Cheers is dedicated to delivering hospitality professionals the information, insights and data necessary to drive their beverage business by covering trends and innovations in operations, merchandising, service and training.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/61309
At Agave in New York El Moro Negra, made with tequila, lime juice, blackberry puree, agave nectar and sage leaves; the Agave Blood Orange Margarita (top right), made with tequila,agave Nectar and fresh lime with a blood orange slice; and Cucumber Uno! (bottom right) Ultrafi no Tequila, cucumber slices and basil leaves are part of the offerings. or, off er them at a special price in limited-time-off ers. In Portland, OR, bar manager Lee Watson, of the Original Beverage Information Group, Cheers' parent company, which show Jose Cuervo still at the top (despite a 1.5 percent drop in volume compared with 2010), followed by Patrón which grew 6.5 percent last year and Sauza which grew 9.9 percent. Total tequila volume jumped 3.8 percent from 2010 to 2011. Given the explosion of tequilas on the market, bartenders have Dinerant—which off ers 26 brands of tequila, priced from $8 to $26 per shot—sees interest in a mix of both big brands and more artisanal products: "Th e market is still dominated by Cuervo and Sauza. But you do see more brands like Casa Noble, Uno Dos Tres and Fortaleza." Th ose reports match up with latest sales numbers from the to ensure consistency to earn guests' trust with the tequilas they feature, says Jason Lerner, owner of Masa Azul, a restaurant with a focus on small-batch tequilas in Chicago's Logan Square. To do so, says Philip Ward, owner of Mayahuel in New York City, "Th e thing you want from tequila is quality and consistency. It's not just about a pretty bottle." Mayahuel off ers more than 70 tequilas, priced from $8 to $25 per serving. BEYOND THE NOM At least one consistency check is apparent right on each bottle: the NOM—the Mexican government regulated Offi cial www.cheersonline.com Mexican Standard of Tequila—shows which distillery each bottle of tequila was made. Red fl ags should wave if you notice a brand's NOM changing every year. "If the NOM on a certain brand's tequila bottle changes every year, be wary," says Laurence Kretchmer, managing partner at Bold Food, the multi-concept Bobby Flay restaurant company, and author of Th e Mesa Grill Guide to Tequila "Th at means the brand is using a diff erent distillery from one year to the next, which means you are not going to get a consistent product." Beyond the NOM, "It really comes down to careful research, trial and error and tasting," says Ward. From the guest standpoint, bartenders report that greater numbers of restaurant and bar guests are interested in learning the diff erences between tequila brands and classifi cations. tequila fl ights that encourage guests to sip and savor the fl avor of tequila, rather than shoot it down. Usually small ½ ounce to ¾ ounce pours of tequilas, set up in TAKING FLIGHT Helping them learn, a growing number of bars are off ering trios, fl ights may be vertical—allowing guests to sip through the diff erent age and types of aging categories (blanco, reposado and añejo) of one family of tequila. Flights may compare diff erent brands, or, they may be set up to compare or contrast highland or lowland tequilas. APRIL 2012 | 23 STEVE WATERS