Crafting a Tequila Legacy: The Story of TC Craft Tequila

Episode 18 January 16, 2025 00:54:06
Crafting a Tequila Legacy: The Story of TC Craft Tequila
Tasting Tequila with Brad
Crafting a Tequila Legacy: The Story of TC Craft Tequila

Jan 16 2025 | 00:54:06

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Show Notes

In this episode of Tasting Tequila with Brad, I sit down with Todd Bottorff, co-founder of TC Craft Tequila, to dive into the craft tequila movement and the journey of building a tequila brand from the ground up. Coming from a background in publishing, Todd shares how his passion for tequila led to a collaboration with master distiller Mellie Barajas, resulting in a brand that emphasizes quality, authenticity, and craftsmanship.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

✅ How TC Craft Tequila started as a passion project

✅ The importance of collaboration with a master distiller

✅ What makes craft tequila different from mass-produced brands

✅ How agave sourcing and terroir influence tequila’s flavor profile

✅ The growing role of women in the tequila industry

✅ The significance of aging, barrel selection, and blending

✅ How TC Craft Tequila educates consumers on traditional tequila

✅ A sneak peek at their future product lineup

Chapters: 00:00 ➡️ Introduction to TC Craft Tequila 05:16 ➡️ Craft vs. Industrial Tequila 09:44 ➡️ The Role of Women in Tequila Production 16:58 ➡️ Sourcing Agave and Distillation Process 24:22 ➡️ Aging and Flavor Profiles of TC Craft Tequila 30:03 ➡️ Crafting Unique Tequila Blends 33:48 ➡️ The Art of Margarita Mix 39:52 ➡️ Future Products and Market Strategy

Don't forget to LIKE, COMMENT, and SUBSCRIBE for more in-depth tequila reviews, interviews, and insider insights into the world of craft tequila!

Follow TC Craft Tequila:

https://www.tccrafttequila.com/

  / tccrafttequila    

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 / tccrafttequila  

 

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Episode Transcript

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey guys, I got a really cool interview for you today. What do you take when you've got a guy that is, owns a publishing company and his brother has a very successful partnership in a large commercial real estate business and you live in Nashville, Tennessee and you have this massive passion for tequila. You're tired of seeing people drink the tequilas that we talk about, those big industrial tequilas and tequilas with all these additives and you decide, hey, Todd and Chad are going to come out with what we believe is a small craft tequila and, and we're going to call it TC Craft and we're going to bring a great additive free lineup with a master distiller that's a female and known in this industry and a great distillery and make an approachable, drinkable, amazing tequila. This is an interview with Todd, the owner, co founder of TC Craft Tequila. I hope you enjoy. All right guys, we're here with Todd Botro, the owner, co founder of TC Craft Tequila. And today we're going to find out all about it. How you doing today, Todd? [00:01:17] Speaker B: I'm doing great. Great. On a snowy day. [00:01:19] Speaker A: Yeah, we're having a little bit of a cold, snowy day as well. How much snow do you guys have there in Nashville right now? [00:01:25] Speaker B: Right now we're up to about an inch and a half and they say we're going to six. [00:01:30] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a lot for Nashville too, isn't it? [00:01:33] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, it's. But it's a perfect day for aged tequila. You know, I'd go in Yeho or extra in Yeho. On a day like today, I, I. [00:01:42] Speaker A: Don'T like winter, I don't like snow at all. [00:01:44] Speaker B: Understood. I'm the same way. Sunshine for me. [00:01:47] Speaker A: Sunshine for me too. All right, tell me, how in the world did two brothers that are in real estate and publishing end up with a tequila brand? [00:01:59] Speaker B: Well, I guess I would describe it as a temporary fit of madness, you know, is when it started. And you know, it's interesting the people that are in the craft segment, you know, when I talk to the other brand owners, a lot of the stories are, it's very similar. It starts with a point of passion. And in our case, my brother and I love tequila. And this was, you know, this conversation was probably 2015. We, you know, you're sitting around and you're having a nice tequila and you're like, is this all that's out there? You know, and it's like, and this, this was really before the, I'll call it explosion of the interest in the additive free Craft non industrial Tequil. And so we just followed our interest and we. We actually hired a tequila scout, okay, who knew all the distilleries, all the noms. And we told him, you know, what we were looking for, and he narrowed it down and said, okay, this group of noms is, you know, the kind of traditional, additive free, high quality tequila makers that you want. We got samples from all of them and taste tested them, blind taste tested them with a bunch of friends and bartenders and people who love tequila. And we voted on it. And the. The winner for our taste palette was Mellie Barajas. Right. And. And so we got in contact with Mellie, we met with Mellie, we talked with her, confirmed that we shared the same values, and then narrowed down the actual recipe that then became TC Awesome. [00:03:59] Speaker A: Now, Meli's nom 1533 Vinos. Is it Vinos de la Cors Azteca. Is that right? [00:04:07] Speaker B: Venus y le Corres Azteca. Yeah, Azteca. [00:04:10] Speaker A: Yeah. That's awesome. So there's some other great tequilas coming out of that same nom as well. So that's. And she, I think, was in one of the magazines down there is like the Mexican. Was it the. The Queen of Tequila or something is what they call it. [00:04:26] Speaker B: She was, yeah. There's more since the New York Times did their article on her. And. And that happened, you know, after, you know, we were proud to be on board. We were on board with her in 20, 20, 16, 17, you know, when we started. We sold our first bottle in 2017. And Mellie has. There's two main brands that she's got with that have US distribution, which is La Gratona and that has a repo expression only. And then TC Craft, and. And then, of course, she has her own brands that she distributes in Mexico and those have a little bit of distribution, I think, in the US Maybe like south Florida. But, you know, Melly, it's funny because in the universe of people that are interested about tequila, it's like the. You know, if we can get everybody that's drinking industrial tequila to just try some of the craft additive free brands that are not broadly distributed. I mean, they have that epiphany. You know, to me, my quest and our partnership between Mellie and my brother Chad and myself is to get everybody moving from the industrial box over to the craft additive free box. And I would rather somebody drink any additive free brand than even if it's not TC Craft, because I think once you get into that box, you're. Then it becomes A matter of personal taste. And. And that's fine. There's probably, you know, I would say, you know, brands you can actually get in the US that actually have some level of geographic distribution. Maybe there's 40 or 50 to choose from. [00:06:19] Speaker A: Yep. [00:06:20] Speaker B: Now, and. And the. That group of friends, I think, is really the future of the tequila industry. And so at the taste level, once you get into that box, it really comes down to the master distiller. And it's okay that some people may prefer, you know, say, siempre, some people may prefer G4, some people may preserve, you know, prefer Art Nam, some may prefer TC craft. The hard part is, unless you're going to go through. I mean, at the end of the day, we're trying to sell a clear white liquid through the Internet, and. And through communication like this. And it's very hard to communicate taste. So people talk about, you know, the. They try to describe it verbally, but if I. If I describe TC Craft, I would say, you know, I am in our group. And Mellie, it is a very. It's a very gentle tequila on sort of the tequila spectrum. It's. It's got a. A very vegetal agave forward profile without a lot of what I would call tequila punch, you know, if you will. [00:07:44] Speaker A: It has a little bit of that Jalisco hug still, you know, it has a. A nice heat to it. It has a great nose. The, like, you're mentioning that agave and that vegetable. And these are highland agaves, correct? [00:07:56] Speaker B: Yes. [00:07:57] Speaker A: So. And I knew that going in, so I'm looking for that. That bright, citrusy nose. And I didn't have that citrusy nose that I do off some of the highland tequilas. I get almost a lowlands mineral with that vegetal, which I really like. And so it made me go back and go, okay, is it highlands or lowlands? You know, and then. Then when I tasted it the first time, then I picked up the citrus in the actual taste. So it's. It's kind of muted in the nose, but it's there in the flavor profile. And I was. I told you earlier, too, when we were talking, and I was really excited. Like, I poured the first one and drank it last night, and I was like, man, I hope this agave forwardness carries through the others, and just am totally impressed with that. It's a great flavor. It's got a. The minerals that you get out of it, too. In the finish there was a little peppery, and I got, like, a really nice finish to it. But you're Right. It's not. It's not like some of the tequilas that you're like, wow, that hits you really hard. It is very balanced and very easy to drink. And a lot of people say, oh, it's smooth. I hate the word smooth, because tequila supposed to be smooth. It's so hard to walk around that word sometimes. You're like, no, it's. It's easy to drink. It's pleasant. It's the word that I thought of last night was. And I said it to my wife. I said, this one is really clean. It's a very. You know, just a clean, bright tequila. And I like it. And I like drinking the middle of the day on a Friday. [00:09:30] Speaker B: Yeah, well, it's. You know, to me, knowing Melly, I can. I can see her touch and personality and decision making in each sip of that tequila. I've had a lot of people that have told me, and truly, the most important people in this whole process are the people who drink it. Right? I mean, that's who we make it for. And when I say we, I'm talking about the, you know, the collective of craft tequila makers. I cannot say enough good stuff about Mellie because of the person that she is. But I've had a lot of people tell me it. It. You know, it has a woman's touch, right? And you can. You can tell that when you drink it that it's got certain beauty and gentleness to it. And personally, I mean, that's just our personal preference. I've got friends who would choose other brands that really want that. They want a little more tequila punch when they drink their tequila. And that's great, because as a group of peers, we offer a spectrum of taste profiles in order to satisfy the people who love tequila. [00:10:50] Speaker A: Yet you were mentioning when you were talking just a few minutes ago that getting someone to dip their toe in and try it, right? Let's try this. To me, once they like it, that's the beginning of the discovery. There's so many things about yeast, water, and agave that you can make taste in so many different ways. And what's. What's cool is as somebody starts learning a little bit about it. And usually I bring, like, a bourbon drinker in, you know, on a. On an anejo or an extra anejo. And, you know, my goal is to get them drinking the blanco. Let's. Let's get to the discovery of the true taste of tequila not influenced by a barrel. And then learn that, look, this is a lowlands agave, and you Know, it's got that real malolactic funk to it. And it's, you know, a completely different flavor still. Only agave, yeast and water all the way to, you know, some of the sweetest, most citrusy highland agaves, you know, and tequilas that are made in the highlands that, you know, you. Some of those, you could sit next to each other and someone could say one of them wasn't tequila, you know, because there's such a flavor difference. And it's not. It's not a manufactured, fake flavor difference. You know, it is true craftsmanship from great master distillers. And I. I always say women have better taste than men do anyway. Right? And that's why so many wives dress their men and pick out what's for dinner and. [00:12:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:12:16] Speaker A: Decorate the inside of the house. Why wouldn't they have a better taste in making tequila? Right. That's. [00:12:22] Speaker B: I couldn't agree with you more. I mean, I think that, you know what. What I would love to convince anybody that likes tequila to do is go, you know, pick up, you know, get together with a group of friends and go and pick up a bottle of Lalo, pick up a bottle of Cascanes, pick up a bottle of Siempre, pick up a bottle of G4, pick up a bottle of TC Craft and put them in five glasses and drink what you love. I mean, and it's okay that some people are going to love this and some people are going to love that because that's what makes life wonderful, right? That, you know, it's chocolate and vanilla or, you know, choices are out there. I really would encourage people to just try the tequilas made by female master distillers because it's just a little different. It's, you know, and there's 500 decisions that they're making throughout the process. And. And, you know, it's like, you know, it's like chefs, it's cooking, right? I mean, so, you know, you're going to find that different people like different things and that the decision makers who are producing these wonderful tequilas or any other, you know, consumable edible product are going to have a slightly different outcome. And. And the only way to really appreciate that is to sample and. And then figure out what you love. [00:14:00] Speaker A: Yes, it's fun to do them blind, too, like, have somebody put them in the glass. Because I. I've noticed, for me, a person who really likes tequila, and I have a lot of tequila I get hung up on. I know that this is coming out of that nom. So I'm going to like it, and it's probably going to be my favorite. And I. I see the label, so I really like it. And then you blind them. So now you don't know what you're tasting. You're like, okay, I like this one the best, and this one the best. And you're like, holy cow. Like, I didn't realize that. But also, your. Your profile and your flavors change based on what you've eaten, what the weather's like, where you're at. So sometimes one day, one may be your favorite, and the next one becomes your favorite. It's a great journey, for sure. Yeah, let's talk about that process a little bit. So we're highland agaves. Are you guys sourcing your agaves? Are they single estate? Where's. Where's your raw material come from? [00:14:48] Speaker B: First, It's a combination. 1533 is about an hour outside of Guadalajara, near a town called Valle de Guadalupe. And if you Google it, there's actually two in Mexico. This is the smaller one next to Guadalajara. [00:15:07] Speaker A: That's really helpful. Located right. You hate to land in the wrong one. [00:15:13] Speaker B: You would not. You don't want to book your tickets to the wrong place. And Mellie has long, long, long term relationships with the growers. And in fact, like, I guess what you mentioned, Mellie, I think she's the only distillery where all the employees are women. [00:15:31] Speaker A: Yeah, I read that. And it's also. She owns the distillery as well, correct? [00:15:36] Speaker B: Yes. Yes. So she owns a distillery. And the analogy that I use is kind of like something that may be more familiar to people is it's kind of like Napa. It's like Guadalajara is like San Francisco. And then you get on 29 to Youtville, and as you drive out of the city, it gets to green, rolling hills, and you have microclimates, and there's basically, I'll call them grape farms all across these hills. And it's very similar with tequila. It's like you land in Guadalajara, you know, which is, you know, the airport's, you know, bigger than LaGuardia, I think. I mean, it looks a beautiful, beautiful airport. And. And you're in this big city that's kind of like San Francisco. And then as you drive out of the city, you get into agrarian communities pretty fast. And you're looking at these green, beautiful rolling hills. Depending on the time of year, you're there with lines of agave. And people have just started to talk about, like, microclimates with agave growing. And in Mellie's case you get about an hour outside of the city and the young women that work at the distillery are basically, they're like farmers, daughters. Right. I mean, they're given an opportunity to be employed with something other than like working on the farm. Right. Which working on the farm is tough. Working on the farm with agave is especially tough. Yeah, it's hard work. That's the community. And Mellie has great relationships with the. Not only the. She's growing her own, but she's got other people around her who are growing agave and depending on the demand. And because agave over the last 10 years there, there was a shortage, now there's a surplus. And so you have to have some flexibility in order to meet whatever the situation is at the time. [00:17:33] Speaker A: Yeah. And people need to understand we talk about that it's important that it's a female master distiller and then think about it. And also a female distillery owner and an all female company. And okay, yeah, that's in America all the time. Right. But Mexico's not America. It's different. There's distilleries still today. They don't allow women to work in the distillery. Hear that? A female master distiller, a female owned business. And that is something really special for the area, you know, the industry. So that's. That's something to be celebrated as well as a great tequila. So that's. That's awesome. It's awesome. You guys were open to pick her and, you know, be able to experiment with her. That's also says a lot to you guys of going, hey, let's, let's don't just go to this. Let's. Let's look at all the options that are out there. [00:18:25] Speaker B: Yeah. And we didn't, we didn't pick Melly because she's a woman. Right? [00:18:29] Speaker A: No, I wasn't meaning that. But there's some that wouldn't because. [00:18:34] Speaker B: Yeah, true. Yeah. Yeah. And one of the other things that I would add is like, if you are an average, you know, American tequila consumer, do you know who's making your tequila in our case? I mean, you go to our website and there's. There's a slideshow on the homepage and, you know, the picture of the team was taken with this. That's my wife, the. This iPhone. And. And so you. I think it's really cool to be able to be like, that's the actual group of people that's making what's in my bottle and in my glass. And I can see there in the background there's the agave plants that, that, you know, went into the oven and you know, were crushed and fermented and distilled. It's. It's so transparent. And one of the things that my brother and I absolutely love about this business is the connectivity between or the chain of that red dirt to somebody, to a plant, to somebody's hands, to a bottling line, to a truck that then shows up in a liquor store in the US and you've got this thing and you're with your friends on this end of the chain and you can see all the way back to the, the dirt on the ground. I think, I think it's just really cool. [00:20:04] Speaker A: That's, that's one of the things that brings me to Tequila. So here's a question. I haven't gone the direction you're talking about in the drive out of Guadalajara, but I have done the drive to Tequila out of Guadalajara and what I was amazed with the amount of blue agave everywhere. It's. To me it was like driving in Indiana and seeing corn everywhere. It was literally that much agave. The other piece to that that you didn't mention, you know, I haven't done the drive from San Francisco to Napa either. But I think there's probably one difference. I felt like I drove back 20 years in time. When I got to Tequila from Guadalajara, it went from brand new Mercedes to Chevy love pickup trucks and three lane interstate type highway to cobblestone, you know, cobblestone roads in the town. And I also went from a city feeling in the airport to the most welcoming and pleasant people that you could meet walking on a street and not even be able to speak the same language. The way that people are so inviting and welcoming and just so, just so nice. That that's one beauty of going to Mexico. So we're going in February the opposite direction. So we're, we're going to Tequila for a couple days and then around us for six or seven days. And I'm looking forward to traveling that direction this time. [00:21:21] Speaker B: Yeah, there is something to be said about the personality of people who work the land. And it is a very family oriented community. And you know, I mean, not to branch off on too much, but there's, you know, there's, there's a Pulitzer Prize winning book called A Summons to Memphis. Okay. That talks about, as Pete Taylor, who wrote that book, and it was about cultural differences between say Memphis and Nashville. Right. And landed communities versus trading communities. Right. And that if you're a farmer, you are subjected to, you've got. There's a sense of community that's a little different because you're subjected to weather and all these things that you can't control, and you're. You've got a certain amount of compassion and humility that you share with a group of people to deal with life's challenges, and there's just that level of compassion. You Is. Is, to me, an important part of the tequila industry. It's at least the craft tequila industry. Right. I mean, it's not the industrial side of things, to your point. And it's. It's a wonderful thing. You feel that sense of. Of friendship and humanity that is. That's wonderful. [00:23:01] Speaker A: It's something to share. A glass of tequila over. Yeah. Here. Here we talk about breaking bread. There, they talk about having a glass of tequila or even any agave spirit, really. Okay, so you' Highland agaves, you're doing. Is it a stone oven there as well? [00:23:17] Speaker B: Yeah, it's. It's brick, old brick with. With a mortar, a white mortar on the inside. [00:23:28] Speaker A: So, okay, then for crushing, you're doing a roller mill. [00:23:32] Speaker B: Yep. [00:23:34] Speaker A: Awesome. So fermentation. I know that's where a lot of the magic happens. Are you guys doing. Is it open air Fermentation? [00:23:41] Speaker B: Open air. [00:23:43] Speaker A: And is there natural yeast or is there natural yeast? [00:23:49] Speaker B: No, no yeast. Yeah, it's just the yeast from the agave plants. [00:23:53] Speaker A: That's awesome. [00:23:53] Speaker B: Oh, I was just going to add, if you asked Mellie, what is the most important part of the process, the last time we had this conversation, she was like, the magic is in the fermentation. And people talk about different types of technology for, you know, the. The crushing and the extraction. It's like, you know, to hona versus roller mill and all this kind of stuff. And. And there are different variables throughout the process. Some of those variables matter a lot, and. And some of them matter a little bit for us. Agave growth time is critical. Absolutely critical. Right. Agave growth location critical. Right. And of course, you know, we're not autoclaving. We're slow roasting. So everything in the TC craft process, what Melly would say is TC crafts recipe, if you will, is made like our grandparents would make tequila. So everything is slow. The roasting is slow, the fermentation is long, and. And the agave growth time is long. So. And then the aging is long for the aged tequilas. So, you know, in the range of the CRT regs on aging, and I'm sure we'll talk about this at some point, we do a lot More than the minimum. Our view is that, you know, the way that I explain to people if I'm doing tastings and I'm at a local liquor store, you're doing a tasting at Total or what have you or, you know, ABC or wherever you are, I'm like, it's the, the slow process is like the difference between cooking in a crock pot versus the microwave, you know. [00:25:34] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a great example. [00:25:36] Speaker B: And, and when you say that to people that have never, that aren't very experienced with tequila, don't know anything about it, the light goes on just like that. They're like, oh, I get that. Right. You know, and so, yeah, so that's our process. [00:25:48] Speaker A: Because the low and slow is the thing that I hear all the time. And you know, I, I don't think the autoclave necessarily is a bad process as long as you're doing the low and slow. You know, there's, there's some master distillers that have learned to use that autoclave like a stone or a brick oven, you know, so. But rushing the process is what really messes it up. And also with growing agave, so I always tell people that aren't real familiar with tequila and traditional tequilas, you're drinking potentially six to eight years of sunshine just right here in this bottle. Right. It's a sip of a lot of sunshine. And, and that's where I bring up industrial and other liquors. I look at this as truly an agricultural product where bourbon and whiskeys, that's an industrial product. You're just growing that corn every year and you're, you're growing all of your products each year. It can be so reproduced. Where this agave grew in this eight year period of too much rain, not enough rain, way super hot, way super cold. And the next agave that grows is in a different field, that grew in different environments, and that's going to taste different. It's not going to be plugged in to be exactly the same like you do a vodka and continuously distill and make sure that the has the exact same flavor. So that goes into again, that traditional process, which is what makes it so great. [00:27:13] Speaker B: Yeah. The analogy that I use for people, at least in this part of the country, it's like the difference between getting a tomato at a farmer's market versus Walmart. Right. It's this red, rich, delicious, flavorful. I mean, if you grow to seven, eight years versus three, four, five, you get that there is a process with the sweetness and the amount of sugar and all of the things that, that, that, that make something delicious versus something that is this devoid of flavor. But that's, you know, that's the other analogy that I use. The difference between the farmer's market tomato and the. I don't mean to pick on Walmart. They're a great corporation. Thank you for your success and blah, blah, blah. [00:28:01] Speaker A: Yeah, thank you, thank you Walmart, thank you Amazon, thank you all those people. You get the sweetness of ripe agave, right. In the flavor. That's, you know that, that's, you know, a lot of us will talk about the sweetness in the reviews and the sweetness has to be there because that's what that mature agave came from. And when you have the sweetness in a non traditional tequila, you know that it's not authentic. You get that, what's that Diet coke type yucky flavor at the end, you know that that's not there. So when you're barrel going to your barrel products, let's talk about your repo. What kind of barrels are you putting them in? [00:28:36] Speaker B: It is whiskey barrels and it's a mix of US whiskey and scotch whiskey. [00:28:42] Speaker A: Oh, no kidding. So you're doing some scotch whiskey? [00:28:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:28:46] Speaker A: Now are you, I'm going to say this, I already know the answer, but I'm going to ask it in this way. Are you barreling to taste or are you barreling to time taste? [00:28:56] Speaker B: I mean, yeah, it's, you know, actually I guess the way I'd answer that is probably a combination. You know that you're not going to get to a certain taste unless you do a certain amount of time. Right, right. But when you get to the fine point, like in the case of our repo, we're doing 11 months, but it's going to be plus or minus something. Right. Based on what the decisions of the master distiller are. Right. And that's where the person making your juice is so critical. And one of the other things that's a little different that, that we do is and is we blend. So you know, across the barrel line we're not just opening barrels and filling bottles. Right? [00:29:55] Speaker A: Sure. [00:29:56] Speaker B: And it's interesting to me because that kind of happened by accident. And I don't think it's, I mean what I've heard is it's not prevalent within the industry to blend. And that's a little. And when I say blend, what I mean is, you know, you've got 50 barrels and you've got, and each of those barrels is going to produce a slightly different tequila. [00:30:24] Speaker A: Sure. It's affecting the product differently because it's nature. Each barrel is a little bit different. Each barrel's maybe different wood, different grains. Even though it's the same kind of wood, it's still going to be different. [00:30:36] Speaker B: Yeah. So if you're filling and you start with barrel one, and you're, like, just going down the line and you're bottling, that's different than taking all those barrels and then deciding. Okay, tasting each of them and saying, okay, and what is the perfect balance and blend of that for the optimal result? And what's interesting is in the part of the country where you are, you know, there's just south of you, there's a lot of brown liquor. And they blending. The master blenders are like, you know, that's like the pitcher on a ball team. I mean, they are. They are super important. So that's something that we do that's a little different that shows up in our aged expressions. [00:31:25] Speaker A: Are you doing a percentage of the scotch barrels and then a certain percentage of your regular American oak when you do your blending? [00:31:34] Speaker B: Well, it would be driven by, like, yes, but it's not. If you're asking the question of, oh, do we do three of these and two of those? That's just driven by the balance of the barrels themselves. And then you're tweaking it a little bit on the quantity. But the recipe is not necessarily three of these and two of those. It's gotcha. [00:31:54] Speaker A: So it's not a percentage. It's even blended to taste. Barrel to taste. Blended to taste. It's a great repo. You have all of that blanco flavor that we talked about with just a hint of caramel and a little hint of. I want to say vanilla, but I don't know that it's really vanilla, but it's kind of a vanilla flavor to me. And then. Then you get a little bit different spicy at the end where this. It's some of those barrel spices versus just a light pepper. I take that blanco. It's kind of a white pepper, where this is more about like a all spice, almost like. Like a maybe a nutmeg is maybe the flavor that I'm getting there. But it's. It's excellent, and it's very easy to drink, and it would shine through in any cocktail that. This is one that my wife would go, okay, make me a sipper. And that's one that she would sip on because it is just really good. [00:32:43] Speaker B: So, yeah, I would highly recommend that you give her a little bit of that marg mix and a little Repo. And, and throw that into a shaker with some ice and, and a wedge of lime or a wheel of lime. And you ask her, does she like margaritas? [00:33:00] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, she's a margarita drinker when it comes to drinks. You know, she, she's a margarita drinker. I'm more of a paloma drinker. I'm trying to get her over to the sipping side. So what are you doing? Same exact tequila that's going into the repo. The blanco is going into the anejo. Is it the same process? Just waiting a little bit longer for your onions? [00:33:20] Speaker B: Yeah. So the easy way to think about it is 1, 3, 9, right. So 1 year, 3 years, 9 years. And each of the agings is a little bit less than that. [00:33:31] Speaker A: Right, Gotcha. [00:33:32] Speaker B: So, you know, like you're 11 months in repo, you're three years minus a month or two on the Anejo. And then we do have the, what I refer to as nearly nine, nearly nine year xa. And but, but I will say that, that xa, you know, it, it's. I don't have a lot of cases left of it and when it's gone, it's gone. So. [00:34:00] Speaker A: Wow. It, it is amazing. I, that was, that was my dessert last night and I really, I didn't read the bottle to see if it told me how long it was aged, but I was like, man, this is not your normal like 3 to 5 year XA. This is, this has got some real depth to it and it's not over oaked. You still have that front that. I always say the celebrity in this tequila is the tequila that's in the bottle. Right? The good traditional tequila. It's the celebrities in the bottle. Although the celebrity in your case also is your master distiller. But the agave stays forward. But you have this really nice barrel influence in the XA that was, it was a dessert to me last night. I told my wife, I said, that's like, I got like a creme brulee, almost sweetness out of it with that caramelly burnt sugar type flavor with the agave being the star of it. It was really good. That would go in nothing but a glass for me. It's really good. So you said there is a story behind this, this jobby right here. [00:35:02] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. The. So we're one of the few Gila brands that has a margarita mix. And the reason, I mean that we got there is that we were doing tastings at liquor stores and sampling and you know, we'd make margaritas because we offer both something that would satisfy like you and your wife. Right. Because there's a group of people out there and this is great. That drink tequila and cocktails, right? [00:35:36] Speaker A: Yep. [00:35:37] Speaker B: And. And we are an equal opportunity tequila maker. I mean, I would never. I don't judge people for their decisions. I mean, margaritas are delicious, right? [00:35:50] Speaker A: They are. That's why it's the number one cocktail out there, right. It's everybody's drinking margaritas. [00:35:55] Speaker B: So we were squeezing a lot of limes and the recipe that we used was, you know, from back in my. I worked at a great bar in Nashville and that was that all natural, everything, nothing that was out of a bottle or a bag for mix. And so I tweaked their recipe, and it's simple. I mean, I'll tell you what it is. It's lime juice, agave nectar, and a squeeze of orange. Right. And so after about the thousandth time that somebody across the tasting table said, wow, this mix is good. You should bottle it. I found, I found a natural juice company that makes great mix and made the recipe, wrote it down, stuck a FedEx box and sent it to them. And all that's in that bottle is natural lime juice, agave nectar, and a squeeze of orange. And it's. It. I didn't realize at the time, you know, it doesn't seem revolutionary to me. But what ends up happening is if you walked into any liquor store or grocery store, most of the stuff on that wall is going to have some type of corn based sweetener in it, you know, and the reason is it's cheaper. Right. And, and it's. But the problem is it's also different. And it's not really the way you're supposed to make a margarita. So that bottle in front of you there is the same way. It's the exact same stuff. If I were squeezing limes and making margaritas for my friends at home, and. [00:37:38] Speaker A: If we're going to talk about an additive free tequila and putting something clean in your body, why buy something to make a mix out of it that has ingredients on the label that you can't even pronounce? So, I mean, this makes perfect sense. [00:37:52] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And, and you know, to me, there's. There's some people that say, oh, if you're going to make a cocktail, don't put good tequila in it. And that's not my view. I mean, I think it all matters. Right. And, and so if you're going to your point. Exactly. I mean, if you want it to be pure, then you just run the table. You know, you've got. You want to get as close to. If you had squeezed the limes and you had added a free tequila and you end up with a cocktail that. That is like the best cocktail you've ever had as opposed to something that you would get, you know, that's not that. [00:38:40] Speaker A: I don't know why you would want to put a bad tequila in a cocktail and think that it's going to be good. Two parts good and one port bad. Still makes bad. Put the good stuff in there. All right, so what are your price points? Because when I look things up, I think is really solid price points on everything as well. Right? [00:38:57] Speaker B: Yeah. So, well, keeping in mind that the retailers you're going to get a little bit of variation. [00:39:03] Speaker A: Sure. It's going to be different state to state as well. And there's controlled states and then there's states with too many taxes and then there's. There's good states. Yeah. [00:39:13] Speaker B: So, you know, like if you were walking into a liquor store, you're going to see our blanco is going to be basically around 40 bucks. [00:39:24] Speaker A: Okay. [00:39:26] Speaker B: And the, the repo is going to be 45 to 49. The Anejo is going to be probably 55ish. [00:39:41] Speaker A: Okay. [00:39:42] Speaker B: And then the extra yo is ridiculously underpriced at like 130 bucks a bottle for nine. [00:39:51] Speaker A: Almost nine years. [00:39:52] Speaker B: Yeah. And I can tell you why. I mean, that's seven. [00:39:55] Speaker A: That's 17 years to make this tequila. [00:39:59] Speaker B: Yeah. So the reason is, is that when we made that batch, it was sort of pre inflation cranking up. [00:40:09] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah. [00:40:10] Speaker B: And we have never increased the price. And if I'm honest, it's probably because we've had so much other stuff to do. [00:40:21] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, thank you. Thank you for being busy, you know. [00:40:26] Speaker B: And it's kind of a pain in the ass, frankly. I mean, you know, you've got a. You've got umpteen distributors. I mean, we're in 15 states now. [00:40:35] Speaker A: Okay. [00:40:36] Speaker B: So you know, you got to notify and you got to update databases and you got to do all this work and it's just not my favorite part of the job. Right. [00:40:45] Speaker A: So. [00:40:46] Speaker B: So. So we just left it. [00:40:49] Speaker A: The people that are in those 15 states, what's the best way for people to pick it up? Do you guys have the ability for people to shop and buy on your website? [00:40:57] Speaker B: Yes, that. So E com with liquor is. Our brands cannot sell direct to consumer, so you have to partner with some type of e commerce company that has a retail license and the states, each state has its regulations about ship out and ship in, right? [00:41:21] Speaker A: Yep. [00:41:21] Speaker B: And, and so you, you know, the states that have the most relaxed ship out would be Florida and California. So our E. Commerce is run out of a liquor retailer in Florida and they can ship to about, I think it's 40 something states. [00:41:44] Speaker A: Okay, so good distribution then for people outside of that. [00:41:48] Speaker B: And we also, we offer it free shipping, which, and the reason that we do that, you know, on some of those deals, I mean, it's expensive. Liquor is in glass and it's a liquid and it's heavy, right? [00:42:04] Speaker A: Yes. [00:42:04] Speaker B: So the shipping is expensive. And then, you know, FedEx and UPS charge extra for shipping liquor because of the regulatory aspect of it. They say if you look at the back of any of those bottles, you'll see the words only for our friends. Incursive. Yeah, which is kind of our motto, which is we like to share our tequila with friends on E. Com. Like a single bottle. I mean we like lose money. Right. But, but we want people to be able to get it as broadly as possible and share it with their friends. And then on the bricks and mortar distribution, I mean, we added about six states last year. We've got first quarter. We're launching Colorado in February. Georgia is coming online first quarter. Hopefully the bricks and mortar will catch up with the 40 something states for E. Comm. But until that happens, we didn't want to like penalize people saying oh yeah, you got to, you got to pay for shipping and all this other stuff. So yeah, you can buy it online in those 40 something states. And then there's a map on our website. It's basically a swath from Chicago down through the middle of the country to Florida. And I'm going to say that kind of in quotes. I mean, you can get it delivered quick in Florida. It's not in a lot of liquor stores in Florida, but you know, Florida's imminent. Yep. [00:43:33] Speaker A: That's awesome. Okay, so anything new coming out? You got any future products that you're getting ready to launch or any new things cooking? [00:43:43] Speaker B: So. Okay, so how do we answer this question? The short answer is no. Okay. But I realized that, you know, within this community, I mean, the amount of new products that are coming out is massive. Right. I mean, and for us, our strategy I guess is a little bit different. We're not, we're not into the. The new product. New product, new product, new product. Right. I mean, our goal is to be a daily or weekly drinker your go to tequila to replace if you were drinking Patron Casamigos, Don Julio. You know, if you were in, if that's what you're used to doing, we want you to come over to the craft, non industrial, pure AF side of the business, right? [00:44:42] Speaker A: It's the side of trying these, like we talked about, dipping your toe in the water and trying something new. So I call a lot of those tequilas. That's gateway tequila. [00:44:50] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:50] Speaker A: That person rings a bell and goes, oh, this is great tequila. And somebody goes, you should try this. And next thing you know, they're down the tequila nerd hole, like where I am. And so many of us are. And it's like, what is that? How'd they make that? You know, so those tequilas have a. They serve a purpose, and it's to bring people over here to these great products. [00:45:10] Speaker B: What I would say to people is, is that my message is, come on over. It's better. We talk about tequila and we talk about, you know, all the things that we've said in this call. It's like fermentation and yeast and, you know, agave growth times and all this kind of stuff. The general public doesn't talk about tequila that way, right? [00:45:29] Speaker A: No. [00:45:30] Speaker B: Like, is it good or is it bad? This one's good. You should try it. That's the way they talk about it. Right? And so my message is, these are all the ones that you see on that wall back there. And including these on this bar up here in the front are good. You should try them. [00:45:47] Speaker A: There's a couple bad ones on my bar actually, too. [00:45:49] Speaker B: Oh, really? [00:45:50] Speaker A: Yeah, there's one in the corner back there, and there's a couple on the end that no one really can see. And then there's. There's the other ones we've talked about on the very top. And those are here because we do tastings, and we'll have people come over that don't know anything about tequila. And we'll. We'll drink them through a blanco repo on yejo, an xa. And I tell people, bring. Bring with you your favorite tequila. I can look it up. I can tell you, you know, how it's made and what's in it, and if it's additive free or not. And let me walk you through some of these flavors. And then you taste the one that you like, and what. What happens is a lot of times they leave the one that they brought here. So then it becomes my litmus test with people of, here, taste this and taste this. You know, and once your palate has these, a few times your palate picks up on the additives or the, maybe the flavors that aren't supposed to be there in other tequilas. And, or maybe you pick up on the chemicals. That's what I pick up on. So I use them to show people. And of course I have people go, why is that on your shelf? Well, let's try it. I'll show you why. You know, here, let me give you, you know, let's try this blanco and this repo. And now try that blanco. [00:47:02] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it's brilliant. I mean, there's, you know, a side by side. I mean, I don't know, some of the people may be too young to remember the Pepsi challenge, but it's like, you know, there's no substitute for side by side sampling. Yeah. And I think it's what, you know, I know it's what people want. Right. I mean, when I'm out and we're doing tastings, I mean, the first question that we get is, is it additive free? [00:47:28] Speaker A: Yep. [00:47:29] Speaker B: First question every time. And then, then it goes from there. But whether, you know, it's all of the trends and, and it only makes sense. I mean, you got to give the people what they want. Right. And, and that's what this group of craft non industrial, you know, tequilas does. And, and, and I'm. I could not be happier about it. [00:47:54] Speaker A: Well, I want to say thanks. Thanks for taking the. Oh my gosh, I like tequila all the way to. Let's bring good tequila to people and let's explain why. And bringing a great product, a great looking bottle, a great label. You know, I like that only for our friends. Like that is such, that is such tequila. Right? I mean, that's. Tequila is something that brings people together and tequila is something that people talk about and you know, tequila is supposed to be fun. That's what I, I like the fun aspect of it and I, I love that you have this XA and that you're aging to these times and, and keeping the agave forward. So thank you. Thank you for doing what you've done and taking your passion for something and bringing out such a fantastic product. And thanks for taking your time today to sit down with me on a snowy afternoon. [00:48:45] Speaker B: Yeah, it's my pleasure. I actually, I did think of something that you had asked me. If we have new products, we are going to have another xa. [00:48:54] Speaker A: Okay. [00:48:54] Speaker B: That's between the anejo and the one that you've got on your, on your bar there. That will be coming out sometime in 25, right? [00:49:05] Speaker A: Oh, awesome. [00:49:06] Speaker B: So you'll have a. [00:49:07] Speaker A: Almost in between the Xaxa. [00:49:11] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And yeah, we were having a conversation about, I think, you know, we want. One of the questions that we had is like the color schemes on our bottle we do for each of the aging categories. Right. So you got blanco is blue, repo is orange, anejo is that burgundy color, and then XA is purple. And we were like, well, if we just change the years on the bottle, which is on the front and leave it purple. We were kind of worried that people might get confused and be like, oh, wait a minute, I didn't see, like, that's pretty small print. So we're trying to figure out, okay, what color should we make that label so that it's still in the XA umbrella, but it's differentiated enough to where people can. If you're working in a warehouse and you're moving cases, it's like you don't want to confuse one with another. Right, Right. [00:50:13] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:50:13] Speaker B: But yeah, we have, we're having that discussion yesterday, but we will have another xa and it's probably going to be, it's going to be, I'm going to say a 4 year XA. [00:50:23] Speaker A: Awesome. Wondered if you had high proof coming out because 2024 seems to be the year of the high proof and I think it's going to go in 25 too. [00:50:33] Speaker B: We could have that high proof discussion. But for us, I think our main initiative is to share the blanco as the entry point with as many people as we can. Sure. And then branch out from there. We are also distributed in Canada and in western Canada, but we've got another 30 states that we really want to, to move into. So we'll, we'll be at wswa where all the wholesalers trade show in Denver in February, trying to grow things that way. I love them all, but Blanco is always my starting point on. That's, that's the rock. Right. We want to get that blanco out there as broadly as we can so that, that people can try it and then, you know, they may decide, okay, well I want to sample up and down the line and add new products and whatnot. But, but that's our, that's our approach. [00:51:42] Speaker A: I know that a lot of people are doing. That's why I asked the question. Your, your blanco is so good that I think a high proof, for a tequila person like me, a high proof of this blanco, meaning there just wasn't any, any water added to it, would be phenomenal. You know, and because it's phenomenal already, that's just. [00:51:58] Speaker B: All right, well, I'll look into it. I mean, you know, we'll have that conversation next week. Mellie and I are sitting down next week, and. And I'm happy to have it. I do think that we talked about the story, and you had, you know, siempre who, you know, we think the world of on this feed. And, you know, he made a comment that. That to start a crafty heel company is just madness, right, because you're fighting with, you know, these massive corporations with huge ad budgets and teams and all this stuff, and the question comes down to, how do you spend your time? And, you know, I. I believe where we spend a lot of our time is in moving people from that industrial box to the. Let's call it, 100% agave only box. Right, exactly. The AF box. Right, the. And there's so much human communication and tasting, and it's like every convert that we can get to move from A to B is. Is where. Where we spend a lot of our time. And we're grateful to people like you that are helping spread the word that, you know, come on over. This is a great place to be. [00:53:18] Speaker A: No, I appreciate that. Like I said, I really appreciate you taking the time. I know. I know you're not sitting at home on a Friday twiddling your thumbs, waiting on somebody to do an interview. So I know. [00:53:27] Speaker B: It's a pleasure. It's a pleasure meeting. It's a pleasure talking to you. And. And I'm sure, you know, we'll. Our paths will cross any, you know, anytime in the future. Then be sure to say hi. [00:53:40] Speaker A: Oh, definitely will. And the same goes that way. You get four hours north. This. There's a bar right here to sit down, and we can drink some tequila at it. I would. I'd love to have you. Yeah. [00:53:49] Speaker B: Excellent. [00:53:50] Speaker A: Well, thanks for your time today. I appreciate it. And we'll put all of the information of where you can find TC Craft in all of the notes, and I'll also have all their social media available as well. And thanks for tuning in for another show. [00:54:02] Speaker B: All right, thanks, Brad. [00:54:03] Speaker A: Thank you. I appreciate you very much. [00:54:05] Speaker B: All right, bye.

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