Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, guys, thanks for stopping into another interview video. This is going to be a good one. Today you're going to learn how an NFL football player and a Hall of fame NHL hockey player came together to create this tequila, El Bandido Yankee. And you also find out about the great distillery this tequila is coming out of. If you haven't had it, you should try it. Stick around, pour yourself a great glass of tequila, and listen to a story about El Bandido Yankee.
[00:00:31] Speaker B: Foreign.
[00:00:35] Speaker A: Hey, guys, thanks for sticking around tonight. I have a great interview coming at you today. I'm sitting with James, who's with El Bandido Yankee Tequila. And I'm really fired up to hear this story. So tell everybody who you are, James.
[00:00:49] Speaker B: Well, I am the son of the founder of El Bandido Yankee, Jim Bob Morris. And I was sort of brought into this business two years ago. Not really to my preference of what I wanted to do, just kind of, hey, this is what you're doing now. And so, you know, I've been in the business for about two and a half, three years, and it's been a heck of a journey. Learned a lot, and I'm grateful because realized how cool of a thing that agave is. And there's just so much complexity to just everything, tequila and agave. And so it's just. It's been cool.
[00:01:30] Speaker A: That's awesome. Well, welcome to tequila. That's fantastic. What'd you do before dad said you're working in the tequila business?
[00:01:38] Speaker B: I was working for a very rather not cool. Ish. Not not as cool as tequila. I was working in insurance.
[00:01:47] Speaker A: Gotcha. Yeah, there's not a lot of things. There's not a lot of things as cool as tequila. I mean, to work in. I mean, being a rock star and drinking tequila is probably, you know, I guess having a dad that is an NFL football player, that's probably pretty cool, too.
[00:02:02] Speaker B: Yes. Although, you know, growing up in Illinois, I was always the lone wolf because everyone was a Bears fan and I was the lone packers fan, so. But hey, we won. We'd usually beat them, so I'd get the last laugh.
[00:02:16] Speaker A: They usually beat. They. The packers usually beat the Bears more than the Bears beat the Packers.
[00:02:20] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:02:20] Speaker A: That's awesome. Yeah.
[00:02:21] Speaker B: I grew up in a pretty good era.
[00:02:23] Speaker A: Yeah. Yes, you did. All right, so tell me the story of how your dad, a pro football player, and his partner, Chris hall of Fame NHL hockey player, come together and then how. And why tequila? How did, like, that whole story happen?
[00:02:40] Speaker B: Yeah. So from what I have been told, and this is probably a Fabricated story, but this is what they say. So they were drinking at hotel bar in Chicago, December 19, 2021. And first off, they had to be very drunk because I don't know who in their right minds decides to get into the tequila business with no experience.
But they were drinking one of the competitors of a tequila brand that you and I probably don't like. And Chilios had helped start that brand with a couple friends of his in Malibu. And they were sipping it, and they could taste. Well, at least my dad said he could taste some of the glycerin and the avocantes. And they're like, oh, well, if you can taste that, then why don't you just start your own tequila? And so he's like, yeah, let's do it. Chris was like, well, they asked, you know, what's a good name, you think? And they were talking about, well, Chris came up with the word El Bandido Yankee. And that's from the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, if you remember. When, you know, Paul Newman and Robert Redford are down in Peru and they're robbing the banks, and the Peruvian police officers are chasing after them, like, get those El Bandito Yankees.
And so I guess my dad, when he was coming home the next day on the tv, what was playing was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. And so that was a moment of serendipity where he's like, well, maybe I should start this. And so after that, the idea was conceived, and we got in touch with Jeff Ernst, whose package solutions, you know, G4Elateo. And so he kind of helped us get going. And he's great friends with Juan Eduardo down at Viejito. And so, you know, Jeff's been very helpful with us. And, yeah, we've kind of just been rolling ever since that day they got really drunk off additive tequila.
[00:04:53] Speaker A: Well, I always say nothing fun ever comes with the person saying, wow, I'm glad I had that salad.
[00:04:59] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. No fun. Story starts with celery.
[00:05:04] Speaker A: Exactly, exactly. So I was going to ask you the story behind the names. That's because I wondered, how in the world did they come up with this? And I love the so smooth it's criminal. And the. The. The logo is awesome as well. And I know that you're doing some work in Nashville, Tennessee, with a good friend of mine, the Tequila Cop. And it goes so cool with, you know, him being the Tequila Cop and you guys are the El Bandido Yankees. I think it's awesome.
[00:05:29] Speaker B: So, yeah, he's an awesome guy.
[00:05:31] Speaker A: He is. He's fantastic.
[00:05:33] Speaker B: He's. He's done a few events with us down at, like, Frugal McDougall's in Nashville. And he's just been. He's a cool dude. I saw he was on earlier. Yeah, he's cool dude.
[00:05:45] Speaker A: So what about the label? How did you guys come up with this whole design? Did they do it themselves or did they hire, like, a company that kind of brought them ideas?
[00:05:53] Speaker B: Well, the Bandit was written on a napkin that night where they came up with the idea to start a tequila company. They wrote on a napkin something very similar to that Bandit, and the rest is mostly a design team.
[00:06:11] Speaker A: Gotcha.
[00:06:12] Speaker B: But, yeah, it's a cartoon little drawing that was from a napkin.
[00:06:17] Speaker A: It's a. It's awesome. And, you know, you think of how many business stories there is where I. I sold my business because a guy wrote a dollar amount on a napkin and yeah, I took the deal. And, you know, those. Those stories are usually the ones that breed some of the greatest businesses and greatest business stories. So that's. That's pretty cool. I mean, I like the way you have the packaging all the way around. It's got great information. It's got a great look to it. It stands out on a shelf, too. That's kind of what makes it cool. You don't have to be a celebrity tequila. You just have to have a celebrity in the bottle so people will drink it and enjoy it. And you guys, you guys kind of have both. Really? It's pretty awesome.
[00:06:53] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:06:54] Speaker A: How did you find nom 1107 and how did they make that relationship with Eduardo to get started there?
[00:07:01] Speaker B: So when we talked with Jeff Ernst, he was good friends with Juan Eduardo, and we were kind of describing what we were looking for. You know, they didn't want something, obviously, they wanted something additive free, but also not something that was going to scare away the typical American consumer. You know, like, not everyone can sip additive fritaquila and not feel some of that, you know, the burn in the throat. And so we wanted to go with a place that had the capability to oxygenate the blanco at least. So it was more of a smooth mouth feel and, you know, good price point. And so El Viejito was kind of the best option at that time.
[00:07:51] Speaker A: That's El Vijito is really the first distillery that I learned to drink really good tequila.
[00:07:57] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:07:57] Speaker A: From back in the early 2000s, where they had a blue bottle that came out of there, and it was a really good tequila back in the day. And it's really one of the first distilleries and first master distillers I ever learned about 20 plus years ago. I kind of lean towards things that come out of nom 1107 just because I, I know the traditional. And this is a very approachable blanco. It's right. It's not hiding any of the agave flavors and any of what tequila is really all about. You get a great earthiness, you get a little bit of vegetable, you get a great cooked agave. You have a really nice. To me, it's a fairly long finish with a little pepper in it, a great sweetness. But it's approachable. It's something that I could hand one of my bourbon drinkers that talk about I can't drink tequila and they could drink this and really like it. So that's awesome.
[00:08:49] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. Also, Viejito's history was super appealing. Being the first distillery in Atiltonilco and, you know, just being a generational distillery with Karina Rojo being the master distiller, we find that important. Having being or being one of the only tequila brands that can claim to have tequila made by a female master distiller is a pretty cool story.
And yeah, I agree with you. I mean, it's not going to overpower you. It is a great. I've heard it from several people that the blanco is a great introductory tequila. If someone's looking to start in additive free tequila, it's, it's not going to scare you away at first.
[00:09:38] Speaker A: Yeah. But even as a seasoned drink, I mean, right. I haven't had it very long and if you look, that's been a pretty common drinker for me. I really enjoy it. It's approachable. You know, there's, there's a few female master distillers out there that I believe really have a different taste and know how to bring a little bit more approachable tequila with still an outstanding agave flavor and a tequila flavor. So it's, that's something, it's well received by a lot of people. I think that's awesome. Yeah, tell me. Oh, go ahead.
[00:10:10] Speaker B: Well, thank you. I mean, it's been. I love the compliments and I guess it's a good thing, you know, as long as those bottles are being poured, that's, you know, that's what we want to see. If it was a little, you know, too harsh, then people probably wouldn't pour it as much. So it's good that it's, it's a smooth tequila.
[00:10:29] Speaker A: So for me, it's great to have a Tequila that I really like the flavor of. Whether I'm gonna make a mixed drink for a friend or a family member that's coming over or for me. Like I, I start off just sipping blanco. I mean that's. Yeah, what I do. So it's, it's, it's a great, easy to drink tequila. I love it.
[00:10:46] Speaker B: Yeah, it's versatile.
You know, you could sip it neat or make a ranch water margarita, Tatanga, whatever you want.
[00:10:54] Speaker A: Okay, so tell me about the agaves. Where are the agaves coming from?
[00:10:58] Speaker B: They're coming from the highlands and Tiltonilco and we, the Juan, you know, he buys them from different agave farms throughout the area.
And you know, we're not obviously using immature agave. He only likes to use around 5 to 6 year old agave. So, you know, making sure the sugar content is, is high enough. Reena is really important in that phase of buying agave. She won't buy agave that she doesn't approve of. So, you know, we stick to a standard there and they don't settle for anything less than the best.
[00:11:38] Speaker A: That's awesome. You can tell it too from the sweetness it has. You know, you have some of these tequilas like we were talking about when you started this. Some of the, the ones that we know that we don't drink, that have a sweetness in the front. And then you get that Diet Coke, Coke Zero, whatever, that. Not to pick on Coke, but that's the one I use all the time. You get that, you know, saccharine, weird sweetness. And in this it's, it is true agave sweetness. There's nothing afterwards. It's just a great flavor.
[00:12:08] Speaker B: Yeah, that's what it should be. You know, it's, it is agave. It's tequila. Tequila should taste like agave. Shouldn't taste like a coke or a brick date cake.
[00:12:18] Speaker A: Right. So what's your cooking method there? Are you brick oven, stone oven?
[00:12:23] Speaker B: Yep, we're traditional brick oven or nose. And so they'll cook it for about 40 hours, slow roasting it and they'll turn the steam on for X amount of hours, let it sit, turn it on, let it rest. You know, so it's not just full blast heat at the agave, it's like, you know, slow roasting, like a, you know, a brisket. You know, you let it cook a.
[00:12:49] Speaker A: While, Let that flavor stay in there for a while.
[00:12:52] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:12:53] Speaker A: So do they load it in and steam it and flush all of that. Yeah, water out and then close that tank back up and then collect the honey from steaming it the second time and then let it rest from there. Is that how they're doing that?
[00:13:06] Speaker B: Exactly, Yep.
[00:13:08] Speaker A: Yeah. A lot of people don't know that that good stuff isn't just crushed out of it, but it's coming out of it in the actual cooking as well.
[00:13:15] Speaker B: Right.
[00:13:15] Speaker A: So what's your. What's the standard crushing method? There's.
[00:13:20] Speaker B: So we use a roller mill. And I wish, I mean, they just don't have a tahona. I mean, it's just. It's difficult unless you're at like El Pendio, where you come up with like a cool robotic kind of thing. But we just use a roller mill.
[00:13:37] Speaker A: To crush a lot of distilleries that haven't had roller mills are, I mean, tahunas and have only had roller mills. Or now building that next spot to have either a mechanical tohona or an old school to hona with a little electric machine going on. So maybe in the future, maybe that's future products coming. You never know.
[00:13:56] Speaker B: Yeah, potentially. That'd be pretty cool. I think some of that could be just for the show of, like, when people visit the distillery, like, this is our tohona.
[00:14:05] Speaker A: Right.
[00:14:05] Speaker B: But in reality, they might be using the roller mill behind the scenes just because it's more efficient.
[00:14:12] Speaker A: I know there's a lot of blending where they'll have so much roller mill, just regular fermentation, then so much that's a tohono with like the bagasse and the fermentation as well. And then blending those two together, it is so inefficient. There's. But actually, if you look at the production of tequila, the ones that I, you know, we talk about additive free, but I talk a lot about traditional versus industrial.
We can blow it through a diffuser and not cook it at all and throw it straight into some really fast fermentation with, you know, some added yeast that isn't a yeast that's there for flavor, but for speed. And we can blow it through a column still and shoot it into a bottle and add a bunch of additives to call it tequila. Or we can do it like you guys are doing it, picking your agaves when they're ripe and they're. They're fully grown, going in and cooking it in the stone oven the way it's supposed to be cooked, and then using a roller mill for crushing it. That's going to give us this traditional flavor. You don't have to add anything.
So when you go into fermentation, are you guys doing like, open Fermentation, spontaneous fermentation. What's your guys's thing there?
[00:15:17] Speaker B: So Juan, Eduardo and Karina are pretty strict with the fermentation. There's a few farms near the distillery and so they don't want, you know, certain yeast getting into the tequila. So we use a proprietary blend in a closed tank and it's just kind of the standard, you know, we don't want there to be, or at least they don't want there to be much variation in a blanco or reposado, but they don't want one batch to taste completely different. And so they've stick well for about 60 years, you know, 70 for long it's been the same way traditional.
[00:16:03] Speaker A: And it has a, I mean 1107 has a DNA to it. Right. I can go, I can pull out El fajito and drink it or some of the others that I know that come there.
Each one has a little different profile because of the way you guys are making your profile. But there's a, there's a DNA of the distillery that you really pick up on. And I didn't know that the fermentation was done that way. I honestly figured it was probably the water that was giving it a distinct taste because sometimes if the water has. Everybody's water tastes different too.
[00:16:35] Speaker B: Right, right.
[00:16:35] Speaker A: Speaking of that, is, is your guys deep well water, is that where your guys water comes from?
[00:16:39] Speaker B: Yeah, it is deep well water.
[00:16:40] Speaker A: Okay, that's what I thought. So that, that's where I always thought the DNA of it came from, was just the water. So that's interesting that.
[00:16:47] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean the standard is the standard there. And you know, being one of the first tequilas in, until the Noco, you know, they wanted to maintain that, you know, they were producing for Patron back in the day in the city of Atotonoco.
So I mean they've been very important. You know, just if you're a tequila historian or lover, you know, I think it's a very important piece. If someone were to write a book on the history of tequila or something, I think they'd have to include viejito in that just because of a tilta. Noco is a, is a, a great town for tequila. I mean you think about some of the brands that come from there and the influence it's had. So yeah, they keep their standard the same.
[00:17:32] Speaker A: The, the stills are they copper pots or stainless steel pots?
[00:17:36] Speaker B: They're copper.
[00:17:38] Speaker A: So have you been there when they're actually producing your product?
[00:17:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I have.
[00:17:44] Speaker A: So have you got to stand at the edge of the still and taste it right off of the still. Yeah, yeah, that's my favorite Tequila. Like that is so good when you're taking it right out, however hot it is, it's so good. I love tequila that way.
[00:17:58] Speaker B: Yeah, I think, you know, that might be.
Well, you know, we do have a high proof coming. Probably not everyone listening knows that, but the high proof is on the way.
We're kind of late to that party. It seems like everyone dropped the high proof in 2024. But hey, save the best for last.
[00:18:16] Speaker A: That's right. You know, I, I say the year of the high proof was 2024, but I already know of three that are coming out in 2025. So possibly the best high proof isn't even out yet. That's what I'm thinking.
There's, there's been some great high proofs. I don't know that high proofs are the thing that really goes to everybody. Right. You're not gonna bring a bourbon drinker over to tequila by pouring him a still strength tequila, although he may be drinking a still strength bourbon. There's such a difference in the way the barrel reacts to something you would never drink before it went into the barrel versus how the agave tastes, you know, without any barrel influence at all. And that's to me, bourbon is made by the barrel and tequila is made by the agave and influenced by a barrel that. The high proofs, I think are really. Us aficionados and a lot of great bartenders and mixologists love high proofs because it can blast that agave flavor into a nice cocktail. It is, it is great for that.
[00:19:16] Speaker B: That was well put. I like that. You know, the barrel makes bourbon, but the agave makes tequila.
[00:19:22] Speaker A: Yeah. You can't have a great ano and a crappy blanco.
[00:19:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:19:26] Speaker A: You end up with an over oaked, you know, bourbon tasting product that doesn't resemble tequila. And that's, you know, and your guys is, it is very balanced. So when this is coming out still strength, you're probably coming out in that 50 range, 52 range.
[00:19:42] Speaker B: So the high proof will be out in hopefully March. We're going to try to keep it on the shelf under $50.
[00:19:51] Speaker A: Okay. That's awesome.
[00:19:52] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, we don't want to, you know, break people's pockets. I think it'd be competitive to have a high proof under 50. You don't see a lot of them. And then you brought up off the still. I would love to do a still strength as well. Bring the agave boom to, to the.
[00:20:10] Speaker A: People, the agave Boom. That's exactly right.
[00:20:13] Speaker B: Yeah, but. But the high proof will be. We're calling it plot off 47.
[00:20:17] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:20:17] Speaker B: It'll be 94 proof. And the still strength would be somewhere around 53. 54.
[00:20:23] Speaker A: Right. So then are you proofing this down just with well water or are you using like a demineralized water?
[00:20:30] Speaker B: We're going to use the well water.
[00:20:32] Speaker A: Well water. Okay. And then is the blanco the same thing that's going in the repo and the anejo?
[00:20:37] Speaker B: Correct.
[00:20:38] Speaker A: Okay, so proofing it down before it goes in the barrels.
[00:20:40] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:20:41] Speaker A: Awesome. And tell me about the barrels. What are you using for your repo?
[00:20:46] Speaker B: American oak bourbon barrels currently. But one thing we want to innovate on is experimenting with those different barrels. And not sure when we'll get to that, but hopefully soon because I think there's just so many cool things you can do. You know, maybe if it's like a rum barrel or a Mexican wine barrel would be pretty cool. And, you know, so we're looking at that. But currently we just use American oak bourbon barrels.
[00:21:13] Speaker A: You know, American oak bourbon is. They have such a classic taste to tequila, but like what you're talking about of a Hungarian oak barrel that's had some wine in it, or there's all these different things that everybody's doing. And I think it's great for the aficionados, the right people that are drinking tequila all the time, because it's sometimes it's nice to go grab something off the shelf that's a little different.
As long as that agave stays in the front, it's really cool. So that's neat that you guys are going to do some things like that. Are you going to roll out maybe a single barrel program, too?
[00:21:45] Speaker B: Yes, that is on the menu this year. So last year we did a couple. It was our first time getting into that business, and we started off with La Pina. It's a Mexican agave hotspot in Milwaukee. So Patrick Todd, he went down to Viejito and chose his barrel. And it's. It's delicious. And so we've kind of. We're understanding how to accomplish that process. And so we're going to launch some more this year and then hopefully more next year and hopefully partner with, you know, give you a single barrel someday. Like, you know, tequila, you know, Brad's tequila barrel pick and, you know, come down to Viejito and try something out that you like and get it rolling.
[00:22:38] Speaker A: That'd be fantastic. I mean, that'd be really cool to have that. When I was younger and really was into tequila early, that was one of the things I thought, man, I want a tequila brand. And I was building a mortgage company, and I. I know a lot about a mortgage company, but I don't know anything about running an alcohol company. So to me, it just seemed like this daunting task. But to have a single barrel would be kind of like the. That's like, full circle thing, you know? It's like, holy cow, I'm involved in it. That's so fun. And this. This is fun doing this, being involved in it this way, too. What is this?
[00:23:08] Speaker B: Well, I'd love to make that happen someday. I don't know when, but I would assume sometime in 2026 we can probably have that happen.
[00:23:16] Speaker A: Well, I'll be all about it. That'd be really cool. Thank you.
[00:23:18] Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, yeah, absolutely. And I. I do think you got to come down to the distillery. I think you enjoy. Have you been to Vieto?
[00:23:26] Speaker A: I have not. This is our first trip to Arandas. There'll be more trips. When I. When I find someplace I like, I go to that place. So. So tell me about the aging time they have on the rep.
[00:23:39] Speaker B: So the repo, they get mad when you say four months.
So we at the distillery, Karina says four lunar cycles.
[00:23:49] Speaker A: Okay, that's awesome.
[00:23:50] Speaker B: That's how the moon interacts with the liquid inside the barrel. So we do four lunar cycles for the reposado. I wish there was a cool story about how we could sort of integrate the moon into our tequila, but we haven't really. The repos, four. And the Anejo's 12 lunar cycles.
Yeah.
[00:24:12] Speaker A: I love the color. Like, one of the things I like about a repo is, like, we've talked about, you have that blanco taste and flavor of the agave, and you have a little bit of barrel influence. And in this repo, to me, it has just enough that it smooths it out. I hate using the word smooth, but it's such an easy word to explain. It. It rounds out the blanco to make it a. A little bit more approachable. It hands off a little bit of vanilla and a little bit of oakiness to it.
And it's. I've. I drink it a lot of it neat, but I've used it in Paloma multiple times because it. It has a bold agave flavor, but it. It has a little bit different sweetness. And I. The. You did a great job with the repo. It's really. It's really good.
[00:24:58] Speaker B: Yeah. The, the coloring is, like you said, it's not very dark. So, you know, at bars and restaurants, they kind of like that. It's not going to disrupt the color of a cocktail. And, you know, it's. It's also not going to overpower the cocktail, but it will provide, you know, some of those barrel notes as well as that agave flavor. So it's just enough barrel? Yeah, it's just enough. It's. It's not too much.
[00:25:26] Speaker A: It's good. It's got a great sweetness and it really changes the finish to me from the blanco, where the blanco has like a. More of a pepper finish. This gives me more of a.
More of a sweet and like a citrus finish. Yeah, that pepper's like just muted down still there. You still get that tingle, you know, in the back, your mouth, which I like, but it, it makes it just really drinkable. It's really, really good.
[00:25:52] Speaker B: Yeah, I agree. Yeah. A little cinnamon, a little citrus.
Yeah, that, that's a good tasting notes.
[00:25:59] Speaker A: You said that. I did get a little cinnamon, but I wasn't, I wasn't a hundred percent sure that that's what I got. I know a spice was there, but I couldn't clarify when you said cinnamon. And cinnamon's my favorite one. Like when I find a tequila, it just bombs you with cinnamon. I'm always like, blown away by that. Such a great flavor to find in a tequila.
[00:26:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:26:18] Speaker A: Okay, so Anejo, how long are we aging the Anejo for?
[00:26:23] Speaker B: One full year.
[00:26:24] Speaker A: One full year.
[00:26:26] Speaker B: And we. It was sort of a limited release.
We still don't have much in Yeho out there or left. Hopefully we'll get more, but it is kind of limited. We're going to come. We're going to create more in Yeho. We're going to put more into barrels in age it. But yeah, it was somewhat of a limited release.
Yeah, one full year for the.
[00:26:50] Speaker A: The popularity of tequila made it hard to say, especially in your first four years in the industry, to say, hey, don't fulfill all the blanco orders. Let's put some in a barrel for a year and see how that does. Right? I mean.
[00:27:03] Speaker B: Right.
[00:27:04] Speaker A: Okay. So we talked about on Yeho, we talked about your high proof coming out. What about xa? Have you guys thought about having an extra on Yeho in the future?
[00:27:12] Speaker B: So we haven't really put any juice in barrels yet for an xa. It's.
It's a thought. It's not like the forefront of our issues or concerns right now. Hopefully in the future we could come out with something pretty cool. And you know, Don Julio has the 1942 or something. We could do the El Bandido 1937. Some cool or special for it, but really we haven't put any juice in barrels for it. I'm sure down at Viejito, they, they have some, you know, barrels juice aging right now, but we haven't specifically told them to set aside for an XA Gotcha just because, you know, I mean, you gotta wait a while.
[00:27:54] Speaker A: That's a long investment.
[00:27:56] Speaker B: It's, it's a long time and, and.
[00:27:59] Speaker A: A bit of an angel share loss too, you know, in that time frame of waiting. So a lot of people don't realize that, you know, you barrel the blanco and you barrel the repo and you barrel or you use, you bottle the blanco and you barrel these two and you don't get as much as you get here.
[00:28:13] Speaker B: Right.
[00:28:14] Speaker A: And, and some people ask me, why is a high proof more they're doing less. They're just taking it right out of the still. And they don't understand the part of proofing it down. You know, adding the amount of water it takes to bring it down to 80 proof gives you more tequila. So you're, you're making less product, you know, on that high proof or still strength. So I explained that to a lot of people and they're like, oh, that makes sense. And it's. Most people don't think about how it gets to 80 proof or that's not, it just is, you know, so they don't understand that. So that's a pretty neat process.
[00:28:46] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, yeah, the, the tequila costs money.
[00:28:51] Speaker A: Yeah. And, and people don't realize I say this, and this has been in a million videos. My people that watch these probably go, oh, here he goes again. But I say this is sipping eight years of sunshine.
[00:29:00] Speaker B: Yeah, that is valid.
[00:29:02] Speaker A: You know, if you look at a bourbon, you look at a rum, you look at beer, all of those products to me are just industrial products because you can go, even wine, you can go grow those grapes every year. Every year you get to start over and do it again. Wine maybe has more of a terroir than the rest, but people don't understand that this is agricultural. This is six years, seven years in the ground. It's going to taste a little bit different. Wherever those agaves came from. And like we talked about fermentation, you're going to get a different, a little bit different flavor based on the, the time of year that you ferment. Sometimes it takes longer and Cooler temperatures. The agave is going to be different that you use each time. There, there really is a, A, a long term agricultural product here that most people have. No idea.
[00:29:52] Speaker B: No idea. And I'm glad you brought up that point because agave is the only plant that, that can be transformed in the spirit that can't be harvested mechanically.
[00:30:05] Speaker A: Right.
[00:30:06] Speaker B: I mean, you have to have a koa and a skilled humidor to harvest that. And it's just such a, such a beautiful process. How you know it, they probably won't ever come up with something to harvest agave with a combine like machine unless the diageos of the world put enough money towards it.
[00:30:28] Speaker A: Yeah. To think of how to bring it out of the ground, how to shave that pina down. And like, if, you know, most people haven't seen that process to watch a guy with a koa cut that pina. Some will shave them all the way. Like there's so many different ways. And it affects the taste of the tequila and just getting them out of the ground. I mean that's. And some of them will be 6ft, 6ft tall when 6ft around. What gets me, these guys are walking in between these fields and I know they know how to do it. Yeah, I, when I first seen that and I seen animals grazing in there, I was like, I don't know that I could walk through there without getting cut up.
[00:31:05] Speaker B: Yeah, no, they, they put a little tequila in the troughs.
[00:31:08] Speaker A: They have to let them be able to wiggle through there with no problem. That's awesome.
[00:31:12] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. No, the, the agave is just such a resilient plant and mean, there's just so many amazing things that you could spend a whole podcast series just talking about agave. From the reproduction to, you know, how it was worshiped as like a God back then, to, you know, all the uses for it. I mean, it's just such a cool plant.
[00:31:36] Speaker A: Yeah. There's so many awesome stories. Yeah, it is a super cool plant. I love it. So what markets? Where can people find you? What are your biggest markets?
[00:31:46] Speaker B: So our biggest market today, right, right now is Illinois. Second biggest would be Florida.
[00:31:52] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:31:53] Speaker B: Third biggest market is Wisconsin. Surprisingly, people always get thrown off. I don't know why, you know, but if you look at the map of the drunkest counties in America, they're in Wisconsin. All of them are in Wisconsin.
[00:32:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:32:07] Speaker B: So as some about Wisconsin, we've done fairly well. You can find us in Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Tennessee, some places in Georgia, Arizona. We're growing. We just got into Trevor's People in ar, in the Phoenix Valley would know that. Nevada, Colorado, and Texas.
But we're going to focus more on the Southwest. But, you know, just because there's a lot of tequila drinkers and people kind of get frustrated, they can't find us out there and. I understand. So we will put some more emphasis on those states as well as open up a few more this year, such as North Carolina and potentially New York and New Jersey.
[00:32:53] Speaker A: Those are big markets, too.
[00:32:55] Speaker B: Yeah. That's a beast in itself. Not exactly sure if we're going to do that, but there's been talks of that.
[00:33:01] Speaker A: Well, in a short period of time. You're in a lot of markets. That's impressive.
[00:33:04] Speaker B: Yeah. And I forgot Indiana.
[00:33:06] Speaker A: You. You guys. Yeah. Wait. So I was at a liquor store about a. It's probably been year and a half ago, and I'm, you know, perusing through what tequilas they have there. And this was on the shelf and I hadn't seen it before. So out comes Tequila Matchmaker, right? It's like 11, okay. Yeah. And they. They had a blanco and a repo. So I was like. And the guy's like, are those good? And I said, I think they're gonna be. Because I had, you know, it was the first time I bought them, and the guy at the store didn't know. So the next time I came back, I was picking up something else in another blanco. And he goes, must have been good. I was like, yeah, it's delicious. So then I, I, you know, I told him a little bit what I knew about the brand, and it's good to have a good tequila. We. We're kind of a tequila desert, really. Indiana doesn't have a lot of great tequilas. It's getting better. So I was fired up to be able to find you guys here. Gotcha. The first place I got you is at the Big Red Liquors, which is from Bloomington, Indiana, and they're all over Indiana today. So. Yeah, I was excited.
[00:33:59] Speaker B: Yeah. No, I mean, we kind of see some similarities between the Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri market with Indiana. So, you know, we're going to play ball where we think we can win. And I think Indiana is one of those in the right spots that we could, you know, move some tequila. Yeah. And you're right. I mean, when people think tequila, they're not thinking Indiana, and when they're thinking Indiana, they're not thinking tequila.
[00:34:25] Speaker A: So here's a question I love asking people. If you could sit down with anybody and share your tequila in a conversation with, who would you want to sit down and have a glass of tequila, your tequila, and talk to them?
[00:34:38] Speaker B: Anybody?
[00:34:39] Speaker A: Anybody live dead famous? Not famous. Absolutely anybody? Shoot.
[00:34:44] Speaker B: I would have to say probably Mark Twain.
[00:34:48] Speaker A: Ooh, that's awesome.
[00:34:49] Speaker B: Yeah, I think he would just have some really cool stories, and whether they're real or not, I could just sit there and listen, drink tequila, you know, But I feel like he'd be a good person to share a glass with, that's all.
[00:35:01] Speaker A: You're an old soul, aren't you?
[00:35:03] Speaker B: I just loved reading his books in high school. And then I started reading the Ulysses S. Grant autobiography, which I think he helped write. And he was just such a cool figure in American history. Seemed like.
[00:35:17] Speaker A: Oh, he's an amazing figure. Yeah.
[00:35:19] Speaker B: What about you?
[00:35:21] Speaker A: Me?
[00:35:21] Speaker B: Because, you know, it's your show.
[00:35:22] Speaker A: I feel like no one's ever asked me that question.
[00:35:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:35:26] Speaker A: You know, probably the coolest person that I would say that, that maybe even someday could happen, would be able to sit down with Sammy Hagar. Because I've been. I've been going to Sammy's birthday party in Cabo for 20 years. He brought me to tequila, you know, and taught me tequila from a distance. Right. Because I didn't know him. But to sit down and have a glass of tequila with him and talk, I think would be like. That'd be super, super cool.
[00:35:48] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:35:50] Speaker A: Well, tell me all the places people can find you. What's your guys's website?
[00:35:54] Speaker B: Yep, you can find us. You can order directly to@el banditoyankee.com and you know what, I'm gonna make them put a code in there for. We'll give a little coupon code for this podcast. So you. I'll just make it Brad.
[00:36:10] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:36:10] Speaker B: All capital letters Brad give you a discount. And you can buy our tequila online. And then you could also find us on the website. If you type in your location, there will be some off premise and on premise spots that you can find our tequila.
And then also some of the classic tequila websites like Keg and Bottles, a really good one that I like. Old Town Tequila. Some of those websites, if you just search us, they'll ship it to your door.
[00:36:40] Speaker A: Well, awesome, and thanks for doing that. That's fantastic. We'll get to see how many people watch all the way till the end and then go buy some tequila. That's really cool. Yeah. A little treat and I'm going to do a solid from the other side. I'm going to meet with my. My buddy Reuben, who's the general manager of Tony's Steakhouse.
[00:36:56] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:36:56] Speaker A: And make sure that we have El Bandido Yankees, since we know it's available in our area, make sure that he has that on the bar there at the bar downtown. And when you're here for the combine, hopefully we got that tequila on the bar. So I appreciate it very much.
[00:37:10] Speaker B: That's very nice of you, Brad. I appreciate that. I'll. I'll follow up with one of our Indianapolis people.
[00:37:16] Speaker A: I know you got a lot of social media. You guys do a lot of really good social media. So is it El Bandini, El Bandido Yankee on each platform?
[00:37:25] Speaker B: Yep, on each platform. Twitter, Instagram, Tick Tock, Facebook. We have two TikToks. Because I wanted to create a Tick Tock. I do the fan page and I wanted to create funny videos just because.
Why not? It's Tick Tock. It's not as professional. It's like, you know, you don't have to be. And so I just wanted to. So we have a fan page on Tick Tock.
[00:37:49] Speaker A: Okay, I'll find that. I think I. I think I follow both of them.
[00:37:52] Speaker B: Yeah, I've contacted you through.
[00:37:54] Speaker A: Yeah. You know, one of the things I know is we're supposed to be fun, right? Tequila is fun. Tequila's about having a good time. But you're serious about your tequila, so that's the thing that people know is you got a great brand, you're serious about the product that you make. But, man, it's about having a great time and having fun.
[00:38:11] Speaker B: Yeah, I 100% agree. You know, I mean, the tequila is great. The agave is sacred, but it's also meant to be enjoyed.
[00:38:21] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:38:23] Speaker B: You know, you live, you're on this rock that you're blessed enough to have a plant that produces great juice.
[00:38:34] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:38:34] Speaker B: Might as well have some fun.
[00:38:36] Speaker A: Absolutely. I agree. Well, man, I really appreciate you taking your time and telling the story and being so open and exposing that old soul that I figured out that you have. That's pretty awesome. And thanks for putting together a great product and working with your dad on this. I know that that's gotta be a lot of fun. And I'll put a slide at the end of the video that'll have, you know, your website, all of your social media. I'll also put that in the information. Thanks for tuning in and I appreciate all your time tonight. James. This was awesome.
[00:39:05] Speaker B: Thank you very much, Brad. Just been an honor and hopefully we'll do it again soon.
