Tequila is losing its reputation as a party drink best accompanied by salt and lime. Today, the liquor is enjoying mass-market appeal, with premium brands giving vodka and whiskey stiff competition.
Several local businesses are capitalizing on the trend, offering unique products through restaurants and retailers across the Valley and the country.
Queen Creek residents Debbie Medina and Jonathan Gach introduced Señor Rio tequila last year when they started their business, Jalisco International Imports. The idea was launched after the couple traveled to Mexico to visit Medina’s father, who served them homemade tequila.
“He would bring out this tequila that he was making, and when we got back to Arizona, it was like a light bulb went off,” Gach said.
In the past year, the couple has found a grower of agave (the plant that provides tequila’s key ingredient) and distillery in Jalisco, Mexico; set up a warehouse in Gilbert for the product; and secured shelf space at major beverage stores, while working to get the brand into bars and restaurants. So far, the pair are running the business alone.
This isn’t the only metro Phoenix-area venture tapping into tequila.
El Mirage is home to 3 Amigos Tequila, founded by the Gonzalez family in 2005. The company employs eight in the U.S. and 20 in Mexico.
With relatives in Mexico overseeing efforts there, the company grows agave on family land, distills the product and packages it for export to the U.S.
“One of my cousins is our master distiller in Mexico. He walks the fields and marks the agave that are ready for harvest,” said Ramon Gonzalez, director of regulation for 3 Amigos.
That attention to detail seems to be paying off. Tequila is tempting the tastebuds of more Americans as they expand beyond the spirit’s best-known brands, Jose Cuervo and Patron.
“Tequila remains one of the fastest-growing beverage categories. It isn’t just considered a margarita ingredient anymore.” said Frank Coleman, senior vice president of the Distilled Spirits Council, a Washington-based industry group. “People are making new and different cocktails, and there’s been an explosion of excellent tequila cocktails.”
According to the council, sales of tequila totaled
$1.65 billion in 2009 — up by $48.5 million, or 3 percent, from 2008.
“This is really being driven by the idea of a sipping tequila, much like whiskey,” Coleman said. “And when people enjoy a fine tequila in a restaurant, they may well buy it in a retail store and enjoy it at home.”
Another tequila manufacturer, Los Diablos International, is based in Scottsdale. The company was founded by two brothers, Saulo and Joseph “Pep” Katcher, and their friend Todd Nelson. It has expanded its market share to include Texas and Canada since it introduced small batches of its Cruz Tequila to the Valley in 2008.
Fox Restaurant Concepts’ Blanco Tacos and Tequila in Scottsdale sets itself apart by offering a range of tequilas. The East Valley eatery serves almost 60 kinds of the Mexican spirit, including 3 Amigos.
Tequila is gaining a following across all of the Fox restaurants, according to Regan Jasper, the company’s partner and beverage director.
“The crowd that is experimenting with it isn’t the college crowd; it’s the 25-and-up diner that’s coming in. Tequila as a spirit has really gotten a lot of attention,” Jasper said.
That’s helping both 3 Amigos and Señor Rio experience success during the recession.
The Gonzalez family just inked a deal with Pacific Spirits, a Hawaiian distributor that will take 3 Amigos into the Pacific region. That is in addition to distributors in both Northern and Southern California, Texas, Idaho, Illinois and Tennessee.
Distribution deals put the products onto the shelves of bars, restaurants and other commercial establishments
