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Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/28636
ATTENTION TO DETAIL T e way in which tequila is served is also changing. Updated approaches include using better stemware, off ering fl ights and even appointing in-house tequila specialists. Blue Agave treats its sipping tequilas like brandy, serving them in small snifters instead of shot glasses, the better for customers to savor the nuances. Coyote Café even boasts a certifi ed Tequila Ambassador, Mario Marquez. “Mario acts like a sommelier, advising customers about the Margarita variations and the sipping tequilas. He talks about where and how the tequilas are made. It’s an educational piece for customers,” notes Goetz. Marquez also tailors tequila fl ights to suit guests’ interests. One of the drivers of this trend is the prevalence of fl ights so that customers can experience for themselves the diff erences between the expressions or between brands. Every Tequileria worth its salt off ers fl ights. Flights are prominently featured in the middle of bar menu at Real Mex restaurants. Additionally, Petrie created a fl ight holder for the three half-ounce glasses with a card of tasting notes. Flights range from $6.99 to about $12. Each quarter new variations are introduced. Currently it’s the Battle of the Dons—silvers from Julio, Roberto and Ramon; next up is Battle of the Reposados, the brands have yet to be chosen. “Flights are getting more people sipping,” notes Petrie. He likens it to the grazing trend in food. “Customers want to broaden their palates and are going for higher-end fl ights.” And almost all those fl ights are add-on sales, says the vice president, ordered by customers who are already drinking Margaritas or Mexican beer. In Baltimore, Blue Agave has 15 suggested fl ights, priced $7.50 to $14. To encourage experimentation, they are set up both vertically and horizontally—tasting between a label’s expressions or the same expression of several diff erent brands. “At Pozole, we’ll pick a family like Sauza, Corzo or Don Julio and off er half ounce each of silver, ‘repo’ and añejo,” explains Aaron. T e least-expensive fl ight is Cazadores at $10.50 and the most is Milagro Select Barrel at about $18.50. “Flights are great for people who haven’t tried anything besides silver,” she says, to experience the diff erence aging makes. For more information, customers can peruse Pozole’s Tequila Book of Knowledge as they taste. EXTRAS ATTRACT Established a few years ago by the Tequila Regulatory Council, extra añejos are a superpremium category, aged a minimum of three years in oak barrels (many see much more maturation than that) compared to one to three years of aging for regular añejos, two months to a year for reposados and little or no barrel time for blancos. Extra añejos are rich and deeply amber, with a taste profi le similar to Cognac and aged whiskies; which attract many of those drinkers. All that barrel aging meant a lag time www.cheersonline.com The Coyote Café employees Mario Marquez, who is a certifi ed Tequila Ambassador. before many extra añejos appeared on the market. However, a few producers already marketed superpremiums that met or exceeded those specs, but just weren’t labeled that way; such as Jose Cuervo Reserva de la Familia, Sauza Commemorativo and Herradura Seleccion Suprema. “If a customer says, I usually drink Scotch, our bartender can fi nd them a tequila that they will like,” says Aaron at Pozole, noting that many of the añejos and extras share similarities with whisky and would appeal to those fans. “I think tequila is winning away whiskey drinkers,” chimes in Goetz at Coyote Café. “We have some of the extra añejos and will definitely add several more in the coming year,” declares Petrie. People are willing to pay the price for that superpremium expression, he adds, putting the spirit in the same category as aged Cognacs. “They attract ‘f lavor seekers’ looking for new experiences, the people who would usually drink Cognac, Bourbon and Scotch.” T omas Henry Strenk is a beverage-focused freelance writer who has visited the agave fi elds and tequila distilleries in Jalisco. ANOTHER ROUND Visit CheersOnline.com/more for more on private label tequilas. The Cheers’ handbooks are available at www.beveragehandbooks.com. APRIL 2011 | 25