Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] What if I told you the best way to understand a tequila distillery is hiding in plain sight, right on the shelf? Today we're going to talk about house tequila and why it matters way more than people think. If you've been watching my channel for a while, you know I'm all about letting you understand what's actually in your glass. And today we're going to break down one of the most important concepts in tequila and almost nobody talks about it. House tequilas versus private label tequilas. First off, what is a house tequila? The house tequila is a tequila that's owned by the distillery and they produce it, like at 1414. The house brand is Viva Mexico.
[00:00:38] Now, when you go to 1414, you know they make a lot of different tequilas. In fact, I'm wearing one of those with me right now. Siempre. And over my shoulder is some lost lore and also some yayo. Those are also produced at NOM 1414. But when you want to find out what the basis of that distilleries tequila tastes like, you want to find their house brand. Their house brand is the tequila that they put together to express to everybody in the market what tequila from 1414 tastes like. Technically, it's the signature style of that distillery. Another one that shows up that I love as well is cascaline. When you taste a cascawine, you know that it's from cascaween because of the agave they use, the way that they cook it, the way that they crush it, and the yeast that's in the air and also the tanks that they ferment in. And that goes the same for Viva Mexico. You get that thumbprint of what those highland agaves taste like, how their cooked oven works, what their roller mill does when they're pressing out that agave and the yeast in their area, what it does to affect that tequila as well, and also what their copper pots are doing. So it's really important to understand what these house brands mean. Here's another thing that's pretty cool. The price of house tequila can actually give you a baseline for other products costs, meaning when you see another brand from that same distillery, price way higher. You should start asking some questions. Now, I'm not going to say that there aren't some methods that they use in other tequilas other than the house brand that could cause that price to be a little higher. But it'd be good to find out and know what the differences are. Now let's flip it, because private labeling is where things get really interesting. There's a Couple of different types of distilleries that do private labels going back to 1414 or 1123. These distilleries are distilleries that work with brand owners to help them develop their own profile. That way they're just not getting the house juice in their box. But there are some distilleries, big production distilleries, that usually don't fall under the additive free or traditional labels. Those guys will have maybe four or five different tequilas to fit somebody's palate. If you're wanting to create a tequila, you can swoop in, say you want yours to taste like number four, and then your tequila will be private labeled and you'll get number four. What you don't know is how many other people picked number four. So your tequila could just taste like a lot of other tequilas. And now that there's over 1500 brands out there, that private label is a really giant production. And to give you a quick definition of private label, private label means the brand is owned by one person and the distillery is producing it for them. Now, we talk about the nom a lot on here. Nom 1414 nom 1123, located right there at the bottom of the bottle. It's always going to be listed on the bottle. That's giving you the distillery that is taking responsibility for the tequila. A lot of people think the NOM number is where the tequila is made. And in a lot of cases with brands like this, that is true. But in some cases, a production facility could purchase tequila made somewhere else once it's bottled in their bottling plant and they're taking responsibility for it. That's the NOM number that goes on the back of the bottle. Now, keep in mind, when you look at that NOM number and you find out that house brand, it is good to look for other brands within that same distillery. If you enjoyed the house brand, they're going to be of the same quality as the house. So here's the takeaway. You really want to understand tequila, start with the house brand. It's the blueprint. It's the truth of that tequila distillery's identity. Once you understand that, you'll know if you like the tequilas that are going to come out of there. For more information about tequila and education, hit that like subscribe button. If you've got a question or a myth that you'd like busted, put in the comments. I'd like to do that for you. And I'm going to have this. Viva Mexico. The very first tojona product they ever put out. It is a fantastic tequila. Check it out. Cheers. Have a great night.
