Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Man, I am really excited about tonight's interview. It's going to be like interviewing one of my content creator heroes. When I first started searching for information on the Internet, I ran across the Tequila Collective. So today I'm going to sit down with Rob. We're going to talk about his whole adventure of becoming a content creator and working in the tequila industry. And I hope you enjoy this one.
Hey, Rob, welcome to the show. How you doing today?
[00:00:35] Speaker B: Hey, thanks for having me, Brad. I'm good. Just another busy day. But it's always good to be drinking tequila with someone who loves tequila. How are you?
[00:00:43] Speaker A: I'm doing fantastic. It's a little colder here in Indiana than it is out there in la, but we're. We're doing fantastic as well.
[00:00:50] Speaker B: That's good.
[00:00:53] Speaker A: Yeah, we're having a rainy day too, but it's rain, snow mix.
[00:00:57] Speaker B: Ah.
[00:00:58] Speaker A: So, okay, I want to get this out of the way first because this is probably the question you get asked the most, and I'm going to ask it the way that you taught me to ask it. Instead of what's your favorite tequila? What's your go to Tequila? Because I want to drink whatever you say. I want to make sure I have it on the shelf and drink it with you.
[00:01:16] Speaker B: I do feel like that is the better question than what is your favorite? Because there are so many great ones. For me, I have a couple, but I always seem of those couple, the go to always seem to be Tapatio110. I should have a bott here in my office. Excuse me while I. While I grab it, but I got one here, so I guess we'll. We'll drink it.
[00:01:38] Speaker A: Yep, I got the leader and there's not very much left.
[00:01:43] Speaker B: Yeah, same with mine. This one I got on one of my recent trips down to Mexico. And as you can see, it's a leader and there's not much left as well, so must be doing something right.
[00:01:53] Speaker A: And this is something that you can easily find locally where you live, right?
[00:01:57] Speaker B: Yeah. Tapatio 110. Is that total wine, which is literally like three blocks up the street from where I live.
You can get at the local liquor stores.
I feel like I've seen Tapatio in grocery stores even. Not the 110, but I think the regular blanco.
Yeah, Tapatio. I would like to see it more readily available in California, and I'm sure a lot of people all across the United States would like to see it more readily available. But, man, Tapatio, I mean, it comes in this really Plain looking bott. And I think it's often overlooked, but it's easily one of the best.
[00:02:33] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree. I do. I do think the back of the bottle is kind of fancy with.
[00:02:37] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:02:38] Speaker A: With the dancers in the glass, you know, that's kind of cool. But it does look like you're looking at an old school cheap tequila when you see it on a shelf and to know that it's as good as it is. So, yeah, not. Not readily available in Indiana. It's something I have to buy and ship here. So I don't drink it as often as I would. If I could go a block down a total wine and pick it up, guaranteed.
[00:02:59] Speaker B: Well, I always have like four, four or five bottles on hand because, you know, you never know. You never know when you might need two or three extra.
[00:03:07] Speaker A: That's. That's definitely true. I like to find places that'll let me order like a six pack of their tequilas, you know, so then I have extra here. So I love to hear people's stories about how they ended up in this crazy spirit. And the stories are always so awesome. So if you could tell, like, really what your background is and how you first started drinking tequila and then how you went down this whole, like, rabbit nerd hole of tequila that we both live in.
[00:03:34] Speaker B: Sure. So I will be 35 in June, and when I was just turned 25, so I've been. I didn't really drink up until then. Had a couple beers, but literally was not a drinker. Aside from one night with Jose Cuervo in college and one night with a couple other spirits in college. I really wasn't a drinker until I was about 25. At the time, I was selling insurance and I had a good friend who I worked with. His name's Roberto. And Roberto and I would go out Thursday, Friday after work for happy hour and drinking as much beer as we were drinking as a white man does. You know, I feel like. I feel like especially, you know, 10 years ago, it was really popular, all the, you know, all the craft breweries and things. You know, it was just young white men were only drinking beer. You know, I was drinking a lot of beer with Roberto, and one day I said to him, like, dude, I can't do this anymore. I gotta switch or I just can't drink anymore. And he's like, well, bro, if you're gonna hang with a Mexican, you gotta drink tequila. And I was like, okay. Like, show me. Show me the ways, because you must know. And we started that night with Casamigos now, this was 2015, so Casamigos was better than what it is today.
[00:04:48] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:04:50] Speaker B: Thinking back on it, it wasn't great, but it definitely was different. And I would say probably better. Not that that's a high bar, but we started with Casamigos, and, you know, every Thursday, Friday after that, that we would go drinking. It was, you know, all the staples, you know, of. Of the big brands, the Casamigos, the Patrons, Classe Azul, all of Don Julio. And after so much of that, I just. I don't know, there was something fascinating about it, but I really didn't have, like, this huge love or obsession yet. And then it wasn't until maybe two years. Yeah, about two years later, my wife. Well, my. Now at the time, she was my girlfriend, but my wife and I moved into an apartment together. And I was looking for, like, an adult beverage to have.
And after, like, trying some whiskey, trying some other, you know, gin, some other spirits, I was like, you know what? The bottles of tequila look cool. Like, why don't I just start drinking tequila? And that's kind of when this, like, whole love affair started. I thought the bottles were really pretty. I started, you know, and that was really the main thing that drew me to tequila in the first place, was I knew I could drink it. It wasn't like vodka that just tasted like rubbing alcohol. I knew I could drink it. But the bottles were really pretty, and not just the classy Azul type of bottles, but at the time, you could find fortaleza anywhere. So, you know, I thought those were cool. I thought the. I remember one thing that I remember, like, really wondering, like, why is Don Julio and Patron. Why are those, like, really short bottles? And everything else is a tall bottle? So, like, these kind of questions, like, got me into researching things about tequila. And then as soon as I started, I couldn't stop. And that's. And. And now we're here.
[00:06:35] Speaker A: Wow. So you. You had a stint in real estate as well, right?
[00:06:39] Speaker B: Yeah, so I was selling insurance for a couple years. Previous to that, I was working for a real estate investor. I worked at that office for two years in high school, went to college. When I got. When I got out of school, I called my old boss and I said, hey, I finished school. I need a job. This was 2012, so the economy had not really bounced back entirely from the, you know, 07, which I'm sure you. You have fond memories of. I'm sure.
[00:07:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:06] Speaker B: But. Yeah, maybe not fond, but definitely memories of the economy hadn't completely bounced back but things were picking up, especially here in Southern California, and he was like, I don't have anything for you. And I literally just kept calling him every week. And then finally he gave me my job back as an analyst, just, you know, reviewing financials of apartment buildings and commercial space and industrial. And I worked there for another three years. So I had five years of real estate experience. And then after my stint in insurance, insurance was a tough game just because you're never dealing with people who are happy. You know, people are not happy to pay their insurance bill and they're not happy to use their insurance. After a couple years of that, I was like, you know what? I loved real estate. I don't really want to go work for an investor because I was making him rich and I wasn't really making any money. But I liked helping people and I figured, you know, what's better than selling a house? So I got my license and started selling homes. And I did that full time up until about 2022. So I did that for like six years. And then like, the Tequila Collective really took off. And I thought, okay, like, I can take this full time. Like, I, I wasn't making as much money doing real estate. Like, I wasn't really making that much money relative to real estate. I mean, when you're selling million dollar homes in Los Angeles, you make a good chunk of money. But I was having so much fun and I saw a lot of potential to, to grow this into something bigger. And at the end of the day, I really loved it. I really loved talking about Tequila. The fact that it was affording me the ability to pay my bills was really cool. You know, I figured let's just, let's ride the wave. Let's see where, where it'll go and, and been very lucky, very fortunate, but it's been a lot of hard work too. And. But it's awesome. It's like, it's not even work because it's so fun and so cool.
[00:08:54] Speaker A: Yeah, that's awesome. Do you ever go back and look at, like the first videos you did and, and think, oh my gosh, I.
[00:09:02] Speaker B: Try not to because it's, it's very cringey, as the, as the kids would say, it's very, very cringe. Um, I look, I look at the old videos every now and then, really, when I'm just trying to make sure that I'm not redundant, like, almost like, you know, word for word, you know, a lot of. I think one of the things that's interesting about content creation, that a Lot of people don't realize is that this is not just, oh, hey, a bottle of Tapatio. I think I'll think I'll talk about that today. These things are very much planned out. They're very much choreographed in a sense. You know, I often will write a script that I don't necessarily follow, but it's, you know, to organize my thoughts and ideas. And I'm very intentional about the things that I say because a video, you know, a piece of content can get hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people's attention and you don't want to be caught saying something misleading or incorrect. And I've made mistakes, and I think we've all made mistakes in any line of work. And hopefully people, when they do they correct course a little bit. But I'm trying my best to do the best I can so I don't have to correct course later on. And I'm trying to say things that are intentional and say things that are accurate and correct. So when I do go back to look at the old videos, I try not to look at myself and just listen to what I'm saying because, man, the. Not that the production quality is, you know, that cinematic over here still, but it's gotten a lot better from, you know, five years ago.
[00:10:36] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I've only been doing it a few months and I go back and look at some of the ones I very first did and think, oh my gosh, you look like a bonehead. You know, so. But I've done a podcast, we're on episode like 75, and I go back and watch those from over a year ago and just they're cringe worthy. Exactly what you said. It's like, gosh, I never shut up.
[00:10:58] Speaker B: But you know what? You and, and you tell me what your experience is, but you learn from it. Every, I feel like every opportunity that you, that you take to make a piece of content, you can learn at least one thing from. And maybe that's your experience, maybe not. But I feel like in order if to keep doing this, you have to do a couple things. There's really no secrets. The number one rule is to be consistent. And then the number two rule is to continue to get better. And if you can do those two things, you can be a content creator. You know, a lot of people have asked me over the years, like, how do you do this? How did you build a following? And I don't know the answer to how to build a following, but what I do know is if you are consistent and you're trying to get better every time. You will eventually either produce something that you're really proud of, and that's really the most important thing, and. And two, you'll be able to produce something that other people, you know, resonate with or rely on as a resource, or just find value in, in terms of entertainment. And I think that's, you know, maybe I'm preaching to the choir, but I think that's really, like, the best thing you can do.
[00:12:02] Speaker A: Yeah, I think so, too. I mean, I don't have the following that you have. You're way out there for me to. To chase after and learn from. And I've watched a ton of your videos, everything you do current, and then I've gone back and watched a lot of old ones. And I really like the way you put the information out there. And I think that' of the reasons why you have such a following is your information is. It's magnetic. You know, you watch one and you want to watch the next one, and you do learn so much from it. You said exactly what I felt you would say based on your content, because you're so good at what you do.
[00:12:34] Speaker B: Thank you. That's. That's a very nice compliment. I really appreciate that. And the whole goal. When I started doing this, you know, my wife is really the one who encouraged me to start making content. It was during COVID and I had been learning about tequila, and I just felt like there's more information out there and I'm not finding it. And I felt like, you know, if I'm having a problem finding it, if I'm not, if I'm struggling, if it's out there and I'm just getting it, you know, a little piece here and there. There's got to be other people who are having the same experience. And it's not just me. Like, I'm. I'm nobody special. I'm nobody unique. You know, I. I have all the same struggles everybody else does. But with that in mind, I. My wife was like, why don't you just make the content that you're looking for if you're finding out all this information but, like, piecemealing it together? And I was like, yeah, that's a good idea. But I was terrified. You know, I was terrified when I started making content. I didn't want to be in the videos. I thought people would give me a hard time because, you know, 2020, I'd only been drinking, really been drinking for, like, five years, and then really been drinking tequila for about three. You know, if you really consider, like, having a collection at home and things like that, you know, And I didn't know how to. I didn't know how to film myself. I didn't know how to do lighting. I still barely know how to do it. But, you know, it's. It's improved. But, yeah, it's.
[00:13:51] Speaker A: It's.
[00:13:51] Speaker B: It's a constant struggle. But I think it's really cool when you can put something on paper that you kind of envision in your mind's eye. And I have so much respect for anyone who's just willing to put themselves out there because it's hard. So the fact that you're doing it, I love that. I think I encourage as many people as I can because the more, the merrier. I've had people say to me, like, oh, you probably don't like that. There's other Tequila. I'm like, I love it. I want more people to talk about Tequila because I love Tequila. The more of us talking about tequila, the more of us enjoying the spirit together, the more of us talking about Mexico and putting out content that just makes my life that much better. So I'm all for it. So I applaud you for doing it, because it's not easy.
[00:14:35] Speaker A: No, thanks. It's. I thought it was going to be easy, and then I realized, wow, editing that. Editing sucks.
[00:14:46] Speaker B: That's when you know you've made it as a content creator. It's not when you have a big following, but it's when you go, damn, editing really sucks.
[00:14:54] Speaker A: Yeah. But, you know, you were talking about how you learn something in each one. I really think there's two places that I feel like I learned from them, and you tell me the same. I learn when I'm coming up with the content that I'm going to talk about, but I learned even more editing, like when I'm going back and watching and I go, I shouldn't have said that that way. Right? And, yeah, I wouldn't have said that at all. You know, and you delete that out. And gosh, I say, you know all the time.
[00:15:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:26] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh, how many can you edit out of a video? Right? So, yeah, I've learned a lot by going back and watching and watching the guests that I have on and learning from them as well is. It's. It's amazing how much you. You get out of each one.
[00:15:40] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I think. I think that that's a very important distinction because when you are. You are formulating the ideas when you're, you know, you're pulling a bottle off the shelf and thinking, okay, how can I talk about this blanco tequila differently than the other 40 blanco tequilas I've talked about? You do have to really think about it and go back and learn. You know, maybe there's something else about the production method that I just don't know about, or maybe there's something else about the history of the brand and really the product itself and the people behind it. And then like you said, the editing portion, that's when you really learn. I think about your communication skills and that as a content creator is just as, if not more important than the content of your content.
Because. And this is a thing that I'm fortunate enough to have my wife really involved with. She, I, I call her my creative director and I sounds like were the same could go on and on forever. And I have filmed videos that it's like, okay, how do I get down, you know, five minutes into 30 seconds? And my wife is like, why did you even say any of that? Just go back and film it for 30 seconds. So, yeah, you really learn a lot about your communication skills. You learn about, like you said, how, how do you take some kind of message and make it digestible while also containing all of the facets of that message? Because it's very easy to cut things out. But how do you cut things out while retaining, like, the full body of the message? And it's. And it's difficult. I don't think people often realize how hard that part is.
[00:17:13] Speaker A: Yeah, when a conversation flows to here and you want to cut the middle of it out, it doesn't come together very well. You know, there's this whole, like, story, you know, that ties it together, that you now have to figure out how to say that in a more concise way.
And for me, in the interview part, it's, let my guest talk more than I do. Right. I'm here to learn. I'm not here to talk. So that's something that I work on for me all the time.
[00:17:38] Speaker B: Yeah, that is a hard part. And like, I'm struggling with it right now because I'd rather be asking you questions.
[00:17:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:48] Speaker B: I'd rather, you know, I'm happy to talk about myself, but. And this is something we can even go into. People have asked, you know, what's it like to have, have a big following? What's it like to have, like, notoriety to a degree? I've had people ask me, what's it like to be a celebrity? And I'm like, I am no celebrity.
I'm not a celebrity. I have a following, but, you know, it's. It's minimal, you know, in comparison to, like, real celebrities. And that used to really make me uncomfortable. Now I just kind of go, okay, thank you. Like, that's nice of you to think that. What I still maintain, though, is that this is not about me when it comes to tequila. Like, I might have this Persona online. I might be a recognizable face if you're scrolling through things, but to me, it's not about. About me. It's not about Rob. It's about the Tequila. That's why I. When I created the Instagram account originally, you know, I'll tell you this, if you don't mind, I'll tell you the whole story about, like, the night I actually created the account.
[00:18:46] Speaker A: Yeah, Yeah.
[00:18:48] Speaker B: I had been just, you know, scrolling through TikTok, scrolling through Instagram. It's the midst of COVID you know, not leaving the house. And I kept saying to my wife, like, I want. I'm looking for this information. And along with that, I kept saying, I wish I had people to talk to about tequila. And I had been following from, you know, at the time, like, my real estate Instagram account. I'd been following different tequila, you know, groups and things like that, but it was nothing. Like, I didn't feel like I knew anybody or had a place. And I said to my wife, like, you know, I'm amassing this small collection, and I want to keep track of it, and I want to have, like, a dedicated Instagram for my bottles and to meet people virtually and things like that. I think I'm going to create an account. And she said, great. What are you going to call it? And I said, I don't know, but I don't want it to be about me. Like, I don't. I literally said, I don't want to be in any content, which is so funny to think about now.
[00:19:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:45] Speaker B: And I didn't want it to be about me. I didn't want it to have my name attached. I didn't want to be in it. I just wanted to post pictures of my bottles and talk to other people about tequila. And I said, I want it to be about this collection. You know, things like the Tequila Collector and stuff like that was all taken. And I was like, how about we just call it the Tequila Collective? And she was like, okay. Half paying attention, you know, laying in bed, reading her book, not really caring, not. Not knowing what was to come. And drunk again. Yeah. Created the account. And, you know, I said, to her, I said to Tay, I was like, wouldn't it be really cool if I got a free bottle of tequila? Like, wouldn't it be really cool if a brand noticed me? And I got one bottle of tequila and she, oh, yeah, that'd be cool. Whatever. Hundreds of bottles later, trips to Mexico later, here we are. But the point of that is that it was originally never. It was never planned. You know, I've had people accuse me of. Oh, you. You just planned. You just wanted to take advantage of the tequila. And it's like, I never. If I. If I knew that this was going to happen, I would have done this in real estate, and I'd be selling, you know, $15 million houses in Beverly Hills right now, and you wouldn't know who the hell I was. Unless you were buying a house in Beverly Hills. Like, if I could have just planned this, it would not have been with a highly regulated product.
[00:21:04] Speaker A: But you may have ended up with a real estate show on Netflix.
[00:21:08] Speaker B: Yeah, you never know. If I. If I could. If I. If I knew how to do this and. And. And planned it, that's probably what would have happened. But originally, it was just about. It was just about the tequila, it was just about the product, and it was just about learning. And I've tried to maintain that all the way through to today, is that it's just about. It's just about the tequila. If you learn anything from me, just learn that there's lots of good product out there, and I want you to drink it. Don't worry about me. I'm just the vessel.
[00:21:35] Speaker A: Your content shows that, too. Like, your content is always in a. In a teaching way or really highlighting a brand. And it's not about you and your content, and I like that.
[00:21:47] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:21:48] Speaker A: I like when you show the trips that you go on. I know you were just down in Mexico with another guy. Drink with Wayne. I think you got to drink with Wayne a little bit.
[00:21:57] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:21:57] Speaker A: And you guys shot some great videos when you were there, and some of the content that you brought back was really good. And I was there right after you and seeing, you know, like, oh, man, I seen this in one of their videos, you know, so it's. It's. I think it's transporting for a lot of people that don't get to go or haven't had the opportunity to watch the tohona siete leguis and stare into the brick oven with the cooked agave in there. Thanks for bringing that content to people and opening this kind of thing up, because it's yeah, of course. I think it's awesome.
[00:22:29] Speaker B: No, I. Yeah, I appreciate. I appreciate the kind words. Yeah, it's like I said, it's. It's never been about me, if anything. I feel this responsibility, though, to the industry, to the people who are on the ground physically making the product, and to the consumers. I feel a responsibility to be an ambassador of sorts. I don't work for just one specific brand. I work for the industry. And my goal is the way I had to evolve my pallet and I had to learn, and I had to go through the days of Casamigos and Clas Azul and, you know, to get to G4 and Tapatio and Fortaleza. You know, I want to help people on that journey. I want to hopefully accelerate them on that journey so they don't have to maybe spend a couple years on the not so good stuff and drink the better stuff first. But part of that responsibility is. Is bringing Mexico to people as well. And it's, you know, I'm not Mexican. I don't speak Spanish well. You know, I've been learning. I've been, you know, I've hired a tutor. I've got books. You know, I'm really, really learning, really trying to learn, but it's very hard to learn another language in your 30s, and. At least for me, but I'm really trying. I feel it's a major responsibility to bring not only tequila, but Mexico. Mexico is such a beautiful country. It's got so much beautiful culture and heritage and history. And like, any place there's, you know, there's different struggles, but those are. That's part of the beauty of it and I think part of my role as, you know, the Tequila Collective, as a guy who talks about Tequila, as a white person not connected in, you know, some type of way to Mexico by blood.
I think it's important to highlight the people who are doing the work, because it's important work and it's beautiful work, and I love it, and I want other people to love it as much as I do.
[00:24:20] Speaker A: What was your first trip to the region? Like, the very first time you flew in and went to Tequila, or you'd probably never been there before. The Tequila adventures. Right? So you. So what? And did you go to Mexico much before that? Just probably to tourist areas.
[00:24:39] Speaker B: So I had been to Cabo a couple times previous to going to Jalisco, and I remember the first time going to Cabo thinking, like, oh, wow, we're. We're in Mexico. Like, how. How cool is this? This is Mexico.
[00:24:51] Speaker A: And then Huntington Beach.
[00:24:53] Speaker B: Yeah, right. Well, not. It wasn't until after going to Jalisco and visiting Guadalajara and Tequila and Arandas and Atotonico and, and then going back to Cabo and thinking like, oh yeah, this is like Huntington Beach. Like, everyone speaks English here. Everyone, they'll take your US Dollars. Everything is in English. Like, no big deal. Like, the restaurants are, are the same as back home, you know, it wasn't, it wasn't until after a few trips, but my first trip to Jalisco, to a tequila producing area was to tequila. And I felt so, I mean, I still feel fortunate about it, but I felt so fortunate at the time El Techileno had reached out to me and they were one of, like the first brands that I really fell in love with. Not just because of, you know, having really good product, but the story, the history, you know, the fact that it's a single brand nom, like all of these really cool things. There you go. Like, I just like, I really fell in love with the brand. So when they reached out, I was like, oh my God, this is so cool, you guys. You, like, want to fly me down and put me in a hotel? Like, yes, please. Like, this is awesome. But I suffer from like, really bad anxiety, so that trip was like, really hard for me, like, mentally, just because of my anxiety, which has nothing to do with tequila. But I remember going and feeling like so overwhelmed by the, the rawness of it is, I think, the best way to describe it in my head. I thought, you know, we're going to go down to Mexico and yeah, it's not going to be exactly like, you know, here in Los Angeles. I didn't expect it to be like California or the States or anything, but I expected like this big roaring kind of factory that was producing, you know, lots of product and people were wearing, you know, like all of the safety gear and like I had this weird image in my head for some reason. And when I got there, none of that was happening. And it's funny now because when I take people to Mexico on, on our group trips that we do, and we'll be leaving in a couple of weeks or less than a couple weeks now, about a week and a half for, for our next group trip. It's funny now for me to see people who, this is their first time at the distillery and it's, you know, it's a distillery like Fortaleza, where I've been, I don't know, a dozen times. And we walk in and I'm like, okay, here it is. And they're like this, this is it. What do you mean this is it? What do you. Like, there's only like seven guys in here and my living room is as big as this. What do you mean? And it's like, yeah, this is it. And this is an old building and there are, there are no major pieces of machinery. So it was really eye opening, it was really fascinating. It was really scary to a degree.
You know, having, having like anxiety and feeling like, oh my God, these guys are going to get their arms caught in the roller mill, like things like that, you know, that was all really like honestly kind of scary at the time, but now it's just like totally normal. I mean I've been to, I haven't counted in a while, but I've been to I think around 30 distilleries. I've been to Mexico, I think 18 times in the last four years. I go down about once a quarter. I'll be there for a few weeks relatively soon. It feels like home when I go, which is weird because again, I'm not Mexican. My wife is a quarter Mexican, but you know, she doesn't have any family there.
Somehow it still feels like I'm connected. I don't know why.
[00:28:19] Speaker A: It's the people of Mexico. You know, we've been going to Mexico for 20 years. Around us was a little different for me because it, it was a city where Tequila still comes off to me as a tourist location.
Going in and staying at a 35 a night hotel in Arandas, stayed at this, the Cintinella. They didn't speak any English at all.
And. But when I got there, I, I mean I felt like I was home. Like you said, like this I could live here. This is such a great little town. And everybody was so nice and so welcoming and honestly kind of thankful you were there. And they didn't even know why we were there. And so then the, the open arms at the distilleries is still amazing to me. To Sergio Cruz. Just like he, he had the entire day. We started with him at 11 and I think I left at 8:30 and everybody else left like 2 in the morning, you know. And the how welcoming everybody is is why I think you feel so at home. You don't have that. I feel like you don't have that in America a lot of times when you go to a new city. So yeah, I love it there. Yeah.
[00:29:32] Speaker B: No, I was just going to say it's the best. Like I love going to Mexico. I think that's one of the reasons why we started doing the tours is because we were getting a lot of questions about, you know, how do I do this, how do I go to the distilleries? I'd post a video and people would want to go. And I didn't really know how to tell people because the entire time I've, I've gone to Mexico, it's always been kind of like, I just know people now and they get me into a place and I get into this place and we stay at this place and that's how it kind of works. And yeah, I could tell you a hotel to stay at, but I don't know how to tell you to get to Tequila. Like, I don't know how we get to Tequila. You know, like, we just get there.
[00:30:07] Speaker A: You hire a driver.
[00:30:08] Speaker B: Yeah, but, but it's like the driver I always hire, I just call a friend and the friend like, always sets it up. And then, you know, I pay the friend and you know, it's things like that. It's, it's, it was always kind of weird and I was like, you know what, let's just do it. Let's do the tours and expose people to this. And now we do them. And, you know, it's a blast to see people's reactions. It's a blast to, to really give people that full experience because like us, you know, we're no different. You've been going to Mexico a long time, but you weren't going to Jalisco, you know, or if you were, you weren't going to Tequila or around us, you were going to Puerto Vallarta or you were going to Cabo or Cancun or wherever. To me, that's still Mexico and that has a piece, you know, that, that there's a role for those tourist places and they have importance. But there's nothing like going to, you know, going to Jalisco. It's just, it's another world and it's amazing.
[00:31:01] Speaker A: It really is. Yeah, we, we started going a long time ago in Cabo.
Really resembled old Mexico. You know, in, in 2000 there wasn't, you know, wasn't a ton of tourists. And you did have some nice hotels, but not, not near as many as you have today. And it was a part of, it was dirt roads and cobblestone. Now it's freeway. So it's definitely changed, but that, that old school feel. But it's. So I felt that when we went down to Jalisco for the first time, I felt like I was in Old Cabo, that's kind of what it reminded me of. And then. But around this changed my whole. Is completely different from Tequila to me, yeah, it is. So now that you are not a celebrity, but if you were starting your own Tequila brand, you would probably fall into the celebrity category. Have you ever been out in LA and had a celebrity Tequila owner talk.
[00:31:57] Speaker B: To you in a roundabout way? Kind of. So a friend of mine, his name is Chris, he's in a band called Incubus. And yeah, Incubus, or you know, the reason I, the way I know Chris is, is kind of a funny story. I grew up in Calabasas, which is the same LA suburb where the core members of the band Incubus also grew up. But they're about, I want to say about 15 years, like 12 to 15 years older than me growing up. I had teachers in middle school and high school that, you know, their big claim to fame was, oh, I had Brandon from the band incubus, you know, 10 years ago when, when he was a senior and things like that.
I always knew about them, but I wasn't like a big Incubus fan when they were like at their height in like the, you know, late 90s to like mid 2000s. I played golf though. That was like my sport growing up. I played a bunch of sports, but golf was like my, that was like the sport I loved. And there was a golf course down the street from our house and Chris would go and play there. Like he, he also played at that golf course. And one day I saw him and I was like, I know this guy, but I don't. Like, how do I know him? I heard his name so I googled him and I was like, oh shit, he's one of the guys in Incubus. So I got to talking with him. I'm a teenager at this point and we just became like golf friends. Fast forward many years we had fell out of touch. I like went off to college and had a life and he continued to play music in the band Incubus. And my wife, I'm telling you a roundabout story, but I'll get to the point. My wife and I, we go to an art show and at the art show we see Brandon Boyd, the lead singer of the art show. And I, I'm born and raised in la. I've known a lot of celebrities throughout my life just because of growing up here. And you know, I grew up in an upper middle class family and where I grew up there were much wealthier people. Even so I remember seeing like, the Kardashians and Britney Spears and, like, Will Smith. Like, major celebrities live near where I grew up. And I remember seeing Brandon and thinking, at this point, okay, I'm a fan of Incubus now. Like, they're actually one of my favorite bands. And I remember seeing him and telling my wife and being like, I'm not gonna say anything. And my wife being like, I will.
She walks up. So Tay goes. And she says hi to Brandon. And they. And I'm, like, standing over to the side, and they look back at me and they give me this awkward wave. And I walk over and I'm like, hey, how's it going? I'm Rob. Nice to meet you. I used to be friends with Chris. Like, how's he doing? I haven't talked to him in, like, 10 years. And he goes, oh, that's cool. Like, it went from, well, you're just a fan. To like, oh, you actually know somebody that is in my band. So we talked for a minute and I. And like, before I said goodbye, I say, yeah, just tell Chris, you know, Rob from the golf course says hi. And he goes, yeah, man, I'll. I'll let him know. And I've walked away and went, yeah, he's never gonna say that. Like, why would he say that the next day? You know, this is like 2000. When is this? 22. End of 22. Maybe 23. So I have a following at this point. Like, I have, you know, 100 and something thousand on Instagram.
And the next day, Chris follows me on Instagram. And I look at that, and I show my wife, and I'm like, oh, shit. Brandon actually told him. Like, I can't believe it. I messaged Chris. I'm like, hey, man, long time no see. Like, how you been? And he goes, dude, like, we used to play golf together. And I'm like, yeah, man. Like, you don't. Like, do you even remember who I. Who I am? And he's like, oh, this is so cool. Like, whatever. Few months later, I go, I see them at perform a show. I go backstage drinking tequila with Chris. He's really into tequila now, which is why he found me. And I'm telling him the story about seeing Brandon, and he goes, that's so funny. Brandon never told me any of that. No way. And I'm like, what do you mean he never told you any of that? He's like, I just really love tequila. And I found you. And then I put together that I knew you from the golf course all those years back, and I was like, holy. Like, this is crazy. And he goes, yeah, that's so funny too, because Brandon actually invested in to a tequila brand. You know, he goes, I can't remember the name. And I can't even remember the name, but the one owned by Eva Longoria, Brandon is an investor in that. So I'm like, okay. Like, that's kind of random. He's like, yeah, I've been trying to get Brandon to not drink that shit Tequila either. So. So, like, that all happens. Chris and I reconnect. And then this is last September. They're playing a show in San Francisco. I had some stuff to do up there, and we have family up there, and I wanted to go see them perform. So I call Chris. I'm like, hey, man, can we get tickets? He's like, absolutely. We see them at the Chase center, where the warriors play up in San Francisco. And that day before, they performed in front of, you know, like 15,000 people at the Chase Center. Chris is like, come on, we should go shopping, you know, some good shops up here, right? So we go to San Francisco Tequila Shop. I introduce them to Moose, who, if you haven't been to San Francisco Tequila Shop, it's like an institution. Best tequila agave selection in the Bay Area. The only store that probably rivals it is Mercado. Both are great, great stores, but Moose is like a fixture in the Bay Area. So I introduce him to Chris. Chris picks up a few bottles because they're on the road. And we head back to the hotel they're staying at. And I see Brandon and Jose, the drummer, in the lobby. And Chris is like, I'm just gonna run up to the room and grab my stuff, but, like, feel free to hang out with the guys. And I started talking to Brandon, and we start talking about tequila. And I was as nice as you can be, but I did have to explained to him, like, some additive stuff, and he's like, yeah, you know, I'm really just like a minority investor and all this stuff. So to answer your question, yes, I have talked to a celebrity Tequila brand owner, but not quite in the way that most people would think. And he's more of just like the behind the scenes, a little bit of money invested. And, you know, to a lot of people, not a huge celebrity either, but to me, that's about as close as I've gotten now.
[00:37:49] Speaker A: That's super cool. I remember the band Incubus. I was more of a country listener back then, but I remember the band. So that's pretty cool.
[00:37:56] Speaker B: I mean, look That's. To me, it's kind of funny because, you know, in a way, they're like the hometown band. And like I said, during their height, I wasn't, like, a big fan of their. Not that I didn't like their music. I just, you know, I grew up listening to my dad's music, like Led Zeppelin and. And, you know, the Eagles and the who and, you know, Elton John and things like, you know, things from, like, the 70s. So we didn't really listen to that music as kids, but everybody knows an Incubus song. But to me, they're like the hometown band. So, like, when I see people, whether it's in person or online, and they're, like, you know, halfway around the world and they're, like, huge Incubus fans, it's like, it's kind of crazy that, like, these guys are so big and, like, they literally went to the same high school I went to.
[00:38:36] Speaker A: Yeah, that's really cool. Success, like, that is always amazing to me in all forms, whether it be a business that somebody's created or an actor or content creator. It's. It's pretty neat how that success spreads and when you do something good, how that it goes out over a lot of people. That's pretty cool.
[00:38:54] Speaker B: Yeah, it is. It's wild to think you can have that kind of reach, too.
[00:38:58] Speaker A: Yeah, the reach part is crazy. When. So here's a question for you, because I have. I have a fan girl moment. So I. I want to see if you have a fan girl moment. Is there ever something that you posted on any of your channels and then somebody responded to that comment or that post that you went, oh, my gosh, look at this. I can't believe this just happened.
[00:39:21] Speaker B: I wouldn't. You know, there's one that comes to mind, and I wouldn't say it was so much like, you know, like, fangirling or fanboying, you know, but I did think it was pretty wild just considering, like, the amount of fame that I know this person has.
My wife thought it was really fun, though, because it's, you know, the celebrity is more is more.
I think just her age demographic, you know, growing up when, you know, early to mid-30s and. And a woman. But Nick Jonas, I don't know if he still does, but I know at one point Nick Jonas followed me.
[00:39:55] Speaker A: That's awesome.
[00:39:56] Speaker B: Was it Nick Jonas? Wait, which one was it? No, Joe. I'm sorry? Joe Jonas. Nick, his brother. He's, you know, an investor, part owner of. I can't even remember the name because.
[00:40:06] Speaker A: It'S not something J A. J A, isn't it?
[00:40:09] Speaker B: No, it's another one. It's not, it's not haha. It's. I think it's via one is the name of the brand. Him and like John Varvatos, I think some fashion designer are co owners in but his brother Joe, you know, and my wife, you know, grew up in the time where they were like on Disney Channel and things like that. So I remember seeing like he followed me and thinking wow, that's so. That's so ironic because one I don't like, I don't promote anything that he would be probably interested in. And to his brother owns a brand that I am not. Not only would I not promote, but I'd probably shit on.
[00:40:45] Speaker A: Right, Exactly.
[00:40:46] Speaker B: So I thought that was pretty like to me that was kind of cool. Just because also he's got like, you know, 7 million Instagram followers. Like how you know he's a, he's a famous, like he's a famous person.
[00:40:56] Speaker A: Yeah, legit celebrity.
[00:40:59] Speaker B: And my wife was like, oh my God. Like she wanted me to like show her friends like Joe Jonas follows my husband.
[00:41:06] Speaker A: So you've got to drink a lot of tequila with a lot of people.
So if you could sit down and have a drink of tequila, bring not necessarily your go to, but one of your most cherished bottles and sit down with somebody and drink and talk about that most cherished bottle that you have. Who would that person be that you would want to do that with?
[00:41:30] Speaker B: Geez, no one's ever asked me that question. Dead or alive. Could they.
[00:41:35] Speaker A: Could they be.
[00:41:35] Speaker B: Not living.
[00:41:36] Speaker A: Not. Not living. They can be family famous, whatever, you know, historical. Some historical person.
Yeah. So you're going to do two things. One, you're going to sit down with this person that you get to share one of your most prized tequilas. One of your. We talked about how we have favorites. My answer, when somebody switch your favorite tequila, it's whatever one I picked out to drink that day.
[00:42:03] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a good answer.
[00:42:04] Speaker A: That's why I picked it. Right.
[00:42:05] Speaker B: I like that.
[00:42:06] Speaker A: But. But we all have cherished bottles. We all have that one that we go, gosh, I don't want to drink any more of that because I can't get it again. And. But it's so good. So you're gonna bring that and sit down with this person.
[00:42:18] Speaker B: God, I don't even know. I mean.
[00:42:21] Speaker A: And through the magic of editing, I can make this seem like you had it right.
[00:42:24] Speaker B: Like that it's fine if I Have to think about it.
[00:42:27] Speaker A: It makes it cooler.
[00:42:29] Speaker B: That's such a good question. It's such an interesting one. I mean, I think it depends on the parameters. If it's, if it's anyone in history and it's just one person, I can't, you know, I get, as a golfer, I used to get this question that occasionally like, what would be your ideal foursome?
[00:42:44] Speaker A: Well, if you want it to be a foursome, you can make it a foursome.
[00:42:47] Speaker B: No, let's. If we're, if we're picking one person. Oh God. I think, I think it depends on the parameters. If it's someone just in general in like the tequila industry. Let's, let's keep it to the tequila industry. I think that'll be an easier answer. This might sound weird, but I would really like. And it's, and it's even weirder because I have sat down and had a drink with this person. But I'd like to talk with Guillermo when he was like, like my age.
Because Fortaleza didn't exist, you know, when, when like the distillery existed but the brand did not exist, you know, when he was a 30 something year old man.
And if it did, it was, it.
[00:43:26] Speaker A: Was just an abandoned place, right?
[00:43:28] Speaker B: Yeah, it was just, you know, it was from my understanding and I'm good friends with, with his son Billy. Billy and I are about the same age. So, you know, when, when Guillermo was, was about my age, I think, you know, Billy must have just been born or, or a couple years old. And from what Billy has told me about his dad, you know, his dad was very much just like a straight lace, you know, went to work in a suit kind of, you know, just man, you know, living in, in Southern California. And to know the Guillermo that I know is very different. You know, it's, it's. He's very much like a rugged, almost like a cowboy esque type of, you know, like tequila Mexican man. Whereas 30 something years ago he was more of just like, you know, just this guy living in Southern California, you know, working in like, you know, tech or something. I don't even know. So it'd be really interesting to me, you know, just to talk with him pre Fortaleza's success and not so much like, you know, time traveling, like go back and be like, hey man, this is what you've done. And. But to see like where his mindset was, because I feel like whatever knowledge he had at that time, whatever mindset he was in, contributed greatly to the future success of not just what Fortaleza has become, but how it even got the ball rolling in the first place. And I feel like that would be really interesting. And I look at it more, not so much from the tequila perspective, but more so the business perspective, the relationship building, the business perspective. And then the thing that probably is the most interesting is not so much the business side of the, of the tequila world and the tequila industry, but just the production process. I love production. Like I could live in a distillery. I wish I was better at science. Like, I, I love the production. I love, I love the variation. Just on my last trip down a few weeks ago, I went to Alto Kanto and they were telling me about how the tohono was made out of a certain rock. Because the certain rock, you know, a lot of people, they say, you know, of course, like, there's minerality because of the tohona. And yeah, there, there are some people who disagree with that. There are some people who say there's no science to support that. There are some people who say, of course, like, the minerality imparted from the Tohona stone is going to be reflected in the process. But what this brand was telling me or what Alto Kanto was telling me was that they use a specific stone not so much because of the minerality that it imparts, but because there are different types of nutrients in the different chemical makeups and things like iron and calcium and whatever other things you can find, it's different nutrients which then impact the fermentation. And because they're not adding anything, there's no additives, there's no nutrients added to fermentation, all of these things, it like blew my mind, you know, because we don't really talk about it that much on social media. And these guys were just going into the science of it. And I was like, as someone who got like a C in, you know, junior year of chemistry, you know, high school chemistry, like, this is blowing my mind. So, C, you are a smart guy. Yeah. So I would love to talk to, to like 30 something year old Guillermo. I think that's who I would want to have a drink with. And the bottle I would bring, ironically, is a bottle of the Amoriperos Fortaleza Reposado. That's. Oh, that's probably.
I wouldn't say it's my favorite because I have a couple that are easily on the list, but that bottle is easily a top five for me. And it's just, it's just incredible. And there was only so many made. I think like 960 bottles were made and it's just, it's just good, man. It's just, it's never a bad time for that bottle. Except that it's just not, it's not cheap.
[00:47:27] Speaker A: Yeah, that, and that's what I mean by we, we both get asked the question, what's your favorite tequila? I get that all the time, constantly. And so I, you, you opened me to what's your go to. I love that answer. My mind has always been, I've said, well this, this is some of my most cherished bottles. Meaning, you know, I really like this and I really don't want to share it with you because I can't ever get it again. Okay. So I know you've already, you've already been a busy day and you've spent an hour here with me, so I want to wrap it up with a couple of things. One, I'm going to post on your, all of your social media, but I know that you've got a membership program. So tell me about your membership program and what, what can people, what can people take out of that? What do they get? And tell me about it.
[00:48:09] Speaker B: Yeah. So, well, thank you for asking for me. I always like to give the most value I can in anything I do. So whether it's a piece of content, an in person tasting event, a trip or a membership, I want to give people the most bang for their buck. With the membership you get basically like a hundred and I think it, I added it up the other day, it's about $120 worth of merch. Just alone and depending on where you are. We have two membership tiers. We have the national tier and the California tier. The national tier is basically just all virtual. Virtual, whereas California, because I'm here in California, you'd be able to access the local events. The virtual or the national membership is $150. It gets you one of those membership kits which gives you again about $120 worth of value right off the bat. So that's, that alone is a good value. Plus you get access to all our virtual tastings. We have our first one coming up next week. I don't know when this will air but, or when you'll, when you'll put this out, but relatively soon. With John Melvin, one of the co owners of Montegave, talking about the single barrel release that we, that we recently put out and a few other projects that they've got in the works. So with the membership you get things, you get access to the virtual tastings, you get the merch, the Discord Network. So there's a group of us. I'm getting notifications on my phone. People are currently chatting away about different bottles and things. And that's really fun and yeah. And if you're a member here locally in California. California, you get discounts on the in person events. So either membership you get first access to the single barrels. And we've got some really awesome single barrels coming out. The Matagave one was incredible. I think there's only a couple bottles left, but we've got some really cool ones. With the single barrels, I'm really focused on again, providing the most value and really giving like something that has never been done before. So I think it's the next barrel coming out. There's never been one like this before. Same with the Montegave. There was never one of those before. So members will get first access and then some of the club events will be with the people from the brands to present the barrel and the rest of their lineup. So that's the membership. It's a really good time. There's a good group of people in and would love to have more members because the more the merrier.
[00:50:16] Speaker A: Yeah, that's. It sounds really awesome you got a member coming on here. I love that kind of stuff. I learned a lot from it. And the single barrels are always so exciting to me. Those end up being on that list of I don't want to drink it because I don't want to run out of it. I always say I get fomo, right? And then I get fo row. Fear of running out.
[00:50:35] Speaker B: I like that. That's a good one. That's a guy. I've never heard that. It's a good one.
[00:50:38] Speaker A: I have it all the time. I have, I have almost as much faux row as I do fomo.
[00:50:43] Speaker B: I'm going to use that row.
[00:50:45] Speaker A: Faux row. And then you have a shop too. Like people can come to your shop. You've got all different kinds of merch. And also you can order like some of your past single barrels that are still available. You can find those on that shop too. Right.
[00:50:57] Speaker B: So all of my merch is on my website, tequilacollective Club. You can, you can get shirts like the Tequila Collective shirt that I'm wearing. You can get Tequila Collective glass pin stickers, things like that. The single barrels are typically sold through Kagan bottles. So if you do want to order one of my single barrels, you can go to Kagan bottles website. They ship to, I think 44 different states. So most people around the country will have access to the barrels if you're so inclined to purchase one. And they're all very good. You know, I try to pick the best barrels I can that are interesting, unique, but also appealing to a broad audience. Because, you know, I understand that my audience is a lot of people like yourself, Brad, who, you know, you're really into it, you're really involved, you really love this and have a passion for it. But sometimes people, they just want to have some better options, and they're still going to take shots or make drinks. So I want to try to appeal to as many people as possible, and that's. That's what we try to do with the barrels while still giving people something that they may have never tasted before.
[00:51:57] Speaker A: Well, that's awesome. Well, I definitely appreciate your time today. I appreciate the way that you teach and the way that you share your content and the way that you've helped not only newcomers into the tequila world, but the tequila brand, connecting to those people, and then people like me that have learned a lot from watching your videos. I just want to say thank you for all of those things and for taking your time today.
[00:52:19] Speaker B: No, of course. And really, it's me who should be thanking you and the many people that follow me, because without. Without support like this, I wouldn't exist. The Tequila Collective channels wouldn't exist. And I really do appreciate it. I don't know how to convey it more, but it really means a lot. Good for you for doing this, making content and venturing out, because I know it's not easy, but we need more people like yourself and more people who are just interested in tequila to make content. It's a fun time. It's a great community out of. There's a lot of really wonderful people in this community, and everyone is so welcoming for the most part. I applaud you for doing this, and thank you for having me on. You've got something really cool going here, and I hope you continue on and have a lot of success. So thank you.
[00:53:06] Speaker A: Awesome. Well, thank you. Cheers.
[00:53:08] Speaker B: Cheers.
