Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Here's a question for you. What does cybersecurity, sake yeast tequila, and Sergio Cruz all have in common? This tequila right here. And today we're going to interview the owner, Dhiraj Nadu, and he's going to talk about how this tequila came to life and how sake yeast became a part of Ramare Tequila. So stick around. This one you're going to love. It's tasting tequila with bread.
All right, guys, we have a great one tonight, and we've been trying to get this on the calendar for quite a while. We've got Dhiraj Nadu, the owner of Ramari Tequila, and I am so excited to talk to you and learn about the story. How you doing tonight?
[00:00:45] Speaker B: Hey, Brad. How you doing? Thank you so much for having me on the show.
[00:00:49] Speaker A: I'm excited. I mean, we've been trying to get this done for, what, two months now? Our calendars are so crazy. So tell me a little bit about yourself and how did you get into the tequila world? And while you do that, I'm going to pour a little bit of this amazing blanco. Yes.
[00:01:04] Speaker B: So our journey started back in.
Back during COVID That's when we started to drink a lot of tequila because we had nothing else better to do. And then we started to get into all the good tequila, and we had a lot of bad tequila as well. And then during COVID we were stuck with our county liquor store. And then back in Covid, you couldn't drive that far.
You didn't want to risk yourself with a COVID infection.
So you were like, you know, I'm fine with whatever I can get at my county store.
So. And then one fine day, we were like, you know, we can probably make a better tequila than what the county has. And then it would be nice for our friends and neighbors to be able to go to the store, get a nice bottle of tequila at an affordable price. So that's been our story all along, is to bring a nice premium tequila brand to our local market at the affordable price point.
[00:02:09] Speaker A: Now, your local market is in Maryland, correct?
[00:02:12] Speaker B: Maryland, yes, sir.
[00:02:13] Speaker A: And what part of Maryland are you in?
[00:02:15] Speaker B: I'm in. We are in Montgomery County. It's.
It's within the DMV area. We are very close to D.C. and Virginia.
[00:02:24] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:02:25] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:02:26] Speaker A: Very nice. And so can I get Ramari Tequila everywhere I go in Maryland now?
[00:02:32] Speaker B: Not quite. We are predominantly in Montgomery County. We are online. You can visit a bottle online. And then we are also in a few liquor stores in Maryland outside the Mongor Bay county region.
[00:02:47] Speaker A: So what do you do for a living. That lends you the ability to jump into the tequila business.
[00:02:53] Speaker B: So this started out more as a passion project than anything else. I'm a full time cyber security professional. I do digital forensics as that's the main bread and butter right now.
But this started out as a passion project and, and let's see where this takes us.
[00:03:15] Speaker A: You know, passion projects in tequila are fantastic because you know, this is my passion project as well. You know, I do this as fun. I'm a mortgage guy for a job and like you now as a passion, I get to drink great tequila. And I appreciate you sending me these bottles to taste.
[00:03:32] Speaker B: Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, there so many great tequilas out there that very less, very few, I should say actually make it to the east coast.
[00:03:45] Speaker A: Well, you must live in the same tequila desert that I do in Indiana because there's not a lot of great tequilas.
We have to use sip.com and off premise a lot to be able to get great tequilas. So I, I, I feel your pain.
Yes.
So what was the process like to get, get started and pick a distillery to make your tequila?
[00:04:09] Speaker B: So for us being completely not from the tequila industry or liquor per se.
Right. We had to do a lot of research and I'm a huge Reddit guy and I do, I started reading tech tequila blogs and every now and then I get the name Sergio Cruz and NOM 1414.
That kind of stuck in my mind.
And in August 2023, me and me and my wife, we took our first trip to Mexico to especially for tequila.
You know, we visited various business models within the tequila space.
And then our last trip, last stop on the trip was non 1414. And as soon as we entered and we met everybody there, we felt right at home. And when we were exiting the distillery, I, I told my wife, I think we found our second home.
[00:05:17] Speaker A: Yeah, they have this amazing ability to make you feel so welcome as soon as you get there.
[00:05:24] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:05:25] Speaker A: From Sergio and Cesar Babanka to Juan Carlos. And then of course, Sergio Cruz has become a fast friend for me. He's such a great guy and he's so knowledgeable and he's so much fun. And if I just had one tenth of his energy, I probably would never have to sleep. He's incredible.
[00:05:47] Speaker B: No, they are amazing people. Everybody that works in the distillery, the Vivancos, Sergio Cruz, his wife, you know, Araceli and also like Cesar Oscar, everybody.
Just amazing people.
[00:06:06] Speaker A: Yeah, Cesar and Oscar are just so fun. They take such good care of everybody that comes and they're so awesome to be around.
So what was the process like in choosing the profile that you wound up with?
And how did you end up picking the use of a sake yeast in your production?
[00:06:25] Speaker B: So we have been tasting different tequilas at the Vivancos since February of 2024. In.
We went there in September of 2024 and then Sergio was like, hey, I'm working on this experiment to try using saki yeast.
And I made a small batch.
I want you to tell me how you like it.
As soon as we had it, we were just blown away. The nose was amazing. You were getting a lot of floral, lot of citrus notes, you know, and it was not very overpowering. It was subtle. I think the sake yeast does that magic, you know. And then.
And then from there, we started to get more nose on the product and getting. Because when you drink it, the nose is very nice. You know, it's soft, it has a lot of floral, a lot of citrus, a lot of tropical fruits, you know. And the finish also very sharp, but very crisp and clean.
So. And then finally in January, we distill our first batch. And that. That's what you drink in the bottle right now.
[00:07:50] Speaker A: It also has a. And. And I'm drinking the blanco. And as a blanco, the finish has a nice creaminess to it.
To me is different than any of the other yeasts that come out of 1414. And I got the pleasure to. To drink through some they. All the ones I had were still strength and we, you know, chose the ones that we liked the most. And then. Then Sergio told us what they were. And one I liked the most was the. The sake yeast.
The floral and citrus element are amazing.
It took away some of them in 1440. Have a strong cinnamon finish where this one doesn't have the cinnamon finish, it has a creamy finish that I can't ever put my finger on the flavor, but creamy is like the only word. Like a buttery creamy.
[00:08:41] Speaker B: It starts and it ends.
[00:08:43] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:43] Speaker B: And stay for a long time. But yeah, very amazing flavor profile.
[00:08:50] Speaker A: Yeah, I think it's really great. And then. So then you did the repo. How long did you age your repo for?
[00:08:56] Speaker B: The repo was aged a little under seven months. Like a few days short.
[00:09:02] Speaker A: And you do American white oak?
[00:09:03] Speaker B: Yes, yes. They're all ex bourbon barrels.
We actually chose like six different ex bourbon barrel brands. You know, we used like Russell's Reserve, Wild Turkey, Then we used Village Rye barrels.
There is a Virginia distillery called Smith Bowman. We used their barrels then 1792.
And then we also Used a couple of the ex bourbon, ex maple syrup barrels.
And so these are a blend of all six at different proportions.
[00:09:44] Speaker A: See, you say that. And when I tasted through the repo the first time, one of my notes was maple. I couldn't figure out where that was coming from. And it's not. It's not, like, really strong. It's a really light, no maple note. So that's. That's very cool. I did not know that, but I picked that.
[00:10:02] Speaker B: Before we started to drink tequila, we used to love drinking bourbon.
And then when it was time for barrel picking, it was just like. I went crazy. I was like, I love this bread. I love this brand. I love this bread. Because, you know, every bourbon has a certain notes that are predominant within the liquid itself.
So the remari reposado has all of the barrel notes you're looking for, but it's very subtle.
Yeah.
[00:10:35] Speaker A: You keep the agave up front. You. You pick up the blanco in your repo, which is what I like. You know, when I'm drinking a repo, I'm. I'm probably more of a blanco person to start drinking during the. During the evening, and then I'll end it on a repo or an anejo or an extra anejo. And I want that dessert type finish, if you will, in my evening. And I really enjoy your repo. It's really good. Is there an anejo in the future?
[00:11:02] Speaker B: So we started a barrel aging program back in July of 2025.
So we. We already had the ex bourbon barrels. We also bought a few of the French cognac barrels.
[00:11:17] Speaker A: Mm.
[00:11:18] Speaker B: And also there is a French virgin island called Martinique, so. And they make agricult rum from sugarcane juice instead of molasses.
So we got a few of their barrels. So.
And if you see tekelau made using sake, yeast has never been done before.
So everything we are doing right now is to trying to find that sweet spot, trying to experiment a lot.
[00:11:48] Speaker A: That's happening so much at 14. 14.
You are with the best guy to be able to bring an idea to. And Sergio bring that idea to life. That is so exciting. That's so cool that you're doing that.
[00:12:02] Speaker B: We are very fortunate to have him as our master distiller.
[00:12:06] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:12:08] Speaker B: He's such a fun guy. And every time we go, we just have a ball.
[00:12:13] Speaker A: Yeah, it's.
He's hard to keep up with, though. I have to bring extra Red Bull when I come hang out.
So when do you think you'll have an anejo on the market.
[00:12:23] Speaker B: So Anejo, as far as my knowledge goes, any host sweet spot is around 18 months. So I'm thinking next Christmas.
[00:12:35] Speaker A: Very cool.
So let's, let's dive deep, back a couple steps. Yes, sir. Everybody's name has a lot of meaning. So what does the name mean and how did you pick the name for your.
[00:12:49] Speaker B: So for us, remarri means a beautiful, beautiful dream. So hence the tagline of beautiful dream in every sip.
[00:12:58] Speaker A: Very cool.
And were you able to get that name like right off the bat? Was that your first name choice?
[00:13:03] Speaker B: No, we actually had another brand that we started doing trademark and then our lawyer was like, there, there, there is already a brand, but maybe Mexico and there could be import export issues with the same brand.
So and then we started to look and then we, we found this and we were like, you know, it's just be, be, be beautiful. You know, whatever happens, happens for a reason.
So, you know. And also I'm from India and if you write rimadi in Hindi, it's a palindrome.
It's right to left, it spells the same.
[00:13:46] Speaker A: Oh, very cool. See, so it's all supposed to work out. I, I asked that question because so many times I'm talking to a brand owner and they're like, this was our seventh choice. You know, like they go through all of these names to get there and people at home that aren't in the tequila business think that, you know, you pick a name and that's the name you get. But so many times somebody else has that name or trademarked it. It's a lot more difficult than what people think.
[00:14:11] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:14:13] Speaker A: So how did you put together the packaging? Because you do have a. It's a beautiful bottle. It's a beautiful label.
[00:14:18] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:14:19] Speaker A: I love the way you've written it out. So how did this packaging come come about?
[00:14:23] Speaker B: We worked with the branding team in Guadalajara, Nimbus Priya.
So they helped with the packaging, they took all our ideas and then they magically made the label.
So if you look at the bottle, right, we have this little design there.
It's actually inspired by the Japanese pattern art.
You know, they're supposed to mean like wave pattern, but use the, our logo in the pattern itself.
So for, for the. In Japan, in Japanese culture, it means the sea is quiet, calm, but at the same time it's meant to resemble that strength.
Yes. The cap label. Right.
If you look, there are little blocks within the label itself.
These are all meant to resemble the tiles you see in the casitas in Mexico.
But this is our modern take using geometric designs and then every person. Because remari means a beautiful dream, and people dream a lot of different types of dreams. So each color represents a certain type of dream.
[00:15:49] Speaker A: Love it. That is very cool.
Which one is the I am working all night long dream? Because that's the one that I always have.
[00:15:59] Speaker B: That's the memory color.
[00:16:01] Speaker A: That's that one down there.
[00:16:04] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:16:05] Speaker A: There's something about when you go to bed and you work all night long, and then you wake up and you think, okay, did I just do a whole extra day's work? I still do that after all of these years. So sometimes the tequila helps me not do that as much.
So what was the thing that kind of surprised you the most or the thing that you didn't expect to happen in starting your Tequila brand?
[00:16:29] Speaker B: Every day is a learning curve for us, you know, so every day they learn something new in the industry or within the. The retail business of it, the wholesale business of it.
Every state has different rules.
In Maryland, we live in Montgomery County.
Montgomery county is the only county in the US that has its own liquor stores.
[00:16:58] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:16:59] Speaker B: So there are 51 liquor boards in us, which includes the Montgomery County.
[00:17:05] Speaker A: So it's like state controlled, but it's county controlled.
[00:17:09] Speaker B: Yes. Okay, you have a state liquor board, then you have a county liquor board.
So there's 51 in the US if you come that way and you.
[00:17:20] Speaker A: You got lucky enough to get one of those.
[00:17:23] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:17:26] Speaker A: So what has been the thing that's been the most rewarding thing so far as you started doing?
[00:17:30] Speaker B: It's the most rewarding is when we go for tastings.
It's the expression on people's face. Because whenever I. When we do tastings, right, Whenever I like, we ask the customers, hey, would you like to try our blanco? It automatically takes them to their college days.
You know, those heavy nights, the headaches the next day. Mornings they were like, oh, I don't want to drink that blanco. I was like, then we tried to explain then, hey, this is a completely additive free product, very clean product, and very unique in the sense it's made using sakis and very, very good products, you know, and that.
[00:18:17] Speaker A: That probably blows them away because it's not what they're expecting.
[00:18:19] Speaker B: Once they drink it, they. They are amazed, saying, no, no, this doesn't drink like any tequila I've ever tasted.
Yeah. So that's the most rewarding. And then when I get messages on Instagram saying that, hey, we bought this bottle, we loved it. Now it's a staple in Our home.
And everybody who comes, they love it too.
So just knowing that your product is being loved is the most rewarding. You know, all your hard work is slowly paid off now.
[00:18:54] Speaker A: That's very cool. Well, I will say your hard work here has paid off. One of my friends who is a local distributor here in Indiana has tasted your tequila and is absolutely in love with it. And I know that I think you guys may have talked already. If not, Dave is reaching out to you because he would love to potentially bring your brand on in Indiana. And he knows I'm excited about it. He's excited about it. So it makes.
Yeah, so it is a fantastic product. It's very easy to drink. It has a lot of flavors. And if you haven't had this tequila with a sake yeast, it's definitely something to try because it is, it is pretty amazing. It really is. You guys did a, a bang up job and it's so fortunate that you wound up where you did to get this started.
[00:19:42] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:19:43] Speaker A: So let me ask you this question, because a lot of people ask me this question and I don't know the answer.
What does it take to start a brand? Like, if somebody's wanting to wake up one day and start a tequila brand, what, what is their process? What, what would you recommend?
[00:19:59] Speaker B: That they do a lot of research identifying the distillery that you can work with, you know, and also for us, a tequila being additive free was one of the key points, you know, and we trying to identify that distillery that only makes additive free was the biggest challenge, you know, and also you need to have the capital because right now There are about 3,500 plus brands within the tequila space.
So every. And there are only X number of distilleries and everybody is busy.
[00:20:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:20:46] Speaker B: You know, so trying to find that distillery that believes in you as well as you believe in them is the key. Because without that relationship, whatever product you bring to market might work, might not work.
But deep within you, you know that, hey, my product is good, or hey, my, my product is bad.
You know, bringing a clean product was very important to us.
[00:21:15] Speaker A: So what's been the, the hardest part? After you had the tequila done and it's in your market, has it been a struggle to get liquor to lips as they talk about?
[00:21:27] Speaker B: So for us, because we are a new brand, it's difficult for big distributors or any distributors to take a chance on you.
So right now what we are focusing on is to focus on our home market and trying to expand within the home market, both on premise and off.
So we Are talking to a lot of restaurants.
What we have seen is because of sake yeast being used, a lot of Japanese steak places and restaurants are interested because every.
There. Because they have customers who are asking for good tequila as well.
[00:22:16] Speaker A: Yeah, I didn't. I didn't think of that connection. I think every time I go to a Japanese restaurant, I'm not a sake guy and I don't want the tequila they have on their shelf. And what a great sell to be able to go and show something that kind of connects to a homeland, if you will. Right. And that's something easy to explain in a Japanese restaurant.
[00:22:41] Speaker B: The best part is the blanco doesn't linger for a very long time, so you don't need to chase it or that Some. Some. Some. Something else to. To remove that aftertaste.
[00:22:56] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:22:57] Speaker B: You know.
[00:22:57] Speaker A: So are you personally doing a lot of, like, in store tastings and in restaurant tastings to put it out there? Do you have a team? Me, Me.
[00:23:05] Speaker B: Me and my wife, Runda. We both are at it on the weekends. That's all we do these days.
[00:23:12] Speaker A: So how much fun is it explaining the tequila process, the process of manufacturing.
[00:23:19] Speaker B: Tequila to the people who are tasting the product?
Oh, they. They are very interested that it's more like a inquisitiveness, you know, so they love. They were. They're the most amazing thing. They don't know that the agave takes at least six years to mature.
You know, this is the only spirit in the whole world where. From sowing the seed or planting it to harvest takes such a long time.
[00:23:56] Speaker A: Yeah. People have no idea. And I think in the tequila space.
Well, I'll say the agave space, because it's like that in, you know, raisia and bacanora and mezcal. When you're explaining those processes, people. People are. Are blown away by that.
And if it's explained in the right way in a tasting, you can really romanticize that. And people get behind it, and then they want to take that bottle home and explain that to other people. So that's good that you're out there doing that. That's pretty cool.
[00:24:24] Speaker B: I mean, major part is customer education.
[00:24:31] Speaker A: Right.
[00:24:32] Speaker B: You don't know what you don't know.
[00:24:34] Speaker A: Right.
[00:24:36] Speaker B: So that is more on us as a brand to educate customers.
Showing them, hey, tequila can be this nice, beautiful thing where you don't need a line of salt.
You can easily sip it.
[00:24:55] Speaker A: So for those new people that are thinking about starting a brand, what they may not have heard you say is you don't just start a Tequila brand. And an importer says, hey, I'll import it for you. And then a distributor goes, hey, I got you in all the states, and all the liquor stores are sharing it and selling it for you. That's not how it works.
[00:25:16] Speaker B: Is it in a dream? Yes.
In a future tense? Yes.
[00:25:23] Speaker A: It'd be great if it worked that way. But, you know, I know so many brand owners that spend as much time in a store, you know, helping that. That liquor store move that product, or in a restaurant, you know, doing pairings and tastings, and that's the part that people don't see.
So I. I know how much work it is. So I appreciate you doing that work and bringing a passion project to.
To. To people and work as hard at it as you have to. That's pretty incredible.
[00:25:51] Speaker B: Yeah, it's been fun. And every day that you learn something new, it's like, oh, I didn't know that.
[00:25:59] Speaker A: Yeah, I wish I would have known that earlier. Right.
[00:26:02] Speaker B: I can also do it this way. Okay, I'll remember that for next time.
[00:26:07] Speaker A: Exactly.
So where do you see your product going? Are you trying to do, like, the full nationwide thing like some people are? Are you trying to just grow it slowly in small markets?
[00:26:21] Speaker B: No, we try to grow it slowly in small markets right now because we, as a brand want to invest in that market.
We don't want to just sell and leave.
Because even the situation on ground is liquor stores will only believe in you if they have recurring sales. Right. If don't have the recurring sales, then the bottle is just going to sit on shelf and they'll have to take a hit.
[00:26:56] Speaker A: Yeah, the first sale isn't the hardest one. It's the second sale that is the hardest one. And I. I can see that from a consumer and a tequila aficionado that I. I buy a tequila and then I go to the liquor store, and there's this new one that I've never heard of, and I get to taste it. So now what I may have came in there for ends up not getting bought, because I buy the new and that I taste. And to have somebody taste yours and then walk past that desk and go pick your bottle back up, that's. That's sometimes the hardest sell. But I can see where you're going to shine through in the market, for sure.
[00:27:35] Speaker B: In one of our tastings, we had a customer who came in looking for scotch, and then he tasted the reposado. It was like, oh, this is so good. I'll buy it. Then he went to look for scotch. Then he came back, they were like, I'm not going to buy scotch today. Others buy your blanco too.
[00:27:54] Speaker A: That's the way you get a win right there. That's awesome.
Okay, so I always ask this question to brands because I like to hear the answer, and sometimes this is always the emotional questions that I get sometimes. So if you are able to sit down and share your tequila with anybody ever, history, alive, dead, family, famous, whoever, who would you like to sit down with the most and kind of tell this little tequila journey story and share your tequila with?
[00:28:31] Speaker B: That's a tricky question.
[00:28:34] Speaker A: It's supposed to be.
[00:28:35] Speaker B: Yes.
I think for, for me, the only important people that mean anything to me are my family and friends.
You know, if I can sit with them and drink a glass, I don't really care for anybody else.
You know that they know my story, they know my struggles. You know, they. They came, sat with me, had a glass. We share laughter, we share stories.
You know, there is nothing and nothing can beat that.
[00:29:12] Speaker A: Yeah, that, that close family friend connection is. That's the most important thing to me too. So I appreciate that for sure.
So anything up and coming new, like maybe a high proof or anything like that in the, in the.
[00:29:27] Speaker B: Now, many people have asked that, but for a new brand, high proof is not the route I want to go, at least at this point of time.
[00:29:39] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:29:40] Speaker B: I want to establish remarri as a brand in the market first before high proof comes into being.
Just introducing high proof, it's going to be hard to sell, you know, it's going to be hard to sell to the customer because customer only buys high proof if they like your base product.
[00:30:07] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree. I, I think high proofs are a lot for us aficionados that we like a product. And now I want, I want to taste it from the still.
And I, I totally agree with you. Having your base built first and having that reoccurring customer is who you introduce that to. So there's just so many things that keep coming out today. I have to ask those questions because then people say you didn't ask them about a high proof.
Well, I really appreciate everything that you sent the bottles. These glasses are amazing with your logos in the bottom of them and your shirts. I love it. This color is my, my wife's favorite color on me, so it's really good.
So I, I just want to say thanks. Thanks for taking your time to do this with me tonight. I know you're busy, and to sit and talk with some goofy guy on the Internet's not always what somebody's stoked about. So I appreciate you taking the time.
And if you have a glass, I'd like to give a. Give a sayulita.
[00:31:06] Speaker B: Let me pour.
[00:31:07] Speaker A: Are you pouring blanco or repo?
[00:31:09] Speaker B: Repo.
Repo.
And I'd also like to give a shout out to the whole Vivanco family and Sergio Cruz and also tasting tequila with bread for giving us this opportunity to come on your show and then talk about Ramari salute.
[00:31:36] Speaker A: Anytime.
So good.
[00:31:44] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:31:45] Speaker A: Thank you.
All right. That was a perfect ending.
