Frequently Asked Questions
1) How do I reset my password?
You can reset your password directly from within the app, or, you can use our simple web-based password reset tool.
2) Who created the Agave Matchmaker app?
We did! We are Grover and Scarlet, and we are the people behind the original TasteTequila.com website, dedicated to our love of tequila! Our site has been around for several years, and we’ve learned a lot in that time. (We even moved to Mexico for 8 years just so we could study tequila at the source!) Those experiences are what we used to create the Agave Matchmaker app.
2a) Why did you create this app?
We initially wanted to create a tool that would help us keep track of our tasting notes. We both have different preferences when it comes to tequila, and with 3,794 (and counting) tequila brands in the market, we needed a way to easily store and access our tasting notes. So, we built this app to help us (and others) keep track of what we were tasting.
3) How did you come up with the rating system used in this app?
Great question! This was the most challenging part of the process, and it started a full 2-years before we released the app. This was one of the main reasons we moved to Mexico – so we could learn from industry experts. The rating process we are using in the app is a blend: Part of it comes from the “official” tequila evaluation techniques used by professional tasters (catadors) in Mexico. This is worth 80% of the total point score.
The other 20% comes from what we like to call “real-world social metrics,” which are the important non-flavor questions asked by consumers (a.k.a. “real people”), that never show up in any other ratings system. These are questions that people ask every day, such as, “Would you recommend this to a friend?,” and “Would you buy/drink this again?,” and “Is this worth the price you paid for it?” If a person tells you that they’d re-buy a bottle if they ran out of it, wouldn’t that mean something to you?
We thought it was important to include these factors into the rating system.
4) What do the points in my ratings really mean?
The points that you score a product only indicate what you personally think of it, and are used to track which flavor profiles you prefer. If you score a product low, that does not mean that it is “bad” – it just means that this particular product is not right for you.
It’s important to remember that there are many different agave spirits in the world, and each has its own unique flavor profile. Agave Spirits, like wine, are very complex products, and profiles can vary tremendously.
We use your overall score, as well as the individual scores you assign to various attributes of a product, to match you with others that you may enjoy. For example, if you like an agave spirit that has intense wood notes and a long finish, we can look for others with those qualities.
5) Where do you get your data?
It depends on what data you’re talking about. We get some information on brands and distilleries from regulators in Mexico. We also get brand-specific information from the TTB in the USA, and brand and distillery owners themselves.
But most of the other data comes from users like you. For example, the names and locations of bars, restaurants, and retailers that specialize in agave spirits are sent to us by our users. Many times our members will even send us pictures of the selection at their favorite bar or retail store so we can add their inventory to the list. Sometimes a brand will send us a list of all the places that sell their product, and sometimes a restaurant will send us their agave spirits menu.
We manage the database as best we can, and encourage people to share what they’re finding out there so everyone can benefit. If you see anything that should be added, edited, or removed, please let us know!
6) How can brands and/or products be added to your database?
If a particular brand is not listed, please send us an email and we will add it right away. We’ve been able to establish a pretty long list of known brands, but we know we don’t have every brand that’s ever been created.
If a brand is listed, but a specific product is not, you can add it yourself directly through the app. When you do this, we will see that you’ve added a product to your own personal area, and we will consider adding it to the full database.
If you want us to add a brand or a specific product, please contact us directly with a request. When doing this, please remember to give us all the information that we need, such as:
-
– The name of the brand
– The name of the product
– The type of product it is (blanco, reposado, añejo, etc.)
– The NOM printed on the bottle, if it has one (a 4-digit identifier for tequila, a combination of numbers and letters for mezcal)
– Any production process information that you may be able to share
– A photo of the bottle, on a white background, as large as possible in high resolution
We are doing our best to keep our database up-to-date and accurate, and will accept all the help we can get!
6b) What are “Premium Brand Partners,” and how can a brand be included in that list?
These are brands who support the Agave Matchmaker app. This is an invitation-only group of high-quality brands that have earned our respect. There is no payment required by brands to be listed here. This support can come in a variety of ways, including:
-
– Supplying complete and truthful information about the brand and production processes used
– Fully supporting the objectives and independence that are the foundation of the app
– Providing education and research essential to the construction of the app
– Helping to spread the word about the app though marketing, email, and word-of-mouth
– Sharing useful data about worthwhile agave-friendly establishments around the world
– Contributing to the success of the app through participation on our Board of Advisors
– or any combination of the items above.
7) How can a bar, restaurant, or retailer be added to your database?
To add a “agave establishment” to our database, you should contact us with the name of the business, type (bar, restaurant, retailer), and where it is located. We are very selective about the places we list because we want our users to have the best possible experience. When we receive suggestions, we do some checking on our own to see if it is worthy of adding.
If you found a great spot, and want to share it with the rest of the Agave Matchmaker community, please let us know. Take a photo of the store shelf, menu, or bar and email it to us! We LOVE when people do that!
8) What devices will the Agave Matchmaker app work on?
The current version supports all Android and iOS (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) devices.
9) Where do your news items come from?
Over the years we’ve made friends with a lot of great people in the agave community. Many of them are rich sources of information and entertainment. We keep an eye on them all and add their stories, videos, blog posts, and interesting links to our news feed. The only place you can get this feed is from within the app itself.
10) What is “Fingerprinting”?
If you want to get REALLY nerdy about it, you can choose to “fingerprint” a product. This is mainly used by really dedicated fans, and it allows them (and you, if you wish) to describe what you’re smelling and tasting in a particular product. This helps us to describe the flavors, aromas and sensations involved when tasting a specific sample – and is a big component to our matching algorithm.
It’s important to understand the differences between “Rating” and “Fingerprinting” a product. Rating is a subjective process that’s all about your own personal preferences. Do you like it, or not? “Fingerprinting” is just the opposite. It’s a process of describing, objectively, what the it smells like, tastes like, and feels like in your mouth.
11) Will the Agave Matchmaker app work if I don’t have an Internet connection?
The matching algorithm happens on our servers, and in order to be matched, you’ll need to connect to the Internet.
There are other features within the app that require an Internet connection, like asking the app to display the menu of a bar or restaurant, or using the GPS location services to locate a particular product nearest you. We try to maintain a balance so that if/when you have a less than solid network connection, the app can still be functional.
To log in, you will need an account, and you will need to log into the system for the first time. This initial process requires an active Internet connection. An account is necessary because we need to store your ratings, “likes,” and preferences on our servers so that we can provide matching for you.
12) What is your privacy policy?
Our Privacy Policy is online, available for you to read if you wish. But here’s the gist of it: We won’t share your email address or any personally identifiable information to anyone for any reason. We may, at some point in the future, use your data to generate interesting reports on trends, popular flavor profiles, or anything else that may be of interest to the community – but we will never reveal any personal information about you.
13) How does your tequila matching algorithm actually work?
We spent a great deal of time coming up with the recipe for our proprietary algorithm, and were able to identify 9 different components to the formula.
During our 8 years living full-time in Mexico, we studied under some very talented people in the industry. These people directly, and indirectly, helped us to perfect the algorithm.
We analyze all the ratings in our system to give us one point of reference. We also evaluate the aroma and flavor profile structure for each product that our users enter into the system.
The rest needs to remain a secret. :-)
14) Who are the members of the “Tasting Panel”?
There are certain members of our community who are members of the “Agave Matchmaker Tasting Panel.” These are people who are passionate about agave spirits and have a solid understanding of how to properly evaluate them, along with a full understanding of our rating and profiling system.
But one thing is for sure – we believe that becoming an “expert” in agave spirits is a life-long pursuit. We do not consider ourselves “industry experts,” and we’re not giving ourselves some imaginary authority to assign that label at our choosing. We are just passionate fans with some industry training. We expect our learning and growing will continue for life.
If you are interested in becoming a member of the Tasting Panel, you should start by installing the app and rating and profiling at least 50 tequilas. After you’ve done so, please feel free to contact us and introduce yourself. We’d love to talk to you about it. (It is also entirely possible that we may contact you first when we see that you are taking the time to create complete and informative ratings. We pay attention to this kind of activity.)
15) What if I have feedback or questions about the Agave Matchmaker app?
If you have a technical support questions, comments, feedback, or suggestions you can send them to us using the contact form found at TasteTequila.com.