Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Tonight we're going to talk about a brand that was built out of the idea of saving a flea market in Texas. La Puga. What an amazing brand and amazing story. Today we're going to talk to Sarah, one of the co founders, and we're going to talk to Dave, VP of marketing. They're going to tell us about the whole process of making their tequila, the story behind it coming together, and also the additions they added with some mezcal and sotol. So stick around. This one's pretty awesome.
All right, I am fired up to be here to talk about another Tequila. I'm here with Sarah and Dave. How you guys doing tonight?
[00:00:43] Speaker B: Rocking and rolling. Gosh, that's silly.
[00:00:45] Speaker C: Always incredible.
[00:00:47] Speaker A: That's awesome.
[00:00:48] Speaker B: Doing good.
[00:00:49] Speaker A: All right, Sarah, let's start with you. Tell everybody who you are and why you love Tequila.
[00:00:56] Speaker B: I'm Sarah Castillo. I am a born and raised Fort Worth girl and footwear Texas girl.
I guess I started off my career in a food trailer. So I started when I was 27 years old selling tacos out of a trailer and then made my way to restaurants. So I guess a restaurateur, but I never really consider myself a restaurateur, but a girl that has restaurants. And I just, I fell in love with tequila being in those restaurants. And so obviously I'm Latina, I serve tacos and then kind of Mexico City inspired food. So I served a lot of tequila in Mescal's. And so my journey is. Has gone from a, you know, you're the big brands and then you start getting into some fun new brands that you never heard of and their whole romantic side of tequila and the process. And so that's kind of how I fell in love with tequila.
[00:01:49] Speaker A: What about you, Dave? Same question.
[00:01:50] Speaker C: Awesome. So Dave Wiley. I'm the most recently VP of strategic accounts, but I was brought on as the head of marketing to La Polka. I've been here for about a year.
My background prior to this was actually in beer, so I worked for a large beer manufacturer for years. I've always been a huge tequila aficionado. I moved to Mexico when I was 15, lived there for many years and have been going back for all of my adult life.
I've always been incredibly passionate about tequila. And so when I was thinking about what I wanted to do, I. It's like I, I knew I wanted to be in the tequila space. It's. It's all we drink at home, that and some nice wine and. And then this opportunity came up. There's so many tequila Brands and there's so many good liquids and there's good marketing. I talked to them for six months. Everything checked out. It's like they had the great liquid, they had the story and they're just. Everybody was just incredible, authentic, passionate people. And I was like, this is, this is so exciting. This is where I want to be. It's, it's an incredible liquid. We have an incredible distillery, an incredible team. The founders are just the most authentic, real people. And it's been such an amazing journey building this from one state to multiple states now. And we're just so excited to see where it goes.
[00:03:03] Speaker A: Very cool.
So how many states are you in today?
[00:03:07] Speaker C: In seven states now.
[00:03:09] Speaker A: What states are those?
[00:03:11] Speaker C: So Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Tennessee, New Jersey, Colorado, Rhode Island, Connecticut. Did I miss these, Sarah? I said Oklahoma and Colorado.
[00:03:20] Speaker B: Colorado.
[00:03:21] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:03:21] Speaker A: Awesome.
[00:03:22] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:03:23] Speaker B: But we are also, we're also on military bases. So we are also in seven countries and 100, roughly 160 military bases through the exchange.
[00:03:36] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:03:37] Speaker A: Was that a hard program to get set up?
[00:03:39] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Yes. Yes.
[00:03:41] Speaker A: Whenever dealing with the United States government, things get a little tougher.
[00:03:45] Speaker B: Yeah.
But as you know, it's. This industry is very relationship based.
So our CEO, luckily he came from a big company and he ran that, I guess international cells or army. That was his, like what he was in charge of. So he had those relationships. And so whenever he came on board, it still was hard to get in. I mean, you can't have bad juice, you can't have bad marketing and.
But so he had all those things. And even with, with all that they, it was still, it was just tough, but it was great. We love it.
[00:04:24] Speaker A: Well, let's talk about the owners and how it got started. Why La Paluga?
How did this all come together and who brought it all together?
[00:04:34] Speaker B: Yeah, so it's me, Sarah Castillo, Andrew de la Torre and Steven solder. So us three are our co founders. And in 2019, during COVID So there was this flea market in Fort Worth where we're from and it's been there since the 1940s and it's been this hub for the Mexican community.
And it's, you know, just open air Mexican flea market. So there's eating, drinking, dancing, shopping.
And during that time it was going to go, it was, it was on the market to sell and so I think either discount tire apartments or whatnot.
But Andrew de la Torre was managing that flea market at the time. And so once he got wind of what was going to happen, he came to me and we were kind of bouncing Ideas of how to save that flea market and preserve it.
And at the time, so I was in my. The restaurants and it was. I was on the other end where people are coming in trying to sell Tequila. And I just saw the market just getting really noisy and it was. I just like, did not recognize Tequila. And it was celebrity driven tequilas, Tequila with a ton of vanilla. And I was just like, what is going on here?
And so we really wanted to bring something to market that was additive free, available, affordable and approachable tequila.
So I think that was something like that. We wanted to bring back old school tequila. Like Tequila. Like, if my grandparents were still alive and I set it on the table, they would be very proud and want to drink it. And I'm. My family's from Guadalajara. Andrew's is from De Leon. So like, we just wanted. Yes, from third generation Mexican American. But we understand, like, what our culture is and what we wanted to bring back. And not celebrity, not. Let's see. And not this cheesy bottle and all this crazy marketing. Like, it should be about good juice and good and good people.
So then our other business partner, Stephen came in and we came together, we raised capital and we purchased 12 acres of land. So preserving that flea market, taking all that beautiful essence and what that flea market's all about and putting it in tequila. So on our bottle we have a medallion and it says Coro soniama. So that's something that's just a daily reminder to us, like, why we're doing these. And this go to Sony almond means heart and soul.
So bringing heart and soul back to tequila and not this.
Posting pictures of a party you would never get invited to. Like all this glitz and glam and I'm like, that's not what tequila is. Like, that's at least not. That's not what the Mexican heritage I know is about.
You would go to one of our Christmases and there is someone random that I've never seen in my entire life because my grandfather invited them to because they didn't have anywhere to go. So. So, like, that's what we wanted to bring to Tequila.
But so, yeah, that's kind of how the genesis of it.
[00:07:43] Speaker A: What does the name mean?
[00:07:45] Speaker B: La Pulga technically means flea, but it is a slang term for term for flea market.
[00:07:52] Speaker A: Oh, very cool. So that goes. Ties it all the way back to the flea market. That's very awesome.
[00:07:57] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah.
[00:07:58] Speaker A: So what was your process like to. To find the distillery that you're at and then work with them to create your profile.
[00:08:06] Speaker B: So we went, gosh, we went. Headed to Jalisco once we got the. The landowner contract. And it was kind of an oh, shit moment. Like, oh, my God, how are we going to pay for this? And then also, like, what our business model. So we knew we wanted to get into tequila.
So we went to around over 30 distilleries in Jalisco. And bouncing around, we went to some great ones. Like, Pop was a good one, Pascoean was a great one. And once we went to ours as nom 1068 Agridistria Guadalajara, it was not to be cheesy, but it's like going home. And it. It's a small distillery and it's so well taken care of, well manicured.
And then they just treated us like family. As soon as we got in. There are some distilleries that literally just gave us a bottle and, like, just pat us on our back and like, was like, okay, do you want to do business or what?
But this one, like, they fed at first. It's like we eat first before we talk about any business. We eat together. So we break bread.
And then the tour. And then our.
The main lady that runs it as Alejandra.
And she just said everything that we were saying too. We're like, holy shit. Did she, like, hear what we were looking for? So just things that, like, doing it right. What? Doing it the right way, not cutting corners and taking care of their people. So once we heard things like, they make breakfast every day for the entire team. So 150 people, they are making breakfast there and they'll pack up the breakfast and send it to the fields around 11 for the humidors. But it's just like, those kind of things are just like, hit home to us. And I was like, holy shit, this is family.
And it's not like talking the talk or it's like literally them doing it and we see it all the time. And little things like them preserving their water for their town, for Caballero, everything that they were just doing was just right.
And then it didn't hurt that the tequila was so delicious and so smooth and it was. It was just like a match made in heaven.
[00:10:18] Speaker C: So I think one thing you also asked about was the profile. And I think one thing that makes us particularly special is they didn't go down to Mexico, like, asking for a profile. And I think that that's how you get into the trap of modifying your tequila, the distillery. Every. Everything about this tequila goes back to the fact that the distillery was started 30 years ago by seven agave farming families.
And the distillery was started because they were tired of selling their agave to other distilleries that were going to adulterate, make other products with it, you know, fill full additives or. Or do shortcut processes.
And every decision that they've made in the production of this tequila has been around emphasizing the best notes of their own agave. Since they own the agave, they control the production. And so it. It's not a place that you show up and you say, this is my profile. They are this. They. They make it the way that they make it, and they make it the way that they want to make it. And I think that a lot of people show up with a lot of, like, you know, ego going into these distilleries saying, like, I know more than you do, and you are the ones that have been doing it for. For a long time. And I think that's one incredible thing about our tequila, is that it's. It is representative of the land. And if you talk to our master distiller, Sixto Garcia, is he. He says, like, every aspect, the cultivation of the yeast and everything that I built about this process is how can I just showcase the land and the agave?
So. So that's the quote profile, because it's showing off the land. And. And that's the way they do it, and that's the way they want to do it. And we definitely would not want to mess with the. That incredible expertise.
[00:12:01] Speaker A: And being Capella di Guadalupe, that's in the highlands, it's on your way to. Around us. It's a beautiful town.
And knowing that, that's all amazing. Highlands agaves, I can imagine that everything they have there is pretty awesome.
[00:12:15] Speaker C: Yeah, everything is 6, 400ft in elevation. So incredibly high. Bricks agave, we harvest for sugar level, not for time.
And everything comes out 38 to 44 bricks before it goes into the ovens.
So that starting with a very rich agave. And again, it's. It's ready when it's ready. And it takes a long time with that thin air and the high altitudes.
And so you're starting with an incredibly rich, sweet product that has a lot of earth to it. You look at the soil. Brad and I were talking about this earlier. It's unlike the valley. It's just brilliantly red dirt.
That's the scene. You go into these fields first thing in the morning, and you have blue sky. You have the gorgeous blue agave fields with just the most rich red dirt. And it just creates this incredible product. And I think one thing I love about agave spirits is it's land, it's terroir. When you get the good stuff, you're tasting a place, and there is no spirit that has the flavor of land like agave spirits, in my opinion.
[00:13:28] Speaker A: Yeah, that is so true. It's funny when you do these blinds. I do. Anyway, I get into this process of trying to figure out what tequila I, I have in a blind.
And I did a matchmaker tequila matchmaker blind a few months ago, and I pulled down the tequilas that I thought they were and wrote it on the, on the numbers and finished the blind. And when we got those back, like, two months later, I got four out of eight correct.
[00:13:56] Speaker B: Nice.
[00:13:57] Speaker A: And they were highland blancos that I just, I recognized the profile in them. And a lot of people wonder how, how can tequilas taste different coming from the same area? And they don't understand that the processes are different at each place, and each place brings its own terroir to the tequila. So that's pretty awesome.
[00:14:14] Speaker C: The best way I like to analogize it to, like, like French wine, you know, you go to Bordeaux, and two chateaus can be right on top of each other. And it's the same, it's a similar area. The, you know, but every field is different.
Every. And one thing Sixto says is, like, even if the kitchen's the same, it's the chef that makes the difference. So you can have the whole landscape dotted with these chateaus, and every single one of them is going to taste very different because, because of the decisions that they're making. And the land is a little bit different from place to place. And it's so true in agave spirits. And, and it's just, you know, I, I, I always shout this from the rooftops when we do tastings, is that, you know, they're all good, but they're all sense of place.
[00:14:56] Speaker A: Okay, so now we're going to let you nerd out a bit, because we talked today, and you and I are on that same level of we can say nerd. I don't get mad. A tequila nerd level of how it's made. So dive into the production a little bit. Talk about first talk about the cooking and the way that you guys are doing your cooking.
[00:15:16] Speaker C: Right? So after being harvested, we use a dual cook method.
So half. And it's 50. 50. So half of it goes into the traditional brick or nos, the ovens, and half of it goes into the autoclaves. So they're lower pressure, we use lower temperatures. And, and as I was telling you earlier today, we just did decreased the temperature that we're using the autoclaves even further so that it can be a very delicate cook.
So once we get, once we get the 50, 50 agave out of the orno's and the autoclaves, it's, it goes on a roller mill and we use a one pass on the roller mill. It's a very, very light shred and rinse.
And one of the things that our distillery tries to do that Sarah was alluding to is they're very, very conscientious about water conservation.
They have deep wells that with reverse osmosis filters that they use for their production, but it also goes to the town.
And so we give it a very light rinse. All the agave comes off that roller mill still. The begazo is still wet and sticky. They're not over extracting it, they're not pressing it. It's a light shred. It's rinsed lightly and then it goes on to be used for fertilizing fields. There's a, a brick manufacturing facility that uses that shredded pagazo as the binder for their bricks. So all of that gets reused. The liquid goes into cooling tanks where it's not diluted before being passed over to our fermentation facility.
So fermentation, we have a proprietary yeast that's been cultivated from the fields and the land around it.
Capita de Guadalupe is known for two things. One, it had a deep history of citrus orchards that influence the background yeast profile that is in all these agave fields. And even if the citrus fields have, the orchards have been pushed a little further out by all the agave growing these days, you still have a yeast that grew up in these orchards that produces a really bright flavor.
So that yeast again, it's. They worked on the profiles that everything just brings out the best of the land. So they took it from all the fields that is, is now propagated. And we use that same yeast over and over and over. So it's a proprietary strain that we use. They wake it up by aerating it and blasting rock music. And one of the coolest things is you go into the fermentation room and there's speakers and they're playing rock music. And the yeast needs the agitation to keep the fermentation vigorous. And you can even go to the tanks that are starting to slow down. And if you make a lot of noise, you can see the fermentation pop back up. So we always like to say the, the Party starts before it even gets in the bottle because it's, you know, infused with a little music, which is really fun.
We use a double distillation process, which is pretty common. We use pot stills. So similar to, you know, standard process where we have a destroyer and a rectifier.
The destroyer is the first pass and the rectifier gets it to proof. We distill to 110 proof, and then the, the tequila that's destined for our barrel aging is going to go into barrels at 110 proof, and the tequila that is going to be bottled as blanco goes into finishing. One thing that's really different about our finishing versus a lot of other brands is we do chill filtration and oxygenation. Now, I know that some people will frown on, oh, chill filtration, you're taking some of that out. But the way we do it. So we get our tanks down very cold, almost to freezing, and then we aerate it for 16 hours. During that aeration, the ethanol evaporates. So we get it from 110 proof down to about 84 without a drop of water. It's just aeration. So as that ethanol evaporates. So ethanol is going to evaporate before some of the other compounds, the water, the flavor compounds. So that heat comes out. And what that does is that concentrates all of the greatest parts of the tequila that produce the flavor.
So when what you get is you end up with a tequila that has an incredible viscosity. Now, this is a, this is a higher proof, so I'm cheating here, but you get incredible viscosity. And it's smooth. It is, it's rich. You get all the roast agave, you get some mint, some Annies and some citrus in the finish. It's, it's herbaceous and it's a really rich agave. Because of that, most of it's concentrated just from the aeration.
The last four points of proofing is done with deep well water that's, that's gone through reverse osmosis, and that's the standard. Blanco, happy to talk about the barrel aging and all of that, but depends on if you want to, want to pause there and talk about the core process or we want to get into the barrels.
[00:20:15] Speaker A: Yeah, I want to back up to fermentation. So are you going into stainless steel tanks?
[00:20:20] Speaker C: Yes, so we do stainless steel tanks and we don't ferment on the, the fibers.
[00:20:25] Speaker A: Okay, yeah, that was going to be my next question. If you did any fibers at all?
[00:20:28] Speaker C: No, no, no fibers. And we ask them, and they're very peculiar about not leaving some of the off flavors. And sometimes you get some fun flavors. And in some, some tequilas, you want some of that. Wild flavors. You want some. You start to get some like, barnyardy flavor, sometimes a little bit of Brett. But this one, it's more of a cleaner profile. And they said they've done some sample batches that, that had the fibers in there, and they weren't really getting positive flavors that, that they thought added any benefit to it. So I know it works really well in some tequilas, but it just wasn't right for us.
[00:21:05] Speaker A: And, and then. Let's go to the music. Tell me you're playing Just like 80s, 80s hair metal. That was fun music, not any 90s stuff. That wasn't any fun.
[00:21:15] Speaker C: DJ Sarah, you want to take the, you want to take the playlist?
[00:21:17] Speaker B: Yes, sorry, my dogs are barking. Not my feet, but like my literal dogs.
Got it. You got it.
But yeah, we were there a couple, I guess, less than a month ago, but they were playing just Mexican rock music, which is awesome, but it's. She just said any sort of rock music. So I don't know about your 90s rock music. I'm pretty sure it's more 80s or just like old school Mexican rock music too, like mana or someone.
[00:21:48] Speaker A: But you just don't want it influenced by that era of Angry at the World. Right?
[00:21:55] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't think it would be very angry.
Yeah, they're fighting, they're. They're talking about heart and soul and girlfriends and boyfriends and tequila and cerveza. Yeah, I don't know.
[00:22:08] Speaker C: Yeah, it's like, it's the kind of music you would, you would want to, to sit around the table and have in the background while you're having tequila. It's, you know, it's fun, it's energetic. You know, maybe some banda in there you get, or some, some, some corridor or ballads. But, you know, we've, I've been there a couple times and it's, it's always something different depending on our Master Fermentations mood, I think. But it's always been something upbeat for sure.
[00:22:35] Speaker A: In all seriousness, for people who don't realize how much that music does make a difference, all distilleries have noise, right? So there's always noise going on. But when we were at a couple different distilleries that play some classical music while it's in fermentation, one of the guys, when we were walking through the tanks, he Said, if you don't think music does anything, watch this. And he pointed out, pulled a key out of his hand and he started banging on the side of the stainless steel tank and the yeast was already moving around.
It changed directions and it moved to where he was banging on the tank.
[00:23:11] Speaker C: And he's, yeah, I don't know what.
[00:23:13] Speaker A: It'S doing to him, but it's doing something so it has to work. I'm like, I, I completely agree. That was really cool to see it completely change the direction that it was moving.
[00:23:23] Speaker C: So it responds to your voice if you talk to, responds as a living thing. And it's, it's the one that's doing all the work to create the ethanol out of the delicious sugar that came from the agave. So I, I think people really don't, you know, they underestimate the fact that distillation and fermentation, it's, there's a lot of science to it, but it's still an art. I mean, you're dealing with an agricultural product. You're dealing with. Yeast is a living entity. It's, it has, you know, there's good days and bad days depending on, I mean, there's the weather, there's everything. So there's so many environmental factors that they're having to negotiate to get to the final product. And you know, that's every, every bottle of pulga is going to be a little bit different.
It just is what it is. Like when was it made? Was it, you know, are they, was it during the rainy season where you get slightly lower brix due to the agaves soaking up the water? Was it during the dry season when you're going to get more concentrated sugars?
One thing they're always having to do because they have a target brix level for their agaves is sometimes you have to blend higher altitude to lower altitude plots to make sure that you're getting your sugar targets. But that's. They deal, they do, they deal with that with such grace.
I mean, there's so many factors that they're dealing with every minute of the day and they just do it intuitively because they've been doing it so long.
[00:24:50] Speaker A: Is that fermentation open and have any wild fermentation aspects to it?
[00:24:55] Speaker C: It's open air. But we are, we are propagating from a, a starter tank that keeps like the yeast master in it.
So I think that helps because they want to make sure that they've. Their, their yeast has all of the different elements from the surrounding areas and they're Very careful to make sure that it has the. You know, there's one yeast. It's like they're. They're their child. The sixto talks about it like his baby. He's like, you know, I raised this thing.
[00:25:27] Speaker A: We've.
[00:25:28] Speaker C: We've nurtured this yeast. We've. We've protected it, we've grown it, and it's something that's really important to them. So many places use open air, wild fermentation. We work with incredible Masc Galleria and San Luis Potosi, and they're open air and it's wild and it's incredible. Incredible liquid. Yeah, that's. They. They like their specific yeast, but it is open air. I'm sure there are some natural influences as well.
[00:25:51] Speaker A: Okay, let's dive into some of that barrel product. What all do you offer and how are you doing your aging?
[00:25:58] Speaker C: So at our core line, we have a reposado and an anejo. All of our barrels come from Tennessee whiskey barrels from Brown Foreman. So I don't know if I. I should, like, name names, but it's.
It's a very.
[00:26:12] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, I think you're fine. Yeah, yeah.
[00:26:14] Speaker C: So they're all Jack Daniels barrels. They come from Lunchburg. We're not associated with Brown Foreman, but the distillery had a relationship with them going back 30 years, where they would get barrels straight from the. Their distillery. As you know, in tequila, we, you know, we love. We love barrels that have been seasoned, and bourbon and whiskey create a lot of freshly used barrels that they don't use a second time. So it's very common in Mexico for those barrels to go straight down. But we think that relationship. We get the barrels about seven days after they're emptied. In Tennessee, they show up at the distillery, we fill them with blanco, and the first thing that we do is we make the anejo. The Anejo is 18 to 22 months. So the anejo is.
It's a little bit older for an anejo. You know, as you know, with an anejo, it has to be a minimum of 12 months. Ours is going for almost two years at 18 to 22 months. But just like our agave, we don't do it for.
We don't do it for an age statement. We do it for, is it ready? Is it hitting the flavor that we're looking for?
Those barrels are dumped. We refill those barrels one more time, and we use them for the reposado. The reposado, also a little bit older age statement. It's eight to 11 months.
So after we do the reposado, it's. The barrel is done, we sell the barrel to a barrel broker who will move it on to another distillery.
And you know, we start with a really sweet agave and I think that having the fresh barrels balances it beautifully.
So it's.
Yeah. So we're going to get a lot more barrel in there and I think it balances our, our, our incredible blanco very well. Awesome.
[00:27:53] Speaker A: Can't wait to try it.
[00:27:54] Speaker C: Definitely. We do have some other special ones. So in addition to our core three, the blanco, repo and ano, we have also done some, some special releases. So we have a 110. We have our 110 proof Blanco which. This one, we talked about the finishing of our standard blanco. This one comes off the stills at 120 before being finished with aeration and no water.
So it's aerated down to 110 and then it's bottled. So this one doesn't need that final splash of well water at the end. And then we did a, a reposado using that same process.
Goes in at 1 at 120, sits in the barrels, sets 110. And then we have had a few single barrels come out. So with our, with different partners and those single barrel rebel savos, if you can find. These are 95 proof. So somewhere I call this like the Goldilocks between the, our 110 and our core repo. It's a great, the, it's a great zipper.
Would be beautiful in that snifter you have in front of you.
But I, I love the 110 for mixology. I love. But if you come into our office after 6 o', clock, I'm just going to say 6 o'. Clock. So we don't sound like complete degenerates, but you'll usually find us sitting around with a repo on the rocks. That would be probably our team's favorite. I like to call it the founder's favorite because I, I never need to ask like Sarah, Andrew or Steven what they're drinking. If I'm pouring, it's. Although sometimes, sometimes it's a mezcal night. But if it's tequila, it's Rippo on the rock.
[00:29:33] Speaker A: I started drinking at 6am So I think that's what you meant by 6 o', clock, right?
[00:29:37] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:29:38] Speaker C: You can't, you can't drink Ulta if you don't start in the morning.
[00:29:41] Speaker A: Exactly.
No blood in my. No blood in my alcohol system. That I understand.
So here's my Question. What does that 120 taste like when you're tasting it right off the still?
[00:29:53] Speaker C: Sarah, we were down there. What did the.
[00:29:54] Speaker B: I mean, there's, there, it's, there's definitely some heat on there. Yeah, but it, it's still, I mean, it's still so good. But yes, it's, it's hot for sure.
[00:30:06] Speaker C: I know.
[00:30:07] Speaker A: I love drinking off the still and you get so much more of the essence of tequila and agave right when it's coming off. But I don't know that I've had it that hot. I, I think 11 10, maybe a 1 12. You know, office still is like the hottest that I've had.
[00:30:24] Speaker C: It's, it's going to be a tighter cut, right? Because to get that, to get that higher proof, you're really getting the hearts there. To make sure that you can get the higher ABV right off the still. I get a little more fruit in it. It's, it's got a little more fruit characteristic that becomes a little more subtle once you proof it down. It's amazing what that aeration and that, that chill process does to, to just mellow it out. The feedback that we've gotten on our 110, which won top marks at the Igavos Awards and has just been incredibly well received, is everybody that tries it is like, I cannot believe that that's 110 and you'll have to try it as well. But it's.
We were all in the office when the sample showed up and the, you know, we get a lot of unlabeled bottles. They're labeled bottles, but it's a clear glass bottle that has a numeric code on it. It says nothing other than that, other than like a general customs agricultural mark.
So the only way, you know what you're drinking is to email the distillery and ask what was in each bottle.
And we were, we were doing a lot of other stuff in the office and it got to be like 9 o' clock at night and we were still there working and we were like, let's crack open the samples that just showed up.
So we pulled this clear bottle out and we pass it around the office and we're, you know, putting it in flutes and this is the, the 110 I've got right here.
And we all drink it and we didn't know what we're drinking and we're like, that's really, really good, man. It's rich. It's got so much flavor to it. It's the roasted agave is just magnified. It's like up to 11 and we're like that's so good. What is it?
[00:32:05] Speaker A: And we.
[00:32:05] Speaker C: Because the idea is see how it tastes and then decide what to proof it down to.
And we pulled it up and we're like, oh my God, that's 55, that's 110 proof. And we looked at each other like what are we gonna, what are we gonna bottle it at like 100.
Don't showed up perfect. And it doesn't need anything else.
[00:32:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:32:27] Speaker C: And the, the reception for it has been, you know, it's, it's lived up to that which everybody has. Has been incredibly complimentary.
[00:32:36] Speaker B: Well also go ahead. Whenever we got the, we opened the bottle, Dave didn't really explain but we are doing all day activation somewhere. So we're like coming loading in ton of crates and you know when you're a small company you, you're doing the activation. So we're loading everything in hot sweaty. We're in Texas during the summer and then we pop it open. And so even after a long hard day of working, sweating our asses off, that still was so good.
[00:33:04] Speaker A: I bet.
[00:33:04] Speaker C: I.
[00:33:05] Speaker A: To me, there's the Tequila to me is always refreshing. You know, on any day, no matter how hard the day was or how easy the day was, pouring a glass of tequila at room temperature for me is always like, oh, that's so good.
[00:33:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:33:18] Speaker A: Some of my friends think I'm crazy.
[00:33:19] Speaker B: But yeah, most people like want a cold beer. We're like, nope, room room temperature Tequila neat.
[00:33:26] Speaker A: The only cocktail I can make, just tequila in a glass. That's it.
[00:33:29] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:33:30] Speaker A: What you gonna say something, Dave?
[00:33:32] Speaker C: No, I just said high, high proof room temperature tequila. But if you get it off the stills, it's hot. High proof tequila.
[00:33:39] Speaker A: The first time I had it when it was actually still hot, I was like, oh, I need to cool that down a little bit.
[00:33:46] Speaker C: You have to blow on your mug of tequila. Yes.
[00:33:49] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:33:50] Speaker C: It's just the best experience though.
[00:33:52] Speaker A: So is there any plan of an extra on Yejo?
[00:33:55] Speaker B: I don't know.
[00:33:56] Speaker C: That sounds like we were, we were recently at the distillery assessing some incredible barrels.
But we do have some exciting stuff coming down the pipe.
But for us again, everything is about waiting and doing things right.
And even our expansion. So many companies, they wanted to be in, you know, 30 states overnight. I'll just say like not 50. We, we didn't even leave Texas for two years. And when we finally did, we only added six more states.
Just like our, you know, just like the Tequila and just like how the distillery does it with the farms. Like, you wait and you do things when the time's right. And we don't want to rush things and we don't want to. We already have a lot of products. We have all the tequilas that I walked through, and we have a Mezcal and a Sotol.
And, you know, we don't, you know, we don't want to push too many things in the market before we're ready to support it. And we think the market's ready for it. Just like the way we've launched states, we open up a handful and we do everything we can to grow it sustainably and support it.
And that's, you know, in, in our mind, that's how you operate sustainably for the long term instead of just, you know, chasing the next, the next hot thing, the next win. So we have some great stuff that's sitting down right now, but I, I, I assure you that this lineup will not be the only LA Hoolga products out, but everything in its right time.
[00:35:34] Speaker A: So, Sarah, as a business owner already, you had some ideas of the struggles and challenges of being an entrepreneur. We, we as business owners get curveball shot at us every day.
[00:35:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:35:45] Speaker A: What's the thing that has most surprised you that you didn't expect in the tequila business?
[00:35:52] Speaker B: I think how things have happened so organically.
Just like little, I mean, our team, we never put an ad out. It was always just word of mouth.
Like, I don't think there's been ever a single ad that advertised out for new now hiring. So that's been very organic. Obviously our partnership, me, Andrew and Steven was very organic and just kismic and I don't know, I, yes, we've struggled for sure. And, you know, you gotta have capital and, and we're not, we're not acting like we, we come from the tequila world or the spirits world. So we knew as young entrepreneurs that we were not CEO.
So we wanted a CEO, we wanted a VP of sales that people that I kind of have, have done this before.
Obviously, times change and you have to shift and things are different. Obviously you have marijuana cocktails or CBD cocktails or whatever.
So things shift and everyone has to be agile and adapt. But I think that's probably the biggest thing is just how it seems like it's just been so, like, I don't know, get like a little spiritual on you. But it's just like this was like, meant for us. Like, it's, the path is going and as long as all of our team, like, we just. We work hard, we put. We focus on what we're doing, and we acknowledge what the competition's doing, but we don't worry about it. Like, let's just focus what we're doing, work hard, and just stay laser focused. And I think that's what we are all doing very well about sometimes. Yes, there's some strays. They're like, oh, look at this. Maybe we do a rtd and we're like, no, stay focused. Like, this is what we're doing.
[00:37:46] Speaker A: But there's usually one ADD partner that, hey, I got another idea. Hey, let's try this one.
[00:37:56] Speaker B: Yeah, there is one.
[00:37:57] Speaker C: You got one hell of a whiteboard.
Yeah, like, we. There are more in, like, a group like this, like, there are more good ideas than you'll ever be able to execute. And, like, we'll get into a team meeting, and so we be like, wait, I've got this great idea. And we're like, we need less ideas.
So many good ideas. Let's. Let's just run the plays. So.
[00:38:22] Speaker A: My wife. My wife is always like, no, you're doing too many things already.
[00:38:26] Speaker B: But it's been nice. Like us.
Yes. Because we are a small team. Gosh, we were probably like, eight people for the longest time. And then now we recently added on, but it's still. It's less than 20. We're at maybe 14 people.
But everyone, like, has great ideas, and we'll do random marketing summits, and we're just all in a room together with, like, competing against teams. I'm coming up with some fresh ideas, and there are some good ones, and there's some really wacky ones. And we're like, how did you get hired? Just kidding.
We didn't say that about anyone.
But it's just. It's just fun. Like, when we. We are a great team and, like, we have some great ideas and we have some shitty ideas, and we just, like, keep on rolling.
[00:39:08] Speaker A: So with the slowdown in spirit sales, do you. Where do you think Tequila is going to continue to go?
[00:39:14] Speaker B: I mean, I.
I still think because we are not necessarily a. Well, Tequila, we are one step up, but we're not ultra premium. I do believe the ultra premium has kind of come and gone.
And even in the restaurants, like, they're not moving and just the economy and. But also, it's not even just the economy. It's just people are realizing that quality is not necessarily associated with. With a price tag these days.
I mean, take, for instance, a Michelin Star restaurant was a taco stand in Mexico City. Like just those kind of things. People are understanding that quality is not necessarily associated with price tag. But I still think Tequila in our, our realms, our category, that's what's going to still keep going. Yes, you're going to have your plastic bottle tequilas that sorority girls will probably drink it at a, in a punch.
But I still think our category will be very strong.
But I don't know.
[00:40:12] Speaker A: I, I completely agree. I mean there's such a excitement around brands like yours and in the true traditional additive free category and I think that continues to grow. I see people all the time that are sending me a picture of tequila I'd only used to clean my bar or the toilet with. And they're asking me, should I buy this one? And it's always no, buy these. Well, that's not as expensive. And that Michelin restaurant is a great example because I'm always shocked at the prices at Michelin restaurants that are more than some of the restaurants I go to. So that, that was a great so.
[00:40:50] Speaker B: And then also there is an article that it was just talking about the number six. So the volume has increased. Well, you mean make sure I'm getting it right. Okay. The revenue has decreased, but the volume is still consistent or is still growing. So what that's showing is people are just buying down. So they're not buying those The Don Julios 1942 or the Crazy expensive tequilas anymore.
But yes, I think in our, our area, the 30 to 60 bucks for Blancos, like are those are still going to be here. And gosh, women are just not drinking wine anymore. They're still, yes, there are still women drinking wine, but there are a lot of ladies my age, like all my sorry sisters or friends. But it's just the sugar content, our body and everything that's all in there. Like I, I still love red wine, don't get me wrong. But I wake up with a terrible headache and I just can't. As you get older, you can't do that anymore. You can't operate that way. But with tequila, I feel great.
[00:41:59] Speaker C: Just, just to add to, to what Sarah's saying. So if you look at off premise, year to date, Tequila is the only spirit that's really seeing positive growth. And Tequila, if you look at Nielsen, it's up 4%.
But within tequila, you know, you have premium and super premium and ultra premium, which is all defined by price point. But one thing, you know, Sarah's pointing out is, you know, and you know this too is that price doesn't always equal quality in tequila.
And if you look at the additive free segment and you don't look at it based on price tiers, you just look at additive free versus the total category, it's outpacing the growth in tequila year to date 7x.
So we're at almost 30% growth for additive free brands. If you go based on the, you know, the tequila matchmaker added to free list view. If you want to go down the road of including the big brand that has recently done some additive free marketing, that changes the numbers a little bit since they're not growing as fast as some of smaller brands like us. But I think it shows that we are in. So tequila is growing because people see it as just this incredibly complex spirit that goes well on so many different occasions.
But now people want, they want brands that are doing it in traditional ways that are not modifying it. They want to taste the tequila. They want to taste what they're. They want to taste the land, they want to taste what they're drinking.
And I think that that bodes really well for brands that are, you know, willing to do it the right way to, to put the time in to, to make a incredible product.
And I think that that's going to continue. I think. And one thing that Brad and I talked about earlier today on the phone was I think additive free is now the table stakes. Additive free is the new 100% agape. And you'll look at 10, 15 years ago, everybody would say like, like, I don't want a mixto. I know good tequila. I want 100 agave tequila. And it was a, it was a huge shift in tequila when people started looking for non mixtos. And, and I think that was the beginning of people really learning a lot about good tequila. But now people are really going the extra mile to find out like, I don't want stuff that, that is truly 100% agave without any modifiers. And I don't see that as changing anytime soon. I think that this corresponds to the same trends that we see across CPG altogether, which is transparency in what I'm eating, drinking, consuming, Even in household cleaning products. People want more natural products. People are, well, don't want to be consuming something that doesn't have full transparency. So I don't think this is a, a friend. I think this is a, something that's here to stay.
[00:44:47] Speaker A: Yep, I, I agree and I, I think the talking about the traditional methods that tequila has made has helped a lot too. Going beyond additives and letting People know what's the. What's the process of making the tequila. I think that's why these videos have become popular, because people want to know not only what's in it, but. But how'd you make it, where'd the agave come from? And I think that's been a. A big growth in area, and I think it's going to continue.
So I have a question. How did you also decide to bring out a Mezcal and a Soto?
[00:45:17] Speaker B: So we were interviewing one of my buddies I went to high school with, and he works actually for a big company, a tequila company.
And he was just telling me just like, get ahead of it. Like, he's like, we never did come out with one. But he was like, I think you should, like, just do one for fun and just open the gate. And so.
So then we started exploring and we got samples again and we were telling what we. What. So I'm a big Mezcal girl too. So I.
I originally, being a Mezcal nerd, I was thinking, I was like, oh, I only want Oaxacan and all these things. And then whenever they were sending out samples or the person in Mexico that's kind of like helping us through this whole process, he was like, I'm just going to throw this one sample in just to see what they say.
[00:46:09] Speaker C: And.
[00:46:10] Speaker B: And so it's all like what Dave says. Like, we don't know what's on the bottles. We're just blind tasting. And we were, we got the samples. We just finished a meeting that we were trying to investor pitch. And we're in Dallas, Texas, and we were outside in the parking lot, and it was hot, like middle of summer. And these packages come out and they're still like a little. They're. They're toasty. They're not completely hot from the car, but they're. They're still tasty. And we do the samples and they're like, they're all really great. And then we tasted this one. We're like, holy shit, what is that?
That's amazing. And so I was just like, blown away with this one. And the.
My business partners, Andrew, Steven, they're like, we're not Mezcal guys, but we trust you. And so I was like, this is it. I want this. Like. And I just never tasted anything like it before.
So then we, you know, we get back and we were. I'm like, what the hell was that? And they're like, it's from San Luis Potosi. It's a Salmone.
We don't Smoke it. We steam it underground for it's under a hill.
Steam it for seven days. Low temperature, open air fermentation. Like everything to honey will crash. Like. And so we went to go visit and we were just blown away. We were in the middle of nowhere and there's wild horses, Roma de campo and this wild harvested samiana. Like it. It was just very beautiful. And we were just like, hell yeah, there you go.
We wanted it. It's not. We, you know, like, yes, we have to pay bills and whatnot. Like this wasn't that like this was just for education of. Not all mezcals have to come from Oaxaca. Not all mezcals are espadine or quiches. Like these are. There's different species out there. There's different regions you can.
That can be. And this is again 2019. So now times have changed. Like people are getting more educated and there's more mezcal bars.
So. And even now like I. I was at one here in. In Dallas and they had one salmiana but all the entire shelf was all like espadine and all the other blends. Um, so for this, for us we were just like just bringing on something new. Different for the mezcal nerd. It's just different for the non mezcal drinker. It's more approachable because it's not a huge smoke bomb, but it's more briny olives and peppers and you're getting taste like influence from all the random plants surrounding the salmiana. So for us it's just like a really beautiful project for. And just education. Have you had it yet?
[00:48:50] Speaker A: No, and I have not had samiana. My. My favorite are toba laz and tepizates. Those are the two that always get me.
[00:48:58] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah.
[00:48:59] Speaker A: And I'm just. I'm a new nerd in mezcal Sotol. So tell me a little bit about the Soto. Where is it made at?
[00:49:07] Speaker B: So the sotol is a chihuahua in Mexico is the main reason why we got into tequila. So if you remember, we were talking about the land. We have 12 acres of land and Andrew de la Torre, my business partner, he was. He's. He still is. He is obsessed with so tall. And mainly just the fact that he is a hard worker and he wants to make something like himself. So we played around with the idea of having a siltol distillery on our land.
And I know like all the.
The arguments of like should it become from Mexico? Should not. And. And we wanted to do something that does not circumvent Mexico. So our, our first Soto is coming from Chihuahua, Mexico.
And it's just us. Like we want people to know it's not about cutting, cutting Mexico out of it. It's just we want to help educate people on Sotos. Like, I mean we. There was one pod like something on Instagram and it was some chef and he was just talking about like sotl and I was like, that's how you pronounced it.
And he's like what the hell is this sotl? And I was like, okay. Like, oh my gosh.
But anyways, it's just like we want just to help educate people of like an old, old Mexican spirit. And if we can convince one person to drink it, then I think we did our job.
But it's, it's just a really beautiful Mexican spirit from Dazilerium Dazzlerum Willery. And we, it's again wild harvested which is this plant is considered a nuisance to farmers. They. They literally just want people to take it.
And so yeah, we, that's how we came up with our Soto.
[00:50:55] Speaker A: I see a coastal racea in your future.
[00:51:00] Speaker B: We talked to Andrew. He definitely wants a racia. I. I am.
We've had some. Me and Dave had some in Mexico. Right. This trip or New Jersey, I don't know. But I get them all mixed up.
[00:51:12] Speaker C: I think, I think we got it together here in New Jersey, so.
[00:51:15] Speaker B: Oh yes. Yeah. But no, we, we love it. We just in it for us. Like we just want to do the this Mexican spirit category. Well. And so whatever we do, we just want to educate people on it and not think it's comes in a plastic box or a gold and it's like, you know, all these other. Or plastic bottle or you know, just kind of like how like the reason why I got into tacos and Mexican food here in Texas, I wanted to educate people that like tacos are not necessary tacos that you get at Taco Bell. And so like ours has cabbage on it, fresh onions, cilantro. Like and. And it's, it's not just lettuce and cheddar cheese and whatnot. So for us we just really want to do the category well and educate and open people's minds.
[00:52:03] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:52:04] Speaker A: I love that you have the other spirits with it because that what all wine drinkers want. The person that likes moscato to drink the world's driest wine. Right. So all of us tequila nerds want bourbon drinkers to start with an anejo but end up with a high proof blanco and.
But wait, you have to try this Salto and this us out.
[00:52:25] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:52:26] Speaker A: How do we turn you into all agave nerds? So, yeah, I think that's really cool.
[00:52:30] Speaker C: Did that. One thing, one thing that's really interesting when we do events and. And people try the spirits is. You know, I think this is just. I'm going to 100% credit to the founders is. Is everything that they've. They've brought in. It's. It's a.
It's a product that's representing something that's not being well represented in the US Market.
And like she said, there's so many mezcals out there, and there's different so Talls. There's so Talls made in the United States. There's all of these things. And. And. But everything we've brought in, it's. You know, we're. We're not from. Our tequila is not from a nom that's making 200 different products. It's. It's a little bit off the beaten path. They're not doing a ton of other stuff, and it's like, how do we showcase these incredible spirits that are just not getting the attention they deserve? It's like Salmiana from San Luis Potosi.
[00:53:22] Speaker B: It's.
[00:53:22] Speaker C: It's different. And a Chihuahuan, so tall. They're wonderful, authentic things. And you're talking about Racia. It's like, I think for us, it's like, if we're going to do it, it needs to be something that not everybody else is doing. It needs to be, you know, a. A liquid from a distillery that. That just really deserves the spotlight. And how can we use our platform to.
To raise them up? They're the ones that are doing the incredible stuff. We. We have, I would say, pretty packaging, and we're gonna go work our asses off to, you know, help to shout from the rooftops that it's great. But, you know, it's. It's. Are we bringing something to the US that somebody else isn't doing already?
You know, otherwise, you know, it's. We're just another company with, you know, with a random product. But it's like, we want new stuff that. That is. That really just deserves a spotlight.
[00:54:14] Speaker A: Very cool.
Okay. I love asking owners this question, because I'm sure each of your restaurants has kind of been a baby for you, right? Each thing you go and start is like your baby. So now you have this tequila, baby. If there was anybody in the world alive, dead famous, not famous, that you could sit down, take your favorite one, share A glass and talk about the story of how you got here and want to hear what they have to say about it. Who, who would that person you'd like to sit down with?
[00:54:47] Speaker B: Me? That would definitely be. Gosh, what can I use? Oh, what would be my grand. First thing that came to my head was my grandfather on my dad's side, Samuel Anselmo Castillo. And he is just a hard ass Mexican guy.
We're toupee towards the end of his life and like just he's a goofball but he always drank his Miller light and natural light. But then he also had some tequila.
But more what I remember as a kid was just like his beer. But yeah, I mean I, I probably got my, my alcohol palette or thirst from him as my dad said it was.
Yeah. But you know, we just like our, we like our alcohol.
It would be him to sit around the table and just like talk about this. I think he would be very proud.
[00:55:42] Speaker C: Awesome.
[00:55:43] Speaker A: So Dave, you're not an owner, but you're kind of in this building this brand. Who would you want to share it with?
[00:55:48] Speaker C: And I, I think I would want to do my, my grandfather also just like just showcase something that, that we've built and we brought to the world. Both of my, both my maternal and paternal grandparents, grandfathers are deceased and they were both entrepreneurs, they were both small business owners and they both built something from the ground up. And I think it would be so cool just to talk about us building this from the ground up and to contrast it with what they went through because they made a lot of sacrifices to set their families up for success. And it's just a lot of hard work.
And like Sarah's saying, we do our own activations. We put blood, sweat and tears into all of this.
And there's just nothing more rewarding than to go through all of that and than to sit with great people at the end of the night and pour a drink and just laugh. You know, one thing when Sarah was talking about naming it the Flea after the flea market, it's the reason it was named after the market is because it's a place where everybody gets together. It's something that brings everybody together and it's something that, you know, generations of people gather at the end of the day at that market after all the commerce is done. And they eat and they drink and they listen to music and they dance. And that's, that's the best part about alcohol is that it brings everybody together, a great drink together.
And you know, you're, you're all equal at the end of the day, covered in sweat, just rewarded from a hard day work. And you can just sit back and there's the catharsis of cracking the bottle and saying cheers and just being able to celebrate everything that you accomplished.
[00:57:25] Speaker A: Yeah, that's so true. And I'm glad that I get to sit down with great people and have great tequila all the time. So I appreciate you guys taking your time to do this with me tonight. What's your web address? Where. Where can people find you online?
[00:57:37] Speaker B: Www.laoga.com.
you can buy us at Sip Tequila offering our website. Where else?
[00:57:46] Speaker C: Dave Steel Box. Also online support your local liquor stores and retailers. If you're in one of this that we mentioned, they've been incredibly supportive to bring us in. Also follow us on Instagram, Instagram, lapulcaspirits. We're always doing cool stuff, posting where we're doing activations and lots of work with bartenders and mixologists showcasing just the incredible ways you can use agave spirit in mixology also, which is something we've. We've really been working to help elevate.
[00:58:19] Speaker A: Very cool. Is there anything that we missed in this interview that you wanted to cover?
[00:58:24] Speaker B: Oh, I don't think so. I mean, I just wanted to put emphasis on like, just the. The team. Like, and it's not just one person or one founder. One. Yeah. It's everyone from writing our social media to our photographer to it's all hands on deck and. But yeah, it's. It's been a really beautiful ride. But bumpy, but beautiful.
[00:58:48] Speaker C: Very cool.
[00:58:49] Speaker A: Well, I want to say cheers. I've got a teeny, teeny bit left in here.
Let's do a little salute. And thanks for coming on tonight, guys.
[00:58:57] Speaker B: Thank you. Appreciate it.
[00:58:59] Speaker A: Salud.
[00:58:59] Speaker B: For having us.
[00:59:00] Speaker C: For having us. This was, this was so much fun. And we can't thank people like you enough for giving us a platform to tell our story and hopefully just help build this incredible tequila up in the market. So thank you and thank you to your viewers for hanging in there with us. Yes.
