19Jul
Scarlet of TasteTequila.com to be guest host of live tequila show this week!
Have you ever wished there really was a bar where everyone knew your name and were always glad you came? Few of us have this in real life, but there is a special place where tequila lovers can gather (virtually) once a week, on the Tequila Whisperer show.
The Tequila Whisperer is a live online show hosted by Michael Lipman (aka Lippy), who tastes and critiques tequilas on the air, oozing tequila love while sharing his knowledge of the spirit. Lippy is fun to watch (see the little video promo that we created when he attended our “Drain The Bar” party earlier this year) and he has a tried and true audience of tequila lovers who trade information, opinions, salacious comments and fun-loving barbs in the rolling chat log.
Continue reading / watch video…
19Jul
Even if you are a regular tequila drinker, the first sip can sometimes be a shock to your mouth. It might bite and tingle a bit, and there’s no way you’re going to be able to detect the subtle flavors. It might take several sips before you start to really taste the tequila.
This is because you haven’t warmed up your mouth. That’s right — to do a proper tasting of tequilas you need to first activate your taste buds, palate and other taste sensors to get them accustomed to the unique flavors and sensations that tequila brings.
Sound crazy? I might have thought so a while back, but since I started working on being a better taster I’ve discovered that exercises like warming up your mouth really do matter. Fortunately, our friend David Yan, Marketing Director for Casa Noble Tequila in Mexico, knows how to conduct a tequila tasting the right way, and took me step-by-step through the process of warming up my mouth.
Continue reading / see the video…
16Jul
Dear Mezcal,
I don’t think we should see each other anymore.
Don’t get me wrong — I had great time with you in Mexico City the other weekend, but I woke up the next morning feeling a little remorseful, and dehydrated. It was kind of like that night I had a fling with Absinthe in Barcelona. I woke up without a drop of water left in my body and the sensation that I had turned into a giant Kafkaesque bug — all stiff limbs and joints. But I digress…
Continue reading…
11Jul
Calling all tequila lovers and tequila industry professionals! You won’t want to miss this year’s World International Tequila Conference (WITC), being held in Guadalajara, Mexico April 4th -7th.
The conference, which is held entirely in English, will feature sessions on the history and future of tequila production, brand building, marketing, tasting and how to build a successful tequila bar.
(Attendees of the 2009 World International Tequila Conference were treated to a rare tour of the CRT (the governing body of all that is tequila) including a presentation in the executive board room (pictured.) The 2010 conference will feature a return to the CRT, with a tour of the facilities, and a tasting on the roof of the building.)
Grover went last year and said that it was an amazing (and ridiculously fun) opportunity to network, learn and make connections. Attendees will be able to rub elbows with tequila legends, brand owners and other aficionados.
Other than the informational sessions, the agenda includes distillery tours in Tequila, multiple formal and informal tastings, and an opening party on the rooftop of the Tequila Regulatory Commission (CRT).
Grover and I will be there, of course, along with all of our tequila connections. You’d be loath to miss this opportunity to taste amazing tequilas, explore the Tequila region and make new friends.
Early bird registration is now open. Reserve your spot so we can all hang out in tequila heaven.
-Scarlet
05Jul
Have you ever gone tequila tasting with someone who has a great nose? They swirl their glass around, hold it to the light to checkout the “legs” and the “tears”, and then dive in with both nostrils. They smell from the bottom, middle and top of the glass and then maybe they switch to one nostril at a time.
“Butter, dried cherries, geraniums, olives and a little bit of acetone,” they say, putting their glass of tequila down, satisfied.
You sit smelling your tequila with a puzzled look on your face. “Geraniums?!” you think. “I would never have gotten that!”
That’s pretty much how I felt every day of my four-day, intensive tequila aromas and tasting class in Guadalajara last month. The class was amazing, taught by a “maestra tequilera” and professional catador (taster) named Ana Maria Romero Mena. (I’ve written about her earlier.)
Continue reading…
