5 Mexican-Owned Tequilas To Support Instead Of Celebrity Brands

Dining 5 Mexican-Owned Tequilas To Support Instead Of Celebrity Brands Claudia Alarcón Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. New! Follow this author to improve your content experience. Got it! Jul 24, 2022, 01:26pm EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin La Guasima plantation in Jalisco’s lowlands, from which #LoteSiembra, a batch of only 1,836 bottles, .

. . [+] was made.

Tequila Santanera Today, July 24, is National Tequila Day and bars, restaurants and tequila-lovers across the US are preparing to celebrate. Whether you’re taking a shot, enjoying a margarita or sipping on the increasingly popular Ranch Water, the past several years have been great for tequila. According to data recently released by IWSR Drinks Market Analysis , tequila sales will outpace American whiskey sales in 2022 and are on track to surpass vodka — the most popular spirit in the US — by 2023.

It’s no wonder so many American celebrities are cashing in on this trend. To celebrate the history, craft, and tradition of tequila, here are five Mexican-owned alternatives to celebrity-owned tequila brands, along with cocktail recipes, to help you celebrate the occasion. Left: Eduardo “Lalo” González, maestro tequilero and David R.

Carballido, right, Creative Director . . .

[+] for LALO. Both men are from Guadalajara and co-founders of LALO. Florencia Medina Instead of George Clooney’s Casamigos, try LALO Blanco LALO is named after co-founder and maestro tequilero Eduardo “Lalo” Gonzalez, the grandson of Don Julio González of the iconic Don Julio tequila brand.

What began as a small, private batch for friends and family in Guadalajara turned into a tequila high in demand for its taste and purity. Recommended For You 1 Hendrick’s Gin And Katz’s Delicatessen Announce An Unusual Collaboration More stories like this Fewer stories like this 2 Bubby’s Chef Ron Silver Shares His Secrets For Perfect Pancakes More stories like this Fewer stories like this 3 This Northwest Brewery Has A Brilliant Side Hustle More stories like this Fewer stories like this Lalo continues the legacy of his father and grandfather with a bold new approach to perfecting blanco tequila. After nearly a decade in the industry seeing tequila follow many different trends, he and founding partner David R.

Carballido sought to return tequila to its roots with a truly pure blanco, without barrels or additives. Each batch of LALO is made with wisdom passed down through generations of tequileros using the finest agave, handpicked from the Jalisco Highlands, cooked using a traditional process, and distilled only twice to maintain the agave’s integrity. The only ingredients are fully-matured agave, a proprietary Champagne yeast, and deep well water.

The LALO Ranch Water is simple, easy to make, and a refreshing drink for hot summer days. LALO Tequila Try it in a Ranch Water LALO goes great in a Ranch Water, the unofficial cocktail of scorching Texas summers. 2 oz LALO Tequila ¼ oz fresh lime juice 4-5 oz Sparkling mineral water Thinly-sliced lime wheels for garnish Fill a Collins glass with ice.

Add LALO and hand-squeezed lime juice. Fill with mineral water and garnish with lime wheels. La Gritona Reposado Tequila is a subtle reposado tequila distilled by Melly Barajas and her staff of .

. . [+] women at her small distillery in Valle De Guadalupe, Jalisco.

Courtesy of La Gritona Instead of Kylie Jenner’s 818, try La Gritona Reposado La Gritona Reposado is distilled by Melly Cardenas and her all-female staff at NOM 1533 in the highlands of Jalisco. It’s made using only agave plants that are a minimum of 9 to 10 years old — harvested at the height of their sugar production — near the end of their life cycle. The trimmed piñas go into the ovens within 24 hours, then crushed with steel shredders once perfectly cooked.

All agave remnants from production are given to local farmers to use as cattle feed. The liquid is distilled in stainless steel stills, with every step of production taking place under one roof. The facility is overseen by a small staff of local women who work each process from start to finish.

The reposado expression is aged in lightly-charred barrels for 8 months, and bottled in hand-blown glass made from recycled Mexican Coke bottles. La Gritona’s production is still relatively small scale, bottling an average of 12,500 liters per batch. The taste is herbaceous, with agave notes that have not been “whiskified” by the barreling process.

It is a very vegetal tequila, without any oak, pepper, vanilla or dulce de leche associated with a highland reposado. It retains the crispness of a quality blanco while expressing subtle signs of Cardenas’ deliberate aging. La Batanga is a house drink at La Capilla de Don Javier, the oldest bar in Tequila, Jalisco.

CR Citrus Try it in La Batanga Created by Don Javier, the late founder of the oldest bar in Tequila in 1961, La Batanga is a regional favorite. It’s traditionally made with another brand on this list (El Tequileño), but this version made with La Gritona is an interestingly complex variation on the original recipe. 2 oz La Gritona Reposado 4 oz Mexican Coca-Cola ½ oz fresh-squeezed lime juice 1 slice Smokin Connie’s Tajin-smoked citrus Pinch of kosher, Himalayan, or sea salt Combine tequila, lime juice, and salt in mixing tin with ice, shake vigorously.

Strain over large format ice cube into salt-rimmed rocks glass. Fill with Mexican Coca-Cola and garnish with smoked citrus wheel. Instead of Dwayne Johanson’s Teramana, Try Tequila Santanera Santanera is a terror-based, super premium microlot tequila, produced from agave plants grown in .

. . [+] specific parcels of land.

Tequila Santanera Founded by 43-year-old Pablo Lara in 2009, Tequila Santanera released its first batch of single plot organic tequila in 2016. Now, Lara is about to launch #LoteSiembra, a batch of only 1,836 bottles and the sixth in the Organic series, the first cut of the “La Guasima” terroir. “It is something like a single vineyard in wine, which I call single agaveyard ,”says Lara playfully.

“In the case of our Organic Terroir collection we do not combine agaves from different areas or ages. They come from a single plot, with a selection of supreme agave that has to comply with a certain size, but above all, must be extremely mature, which allows us to reach an outstanding aromatic complexity without using any type of additive. ” La Guasima plantation in Jalisco’s lowlands, from which #LoteSiembra, a batch of only 1,836 bottles, .

. . [+] was made.

Tequila Santanera Each lot of the organic line bears a different name and flavor profile. When they are gone, they are gone for good as they are impossible to replicate. The plant’s terroir, along with wild yeasts and careful processes – which includes fermentation aided by the sounds of Mozart – create a unique tequila of impressive quality.

While a margarita made simply with Santanera Kosher, fresh lime juice and agave nectar is a treat, these outstanding tequilas are best appreciated neat, with a light chill. “In our tequilas you will only find water and agave,” says Lara. “We respect the plant too much, because, in the end, agave is tequila and tequila is Mexico.

” Instead of Joe Jonas’s Villa One Añejo, try Tequila Fortaleza Añejo Today, Guillermo Erickson Sauza runs Tequila Fortaleza. He is a descendant of Don Cenobio Sauza, who . .

. [+] founded his first distillery in Tequila, Jalisco, in 1873. Destilería La Fortaleza Tequila Fortaleza ’s connections to the tequila industry in Jalisco run deep.

The brand is owned and run by the great-great-grandchildren of Don Cenobio Sauza, who founded his first distillery in Tequila, Jalisco, in 1873. Fortaleza is made on a historic site using original copper stills from over a century ago. Cenobio’s descendant, Guillermo Erickson Sauza, began work to revamp the family distillery in 1999, using the same copper stills and tahona stone mills as his ancestor.

Although Guillermo’s grandfather sold the company, the family kept the original land and distillery. Fortaleza Añejo has tasting notes of caramel, vanilla, and butterscotch with a nose of cooked agave. It consistently receives high praise as a “perfectly aged añejo” from tequila enthusiasts around the globe.

Swap Tequila Fortaleza Añejo for your whiskey in your favorite Old Fashioned recipe for an . . .

[+] interesting twist. getty Try it in an Old Fashioned Swap the whiskey in your next Old Fashioned for Fortaleza Añejo for a lighter, agave-forward twist. 2 oz Fortaleza Añejo ½ oz Tres Agaves agave nectar 2-3 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters Absinthe (spritz) Orange peel for garnish Combine tequila, agave nectar, a bitters in mixing glass with ice.

Stir to chill. Spritz coupe glass with Absinthe. Strain the chilled cocktail into the spritzed glass.

Garnish with orange peel. Carlos Camarena, Maestro Tequilero de La Alteña, is the great-great grandson of Don Felipe. Courtesy of Tequila Tapatío Instead of Adam Levine’s Calirosa Extra Añejo, try Tapatío Excelencia Gran Reserva Extra Añejo Don Felipe Camarena Hernández was born into a family that has distilled tequila since the early 1800s.

His family’s original distillery was destroyed and abandoned during the Mexican Revolution, so Don Felipe began his career by growing and selling agave plants to other distillers. But since tequila making was in his blood, he started distilling his own, selecting only the ripest plants and using equipment from his family’s original distillery. In 1937, Don Felipe opened La Alteña distillery and in 1940 began selling 100% blue agave tequila under the brand name Tapatío .

His passion for doing things just right inspired his family to continue handcrafting Tapatio so it could be enjoyed by future generations. Don Felipe passed the business to his son, Felipe J. Camarena Orozco, who in turn passed it on to his daughters, Lilianna and Gabriela, and to his son, Carlos, who today, as Master Distiller, maintains the standards of excellence established by his grandfather.

Tequila Tapatio’s Extra Añejo expression is a “tequila to taste neat. It would be unforgivable to mix on a cocktail and even dilute it with water or ice on the rocks. Comparable to the best whiskies or cognacs that exist in the market.

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