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www.cheersonline.co
 Southern Heat 
The Tequila business is boomingfor operators as increasing guestsophistication, new offerings andinnovative marketing take thespirit up-market.
By Jack Robertiello
MatrixFillmore in San Francisco servesup a variety of tequila-based drinks,including the Paniolo, made withpineapple juice and jalapeño peppers.
 
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as the ortune o any spirit been more closely tied toits outreach to the restaurants and bar community than tequila?ake the ight phenomenon. While a handul o bars thatocus on single malt Scotch oer customers the chance toorder a trio o various whiskies in one go, it’s not a commonoccurrence. Likewise, there are plenty o operators that gatherlarge selections o brandies and rums, but the ight conceptnever really has caught on with them.equila does not suer this problem—rom vertical tastingsrom a single distiller to groupings by age or region, tequilaights barely raise eyebrows these days.Distiller dinners are another example. When a rum maker ora vodka producer comes to a city with a dining and drinkingstory to tell, it can be cause or news. But every day, it seems,tequila producers send their reps out on the road to host specialspirit, cocktail and ood pairings that routinely sell out.Tese are just two o the innovative ways operators are marketingand selling tequila, leading the way or the category by educatingconsumers and generating excitement or the Mexican spirit.Teir work is paying o: Most leading tequila brands grew last year, according to
Cheers 
parent Te Beverage InormationGroup (BIG). Category leader Jose Cuervo inched up 0.2percent, Patrón shot up 5.8 percent, Sauza grew 1.8 percent, Juarez was up a blazing 14.5 percent and 1800 grew more than20 percent. Te top 10 tequila brands grew 4 percent by volumelast year, with the category as a whole up 3.8 percent.Many suppliers also have been ocusing on new iterationsthat oer operators greater diversity: Cuervo now oers themixto Jose Cuervo Especial Silver; Milagro has advancedits second line o Select Barrel Reserve tequilas and Proximorecently introduced Gran Centenario Rosangel, a 100 percentagave reposado tequila nished in port pipes and inused withhibiscus owers.
Quality Rising
 While the association with bad collegiate behavior still lingerson some level, tequila’s reputation as a quality spirit now is wellestablished or the most part. According to the most recent statisticsrom the Washington, D.C.-based Distilled Spirits Council o the United States, tequila exploded last year at the highest pricepoints, with volume up among super-premium spirits by 10.6percent. Value-priced tequilas also were up, gaining 6.4 percentby volume in 2008, while premium, the largest category, sank 1.3percent and high-end premium dropped by 9.2 percent.But it wasn’t always this way. “It’s amazing to see how quickly things have changed,” says David Suro, owner o equilas, aPhiladelphia bar that has been providing quality tequila ormore than 23 years. It was “a spirit that was considered sort o dangerous, and now it’s become [one o] the astest growingspirits in the U.S.” He shakes his head when he remembers thedierence between the tequila collection when he started thebar and the 105 pure-agave tequilas he carries today.“I had access to only ve tequilas that I thought were drinkable when I opened; it was so bad during those years, I switched rombeing a tequila drinker to a Scotch drinker,” he says. “You can’teven imagine what it was like then.” oday, equila’s selectionranges in price rom $7.50 or 1800, Hornitos and Cuervoradicional Reposados to $100 or Gran Patrón Burdeos, whichis nished in Bordeaux wine barrels.Doing business in Pennsylvania, where the state strictly controls entry, made it harder or Suro to get quality brands. Butthe point is well taken: equila has come a long way. Nowhere isthe importance o 100 percent blue agave tequila more obviousthan with the continuing growth o Patrón; its entire productline is made rom 100 percent agave.In act, many operators like Suro carry only 100 percentagave tequilas. Tere are two basic types o tequila: those madeentirely rom agave, and mixto tequila, produced rom a mix o 51 percent agave and other sugars. res Agaves in San Franciscostocks about 100 oerings o pure-agave tequilas, limited to 30brands in the three major age ranges. As with Philly’s equilas,res Agaves also holds monthly distillery dinners that are hostedby a distiller or brand ambassador, with mariachi musicians, aspecial menu and both cocktail and ight pairings. Te dinnerscost $75 per person and include tip, tax and tequila.res Agaves also boosts sales with a passport marketingprogram that allows them to ramp up the inormational aspect
 Tres Agaves in SanFrancisco serves a bevy of  tequila drinks, including  the Zapatos Nuevos, made with Herradura Silver  Tequila, watermelon andginger purée.
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o selling tequila. “Anything we do is about urthering our missionto educate people about 100 percent agave tequila,” says managingpartner Eric Rubin. Customers get their res Agaves “passports”stamped with each variety they sample, and guests who ll theirbook have a chance to win a ree distillery dinner or other gits.o bolster sta training, management also regularly takesservers to Mexico on distillery trips; the restaurant has logged75 unique sta visits in the past three and a hal years.Sta training and customer education works wonders, saysSuro, who hosts a monthly dinner and seminar that pairstequila—both neat and in cocktails—with ood. Tey ocuson the history, geography and terroir o the spirit, he says. Healso holds a monthly late-night tasting that eatures six brands.During these tastings, he passes around a tray o herbs, spicesand ruits that, according to each producer, tasters mightencounter in the products. Limited to about 18 people, theseevents sell out airly quickly and cost $45 per person.
MoRe than FRozen MaRgaRitas
astings are one way to sell tequila, but it’s long been theMargarita, America’s avorite cocktail, that has driven thespirit’s success.In New York City, oloache che and owner Julian Medinatook a hands-on approach and developed the hal dozen or sorecipes or the restaurant’s various Margaritas. Like guests atmany other authentic Mexican restaurants, oloache’s customersseem to be passing on the old standby, the rozen Margarita.“I thought we’d sell more rozen Margaritas then we do, butthe number one seller is the oloache,” he says, a $12 signaturedrink made with Frida Kahlo Blanco, hibiscus, blueberries andlime. A shaken, $10 house-made Margarita with El Jimador isthe second largest seller, and all are made with agave nectar, aningredient popular in cutting-edge cocktail programs.Some o Medina’s other creations are proving to be successul,as well. “I’ve been trying to make drinks that people will like
BuddingBlancos
Siris uhoriy Sen Ludord o BevX gzinesys he sures wy o ssess he ribues o equil brnd is o sle is blnco version, lsoknown s l.“Brrel ging hs  roound ec on equil,”noes Ludord. “Blnco equils re le undulerednd yiclly boled resh ro he sill. When well-de, hey’re vibrn, bursing wih vor, nd besreresen he coelling quliies o equil.”In cse you’ve issed he iniil nre over heirreleses, here re  ew silvers you’ll wn o exlore.arisnl Jose Cuervo plino is  chring blncowih such reendous deh o chrcer h i isgurneed o ke Jose Cuervo  household ne.the hndcred equil is de ccording o heesenci de gve rocess in which only h r o hegve riches in erenble sugrs is used in disillion.plino iediely grbs your enion wih n lluringbouque nd  lyered, long-lsing le.“Cuervo plino is  genuine lesure o work wih,”ses ad Seger, generl nger, soeliernd br che  Ncionl 27 in Chicgo. “No onlyis i bulous eured in cockils, i deonsreso consuers jus how elegn  silver equil cnbe, nd [i highlighs] he enhnced vor o JoseCuervo’s high-liude gves.”New ro he besselling brnd o 100 ercengve equils is Grn prón plinu. In order oroduce  ore brillin, ligh-bodied siri, heequil is sen hrough  rdiionl coer o sill hird ie. anoher innovive wis is h  oriono ech disillion is ged briey in aericn okbrrels rior o being blended bck ino he bch.Bridge alber, direcor o ixology or SouhernWine nd Siris o Illinois, describes Grn prónplinu s  equil o be celebred. “agve-orwrd wih hins o cirus, i’s one o he ew blncosdeserving o  snier.”also worh rying is o-shel prid Blnco,roduced ro ure, ese grown blue gvesculived in he rich, red volcnic soil o aián,mexico. the iñs re slowly bked, erened nddouble-disilled in rdiionl o sills beore beingboled resh. prid Blnco is  sleek, roicequil wih  wr, sisying fnish.the os innovive silver king is aericndebu is ulr-reiu mesro Dobel Diond. thisrnchise lyer is coosed o brrel-ged equilsflered o reove ll rces o color nd iuriies.the resul is  crysl cler, highly roic equilwih ll he nunces nd colexiy o n ñejo.
—Robert Plotkin
 The classic Margarita isa popular drink at Tres Agaves in San Francisco.
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