We are Grover and Scarlet, tequila fans who just can’t seem to get enough of tequila. We live in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco. We are founders of the Tequila Matchmaker app and website. Want to know more?
I for one know how long Grover has been working on this project, and how much work he’s put into it, and I appreciate it. We need transparency in this industry, as we’ve been yelling for, but he has actually gone and done the leg work. Thank you Grover and Scarlet
While I love this app, the knowledge base and hard work envolved, I’m disappointed by a few reviews made by the owners. You say your not calling out or putting down a distillery who uses an additive but your reviews say the opposite. I think some brands who do not should. I think some that do make a marvelous product. It’s great to make a list of those who don’t use additives, but the bias of those who choose to makes me want to discontinue my use of this app and it’s vast knowledge base.
Hi Brian. Thanks for the feedback. It’s no secret that we personally don’t enjoy tequilas with obvious additives, and that this was the reason for us starting the project. But we don’t let our personal opinions get in the way of the process.
As we said in our announcement, there is a place in the market for additives. If their use was listed on the label, then we’d have no reason to this level of checking.
We love tequila. But if a tequila smells and tastes like vanilla cake batter, or bubble gum, we’re not going to rate it very highly because it no longer retains the agave that we so love.
There is room for us to have an opinion, yet remain objective in our confirmation process.
There is one sentence where Grover states there is nothing wrong with additives and if you like those by all means drink them. If you stopped using this site Brian, the truth is, you would be giving up the finest knowledge base of our beloved drink ever assembled. To Grover and Scarlet, 29 years ago I married my wife. At our wedding I had special Tequila flown up from Mexico to have a toast to my wife at the celebration as opposed to Champagne. Tequila has been my drink if choice now for 30 plus years and as a true Tequila aficionato I cannot begin to tell you how much I respect and appreciate what you have done and are doing. Thank you.
Felicidades por este trabajo y su pasión por qué los que nos gusta el tequila podamos disfrutar de un mejor producto. Mientras las normas se cumplan los mas beneficiados ademas de los consumidores, serán los fabricantes al contar con un producto mucho mejor identificado.
We are addressing “additives” in this article but what about brands that do not add additives to the tequila OR use any pesticides, fertilizers, or herbicides during the plant’s growing process? Are there any true organic tequilas that also do not use additives?
Good question. Just because a tequila states “organic” on the label, it doesn’t mean there aren’t additives. (They make organic and kosher additives!) Our program is solely focused on the additive part. Organic certification is beyond our scope.
I have admired Grover & Scarlett from afar for years. What a fantastic resource you have been for my TequilaSnobs’ business. I love the transparency you have brought to the industry. Thank-you. I do see it changing. I resentlly met a representative with a newish tequila and she flat out told me that they added a little vanilla to their blanco…Score! Yes, some are too much and too fake, but I tell my guests; sip what you like. It’s your glass. We just should know what else is in it, and you are making this a reality. Gracias.
I have admired Grover & Scarlett from afar for years. What a fantastic resource you have been for my TequilaSnobs’ business. I love the transparency you have brought to the industry. Thank-you. I do see it changing. I resentlly met a representative with a newish tequila and she flat out told me that they added a little vanilla to their blanco…Score! Yes, some are too much and too fake, but I tell my guests; sip what you like. It’s your glass. We just should know what else is in it, and you are making this a reality. Gracias.
Marking MIXTO on bottles should be duty. On a lot of MIXTO tequilas I can’t recognize MIXTO from labels/tags, only by knowledge. That’s wrong and
On bottles you can see only “100% agave”. All tequilas should be basically 100 %. On MIXTO should be written MIXTO because warning that “something is different that typical tequila”.
The industry doesn’t like the word “mixto” and you’ll be corrected if you say it in certain circles here in Mexico. They prefer the slightly confusing “Tequila” and “100% Agave Tequila” designations. In fact, the word “mixto” is not even allowed on labels. Will this ever change? Probably not.
Is there a place that you post the lab results for when you do request them? What is your metric for determining when a lab test would be necessary for a given sample?
We don’t do that, but the brands are free to post their results if they so choose. Usually, when we test samples, they reveal additives and confirm our suspicions. In this case brands wouldn’t ever want to release those publicly. In all cases thus far, the brands had no idea that their products contained additives, and we had to be the ones to deliver the bad news (and create an awkward situation between them and the distillery.)
Our metric for testing is if the distillery still / barrel sample does not match the final retail bottle. We are also performing random lab tests on products currently on the list to ensure nothing changes after our visit.
Interesting idea, but MSRP would be too difficult since it changes in each of the US States. Types of tequila could be done, but probably more useful in an advanced search area (which we are currently working on.)
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I for one know how long Grover has been working on this project, and how much work he’s put into it, and I appreciate it. We need transparency in this industry, as we’ve been yelling for, but he has actually gone and done the leg work. Thank you Grover and Scarlet
This looks like a tremendous amount of work has gone into it and it is so greatly needed in today’s agave world. Thank you so much for your efforts!
All I can say is this is an amazing thing you are doing. So glad I found this!
While I love this app, the knowledge base and hard work envolved, I’m disappointed by a few reviews made by the owners. You say your not calling out or putting down a distillery who uses an additive but your reviews say the opposite. I think some brands who do not should. I think some that do make a marvelous product. It’s great to make a list of those who don’t use additives, but the bias of those who choose to makes me want to discontinue my use of this app and it’s vast knowledge base.
Hi Brian. Thanks for the feedback. It’s no secret that we personally don’t enjoy tequilas with obvious additives, and that this was the reason for us starting the project. But we don’t let our personal opinions get in the way of the process.
As we said in our announcement, there is a place in the market for additives. If their use was listed on the label, then we’d have no reason to this level of checking.
We love tequila. But if a tequila smells and tastes like vanilla cake batter, or bubble gum, we’re not going to rate it very highly because it no longer retains the agave that we so love.
There is room for us to have an opinion, yet remain objective in our confirmation process.
There is one sentence where Grover states there is nothing wrong with additives and if you like those by all means drink them. If you stopped using this site Brian, the truth is, you would be giving up the finest knowledge base of our beloved drink ever assembled. To Grover and Scarlet, 29 years ago I married my wife. At our wedding I had special Tequila flown up from Mexico to have a toast to my wife at the celebration as opposed to Champagne. Tequila has been my drink if choice now for 30 plus years and as a true Tequila aficionato I cannot begin to tell you how much I respect and appreciate what you have done and are doing. Thank you.
Felicidades por este trabajo y su pasión por qué los que nos gusta el tequila podamos disfrutar de un mejor producto. Mientras las normas se cumplan los mas beneficiados ademas de los consumidores, serán los fabricantes al contar con un producto mucho mejor identificado.
We are addressing “additives” in this article but what about brands that do not add additives to the tequila OR use any pesticides, fertilizers, or herbicides during the plant’s growing process? Are there any true organic tequilas that also do not use additives?
Good question. Just because a tequila states “organic” on the label, it doesn’t mean there aren’t additives. (They make organic and kosher additives!) Our program is solely focused on the additive part. Organic certification is beyond our scope.
However, here’s a list of confirmed additive-free tequilas that are also organic certified:
https://www.tequilamatchmaker.com/tequilas?q=&hPP=30&idx=BaseProduct&p=0&fR%5Bother%5D%5B0%5D=No%20additives&fR%5Bother%5D%5B1%5D=Organic
I have admired Grover & Scarlett from afar for years. What a fantastic resource you have been for my TequilaSnobs’ business. I love the transparency you have brought to the industry. Thank-you. I do see it changing. I resentlly met a representative with a newish tequila and she flat out told me that they added a little vanilla to their blanco…Score! Yes, some are too much and too fake, but I tell my guests; sip what you like. It’s your glass. We just should know what else is in it, and you are making this a reality. Gracias.
I have admired Grover & Scarlett from afar for years. What a fantastic resource you have been for my TequilaSnobs’ business. I love the transparency you have brought to the industry. Thank-you. I do see it changing. I resentlly met a representative with a newish tequila and she flat out told me that they added a little vanilla to their blanco…Score! Yes, some are too much and too fake, but I tell my guests; sip what you like. It’s your glass. We just should know what else is in it, and you are making this a reality. Gracias.
Marking MIXTO on bottles should be duty. On a lot of MIXTO tequilas I can’t recognize MIXTO from labels/tags, only by knowledge. That’s wrong and
On bottles you can see only “100% agave”. All tequilas should be basically 100 %. On MIXTO should be written MIXTO because warning that “something is different that typical tequila”.
The industry doesn’t like the word “mixto” and you’ll be corrected if you say it in certain circles here in Mexico. They prefer the slightly confusing “Tequila” and “100% Agave Tequila” designations. In fact, the word “mixto” is not even allowed on labels. Will this ever change? Probably not.
Is there something to join? To become a member of the Alliance?
Is there a place that you post the lab results for when you do request them? What is your metric for determining when a lab test would be necessary for a given sample?
We don’t do that, but the brands are free to post their results if they so choose. Usually, when we test samples, they reveal additives and confirm our suspicions. In this case brands wouldn’t ever want to release those publicly. In all cases thus far, the brands had no idea that their products contained additives, and we had to be the ones to deliver the bad news (and create an awkward situation between them and the distillery.)
Our metric for testing is if the distillery still / barrel sample does not match the final retail bottle. We are also performing random lab tests on products currently on the list to ensure nothing changes after our visit.
Thank you for your excellent list!
Have you considered adding more filters to your list such as types of tequila and MSRP?
Interesting idea, but MSRP would be too difficult since it changes in each of the US States. Types of tequila could be done, but probably more useful in an advanced search area (which we are currently working on.)
This is such amazing work. Thank you for what you’re doing.