Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: A young bartender who has the dream of owning his own brand. The Idea starts in 2009 as he's working as a bartender. A bartender since age 15 years old decides, let's make this happen. And from 2009 to 2020, he worked hard on creating this brand right here. Cara bueno. And today you're going to meet Victor and learn about this brand of tequila. So stick around. This one's pretty impressive.
Tequila with bread.
All right, guys, I'm bringing you another new brand. To me, I'm really fired up to learn about this brand. We're here with Victor Diaz, and we are going to talk about his brand and everything that he has going on. How you doing tonight, Victor?
[00:00:49] Speaker B: Doing great. Thank you so much for this opportunity.
[00:00:52] Speaker A: I. I'm excited to have you.
[00:00:53] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:00:54] Speaker A: So tell everybody a little bit about who you are and where you live, what you do.
[00:00:59] Speaker B: Yeah.
My name is Victor Diaz. I'm the founder of Carabuena Tequila. I've been living in Austin, Texas, for, like, the past 16 years. I've been bartending my whole life, since I was 15 years old. I'm originally from Jalisco, Mexico, with tequila.
I bartended there when I was 15 years old.
You can bartender in Mexico as long as, you know, you. You reach the contact top, so you can able to bartender. So that's how I started my career as a bartender. So that's my background.
[00:01:29] Speaker A: That's very cool.
[00:01:30] Speaker B: What.
[00:01:30] Speaker A: What part of Jalisco are you from?
[00:01:33] Speaker B: Guadalajara. Jalisco.
[00:01:35] Speaker A: Oh, fantastic. And how long have you been in the States?
[00:01:39] Speaker B: I've been in Austin, Texas for, like, the past 15 years. Also working in the service industry as a bartender.
[00:01:45] Speaker A: Very cool. So where did the idea come from of having your own tequila brand? Did you have family members in the tequila world or something that, like, led you into that?
[00:01:56] Speaker B: You know what? I want to be. Be very honest with you. Like I say, I've been bartending my whole life. You know, it's a good career. It's a good, you know, industry to. To work. But my wife, in that time, like, 13 years ago, she told me something that gets me right here. You know, there's like, Victor, you're going to be bartender your whole life. Do you have a dream? You know, like, what's the next step? You know, I want someone that has some vision to go to the next level. And I was like, you know what? Okay, I'm going to, you know, create my own Tequila brand. And that's what I did, you know, start from zero for nothing. You Know, to create the name, the label, the bottle, the juice, the getting. Connecting all my people, my community in Mexico. So it took me a little bit, you know, to get to this point.
[00:02:43] Speaker A: So what year was that when you made that decision?
[00:02:46] Speaker B: It was around 2008, 2009. That's when I was cleaning a bottle of tequila in the restaurant. I was like, I know this address.
I know this coming from. I know some people, you know, so, like, let me create my own tequila brand. So. So I started digging into all my contests that I have in Mexico, putting everything together, you know, the name, the name, I mean, Sophie. To me, like around four to five years to just to get the name Carabuena, you know, it was.
I got a, like kind of sued by Bacari lawyer, you know, that told me that before Carabuena it was another name. It was Fierro Pariente, which only a few people know what that means in Mexico, say, let's say when something excited happens, we say, hey, Fierro Pariente, you know, So I treated Mark Fierro Pariente, you know. And after two years, I got a title. Victor Diaz. You're the owner of Fiero Pariente. Next year I got a phone call from Bacardi lawyer and say, hey, Victor, I want that name. And I was like, okay, you don't want to play with us, you know, so you have two minutes to change it, right? So the lawyer that he was calling me, his full name is Carlos Alan Malacara, which is the opposite of Carabuena. You had two minutes to change the name. So I was like, hey, what about Carabuena? And he's like, you know what? That name is available. You can have it in exchange of Fiero Pariente. So that's how Carabuena, the name was born.
Oh, my God.
[00:04:15] Speaker A: What does the name mean?
[00:04:16] Speaker B: Carabena means good face. Yeah, that's what that means. Buena translate to good face. The label.
Thank you so much. The label was created by my friend Pistachio that I met in Vancouver, Canada. I used to live in Vancouver, Canada for like about seven years. I asked him, he's a great artist. And I asked him if he can able to create a label for me. And he did. He created this tuna Wallace, half humans have animals, you know. So now I have the name, now I have the label. I needed the juice. So the juice, yes, 100% blue agave. No additives, of course, no celebrities behind it.
And you know, I was just dreaming about it, putting all the piece together until.
Until I get to that Point where I complete the whole thing. You know, the label, the juice, the bottle. The bottle is a hand blown bottle of recycled glass. Everything that you see right here is made in Jalisco, Mexico. So one of my main regulars, where I used to work here in Austin, Texas, I asked him one day, hey man, you know, I'm creating my own Tequila brand. And he's like, okay, prove it. And I invest. And I did. You know, it took me so long to get to this process that I show him everything and he put the first money on it, you know, the rest is story.
[00:05:37] Speaker A: That's very cool. So what was the process like finding the distillery? I think you're at nom 1544, is that right? Yeah, yeah, nom 1544. What was your process like finding that distillery to work with them?
[00:05:52] Speaker B: So when I started this, they didn't have the nom, they didn't have the crt, the regulation to name the production Tequila. So I invest at least 70% of my tips from bartending to send it to this family for them to able to name the production Tequila. I can say that I helped them to get the denomination, the region, which now they can able to name the production Tequila. I started from zero, you know, like I said, from the bottle, the label, the juice, the whole thing. I was just dreaming about it, to be honest. Like everybody told me that was crazy.
I am, you know, but I never give up. And putting all the dots together, you know, putting all my community, I was able to help this family in Mexico get in the process, get in the whole thing to now to be able to name the tequila Tequila and to launch in April 2022 in Austin, Texas. So that's what we launched.
[00:06:52] Speaker A: So a dream around 2009 and a product around 2022.
[00:06:58] Speaker B: Correct.
[00:06:59] Speaker A: That's pretty awesome. Congratulations on chasing the dream and not giving up.
[00:07:04] Speaker B: Thank you so much. You know, I'm still dreaming about it, you know, every day for me is. It's a dream come true. You know, having my product and most of the shelves in every retail across Texas. You know, for me it's. I don't want to wake up.
[00:07:19] Speaker A: That's really exciting. So tell me a little bit about the distillery. What is your production method and where is it located and where your agave is coming from?
[00:07:29] Speaker B: Okay. Um, we switched distilleries. So when I started with this nom, it was in amaten.
Right? Okay. And then we start growing.
So the production demands, like more, more production.
So we switch to the nom, which is 1564, which is Islamic. Okay. Yeah. So just to be clear, we are, you know, community that we help each other.
Right. So when we. When we trans to another nom, which is 1564, that's La Mission, that's San Juanitos Covedo. So we grow on agaves.
We don't buy agaves for anybody. So six to 12 years, we do all copper distillation.
We hand pick our own agaves. We cook in a stone clay oven for, like, about 40 to 50 hours.
And all the labeling is handmade.
Wow. Yeah. Only three ingredients. Water, open fermentation, yeast, and of course, the main actor, agave.
[00:08:49] Speaker A: What are you using for crushing? Are you using roller mill?
[00:08:52] Speaker B: Correct.
[00:08:53] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:08:53] Speaker B: Yeah, we're using roller mill.
[00:08:56] Speaker A: And then are you doing just open wild fermentation in stainless steel?
[00:08:59] Speaker B: Correct.
[00:09:00] Speaker A: Okay. And then after distillation, are you letting it rest a little while before you barrel it? Are you do or bottle it? Are you doing any aeration or anything like that as well?
[00:09:09] Speaker B: Yeah, we let it rest for, like, about eight to 10 hours, and then we start the process of bottling.
[00:09:14] Speaker A: Okay, good. So going right to bottling pretty quickly.
[00:09:16] Speaker B: Correct, Correct.
[00:09:18] Speaker A: So on the reposado, what's your aging time and what are you doing aging wise? And I'm sipping on that one right now. And it is. It is very nice. I like it.
[00:09:27] Speaker B: Thank you so much.
We use French in American oak barrels. We do 50, 50 blend French American oak and American white oak.
So that's five months.
So same process with Anejo, which is 12 months.
[00:09:45] Speaker A: Gotcha. And I'm sorry if you said this and I missed it. Are. Are your agaves today? All Valles agaves still in the Amatan region?
[00:09:52] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a thing would say agaves. So like I say, we don't buy agaves for anybody. We grow on agaves. So we're very particular of pick and choose the best agaves. Bricks between 28 to 32.
[00:10:07] Speaker A: Okay, fantastic. Okay, so in this process between 2009 and 2022, were. Was there ever a point where you just thought you were going to give up and it wasn't going to happen every day.
[00:10:20] Speaker B: Every day. You know, like, my family in Mexico, my friends, like, other people related to me when I tell them, hey, you know, I'm building my own tequila business. And I went, oh, man.
Like, how you want to try to compete with those big brands? Like, it was always, you know, like, comment that put me down. You know what I'm saying? And. But I think that was the hardest part for me, you know, like, dealing with this and the comments about, you're not gonna make it, like, it was only negative stuff, you know, But I was just focused on what I wanted to do, you know, I'm from Jalisco, Mexico. For me, Tequila, it means culture. It means, you know, community.
You know, this is how we bring people together. Plus, you know, as a bartender, I mean, recommending good and bad tequila. So I know what is a good and bad tequila. And I was like, you know, my community, these people that I've been helping a lot, the people, they created Tequila, I think they deserve a good chance, you know, to showcase who they are. And I was thinking in my head all the time, you know, I want to make it happen. I want to make it happen.
I don't know, I feel like I'm very, very, you know, they stick to my head that I was, I'm going to be a tequila owner. I want to be a tequila business, you know. So I think in the role those people, they've been helping me a lot, which is one of my main investor. Like I say, he was the first person that I invest.
They invest in Carabuena. He was one of my regulars, working behind the bar, serving so many margaritas, you know, And I asked him one day if he will be able to invest in my dream. And he did. You know, so I needed just one person to trust me and.
And the rest, it was me. That.
[00:12:11] Speaker A: That's fantastic that you found somebody that was able to buy in the belief system behind you. That's. That's pretty awesome. And now that you have this brand here, those.
Those people that pull you down, I'm going to call them crabs, okay? And here's why. Have you ever seen what happens when you put a bunch of crabs in a bucket? When one crab starts to get out of the bucket, the other crabs pull them back down in, right? So I've always felt like those negative people that are telling you you can't do anything, they're just crabs in a bucket.
[00:12:44] Speaker B: And.
[00:12:44] Speaker A: And now that you've climbed out of that bucket, how many of those crabs. How many of those people are like, yeah, I knew you'd be able to do it. All along, I believed in you 100%.
[00:12:54] Speaker B: Well, now they asking me how you did it.
[00:12:57] Speaker A: Yeah, they're surprised, aren't they?
[00:12:59] Speaker B: That surprise. You know, But I feel like if you have a dream, you know, if you have something that is sticking your mind that you want to do it, I know it takes some time. I know it takes, you know, hard work. To do it by end of the day, if you don't try it, you're never going to know if you can able to achieve what you want.
And I'm very thankful for those people that told me that I was crazy, that I'm never going to be able to make my own tequila brand. Because thanks to those people, he was firing something inside me that was like, you know what? Hold my beard. I'm going to show you, you know, and it was more about me, you know what I'm saying? That I can show myself, that I can able to do and achieve whatever I want.
[00:13:46] Speaker A: So now how many of those people are truly inspired by you that you've been able to do this? And now they may have a little more belief in the things that they want to do. Have you seen like a change in some of those folks?
[00:13:58] Speaker B: Yes. You know, one of them it was, is my dad.
You know, he. He. He told me a couple times, victor, go down from the, from the sky, man. And you know, like, how you want to compete with those big brands, et cetera, you know, and that really got me, you know, like.
But that was something that forced me inside that now when he come visit me and say, victor, you know, I'm so proud of you that, you know, I was like, thank you, dad, you know, because I really need it, you know, you. You told me that I'm not gonna able to do it, you know, I know from his inside he wished me the best, but I needed those words for me to, to keep going, you know. And now he's my biggest fan. I send him bottles every week.
[00:14:55] Speaker A: That's impressive. What, what does your dad do for a living? What. What's his career?
[00:15:00] Speaker B: My dad is a pianist. He's been teacher of piano. He raised us as a teacher of piano. He wanted me to. He wanted me to be a pianist.
I was, I was learning a little bit, but I was like, dad, you know, like, this is not for me, probably because he was a little bit hard on me, but I said, hey, I just want to work, you know, make some money.
So like I said, I was working behind the bar Since I was 15 years old thanks to him.
He put me in this restaurant in Mexico, this country club, Guadalajara country club.
He. He plays piano in that country club. So he's like, okay, so you don't want to go to school, you want to work, so work behind the bar, do some service industry and you will, you will see. And thanks to him, you know, he introduced me to the service industry profession, you know, and thanks to that, you know, I'm here.
[00:16:03] Speaker A: You know, musicians are usually very creative people. Right. And one of the things that I think has been passed on to you that you probably have in common with your father is you didn't create it musically. You created it artistically.
You created it in a flavor and an idea and a brand. That creativity is something that you have in common of being able to be an artist and share your musical art with somebody. You've just been able to do that in, in a bottle, in a brand and in a taste. So that same creativity is being shared and I think that's very impressive.
[00:16:43] Speaker B: Thank you.
Thank you so much. You know, I'm not an artist, I'm not a musician, I'm not a label creator, but I put all the elements together, you know, to get to this point.
And like I said, I'm doing whatever it takes, you know, to keep with this brand growing.
Right now we have 800 plus locations that carry on product across Texas, which I'm very proud of it. I'm keep working, man. You know, I'm keep working.
[00:17:16] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:17:17] Speaker B: Every day I'm outside working and hustling.
[00:17:20] Speaker A: Fantastic. So tell me, is there anything, anything else coming? Any other type products, like maybe a high proof or an extra on Yeho or a hoven or any other ideas that you have?
[00:17:30] Speaker B: Yes, high proof, definitely. To be honest, right now I'm trying to build this brand. Like I want all Texas to know about Carabuena. You know, I'm doing everything little by little bit. Everything has been grassroots.
You know, I want people to recognize a brand, to see who we are.
There is no shortcuts, that there is no, you know, mass produce is everything. You know, it's made.
We love.
[00:18:00] Speaker A: That's awesome. And it's, I mean, for me, it's a very clean tasting tequila. It is. It's got a lot of great flow flavor in it all the way around. The repo I'm enjoying right now, I get a really nice vegetal notes, really nice minerality, a nice agave cooked agave sweetness with just a hint of the way that French and American oak have kind of come together. I get a little bit of a tannic note in the finish. It's got a nice balance. This, this is a really nice tequila. I can't wait to dive into the anejo. So you've put together a really good product and I mean, the legs on the glass are awesome. So you've really done something pretty cool here. And it's, it's Nice to be able to share something that's really small batch, and that is the dream of a young man who had a dream to make it happen. So that's really cool.
[00:18:47] Speaker B: Thanks so much. Yes.
Like I said, I've been dreaming about it my whole life.
We saw my family investment over here, like, this is everything that I have right now, you know, and I'm doing whatever it takes to get to the next level.
[00:19:05] Speaker A: So right now, only available in Texas, is that right?
[00:19:08] Speaker B: Correct, it's only in Texas. Okay.
[00:19:11] Speaker A: And then are you doing any. Any direct to consumer sales from a website to where people in other states can order it?
[00:19:16] Speaker B: Yes, you can order through our website, and it's available the whole United States, so you can able to order in anywhere.
[00:19:25] Speaker A: Okay. So I got a question I love to ask people. I think I kind of know the answer already, but now that you've worked this hard to create this brand and you have this great tequila, who would you like to sit down and share a glass with and talk about the story of how you got here? And it can be anybody. Past, present, famous, historical, alive, dead. Anybody. Who would you most want to sit down and really share a glass with and talk about the story of what you've done?
[00:19:59] Speaker B: My grandfather that passed away a few years ago. He used to own a few bars and restaurants, and I know he loves tequila, and I know he's. He was like me, you know, hustling and, I don't know, sharing with him what being.
Being a chief will be, you know, amazing to.
To our family.
[00:20:20] Speaker A: I bet he'd be incredibly proud of you and what you've created, for sure.
[00:20:24] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, he will.
[00:20:25] Speaker A: Okay. In this journey of getting this going, what was the thing that was the most. The thing that you learned the most from it that you. You didn't expect? What's something that just kind of made you learn from this process?
[00:20:38] Speaker B: Everything takes time. You know that. Everything that you wanted, it. It would take a lot of time. While learning to never give up, it.
[00:20:47] Speaker A: Seems like you had never give up figured out a long time ago, I'll give us something.
[00:20:50] Speaker B: Yeah, I never give up. To be honest, when I was, you know, every step that I did on this product, it was firing me up to get to the next one, get to the next one. So I learned that if you want the good stuff to come out in life, it takes time. So that's what I've been doing.
[00:21:08] Speaker A: What's been the most exciting thing that's happened during this process?
[00:21:12] Speaker B: Man, you know, the most exciting thing that has been happening to me lately is every time that I go on a bar in a restaurant, you know, when I ask them if they have a carabuena, you know, they're like, yes. So there's like a bar that they don't have. Cara buena. Like, we don't have it, but we know about carabuena. It's a great tequila. You know, one day I was sitting in the bar, Random people came and said, hey, do you have a carabuena that I can taste or can I order carabuena? So I don't know. That made me feel that I'm doing something right, and then I want to keep doing it.
Like, just having people asking for the product, you know, it's.
It's pretty awesome.
[00:21:49] Speaker A: So would you say your brand is more on premise at restaurants, or are you more off premise at liquor stores?
[00:21:56] Speaker B: My business has been, you know, growing a lot on. On premise.
So as a bartender, you know, in every bar and restaurant that I go, there's someone that I know that I know that I'm being working behind the bar. So be part of the service industry. It does help you a lot. Yeah. And that translates to case on off premise.
[00:22:20] Speaker A: Now, is your distributor helping work in building the off premise as well?
[00:22:25] Speaker B: Yes, yes. So right now we are, like, close to the number one tequila of their catalogo. Did I say it right? Yes, we're happy about it. You know, so they had, like, a few tequilas already, but we are, like, one of the top ones that sell the most fantastic.
[00:22:47] Speaker A: All right, where can. What's your website?
[00:22:48] Speaker B: Where can everybody find you@carabuena tequila.com and also Carabena Tequila on Instagram and my personal Victor Diaz.
[00:22:57] Speaker A: And you have some pretty good social media. I like watching your social media. So you do really good there.
[00:23:02] Speaker B: Thank you. We have a. Like, to be honest, we have a very good team. You know, not just marketing, but we have a few people, I mean, a lot of people that trust this jewelry, which is, you know, sales rep, like, good brand ambassador, that really trust this brand. And I'm very thankful about it. And, you know, I'm just. Keep going.
[00:23:22] Speaker A: Yeah, that's exciting. I'm excited to follow your journey. I really am excited about your tequila, and I love seeing a young person who has a dream and making their dream come true. So that's really impressive. I want to raise a glass and say salute, my friend. I know you have a good margarita back there, right?
[00:23:40] Speaker B: Oh, yes. Very good margarita.
Cheers.
[00:23:43] Speaker A: Cheers, my friend. Have a fantastic night. And thanks for coming on and doing this with me today.
[00:23:48] Speaker B: Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.
Looking forward to keep doing stuff with you.
[00:23:52] Speaker A: We'll do more for sure. I can't wait to have some of your other products that are coming out and get your reviews done. And I really watch your brand grow and watch you make your dreams come true. It's pretty awesome. So cheers. Appreciate you.
[00:24:04] Speaker B: Salute. Thank you so much. Thank you.
