. Again this method ignores the complexity that barrel fermentation provides in addition to wood natural oxidative properties.
Stainless Stills – also cheaper, longer lasting, and easier to clean and maintain. This also ignores the chemical interaction between a distillate and copper, removing sulfites and other harsh notes.
Here it all is in a very direct simple manner.
Every choice away from traditional methods is made because it’s cheaper and faster.
That’s it and no one will talk about it. No one even questions it. And the industry is so filled with new brands over the last 8 years that don’t use these techniques that there aren’t even enough brands to know how to judge them against the massive influx of modern machinery. All the brands you see on social media spoken about by “experts” aren’t made using traditional methods.
The knowledge base is missing, there is no frame of reference, even if no one will admit it. After all, what is an expert’s word if they admit they don’t know a lot about their chosen field to espouse on. Give traditional tequila to old people, and they will tell you the way it used to be when it was real, they are the ones that can talk about it.
But none of them have 290,000 followers.
My wife’s great aunt gave me the greatest compliment the other day after trying our tequila. She said (translated), ”This is what tequila used to be, this is the quality we used to drink, it reminds me of my youth and my young family. I am very proud of you.”
No award, praise from an influencer, amount of money, or high score can ever replace that sort of praise.
Bringing back her memory? That’s what this whole business should be about.
