Shots to sips: the evolution of Tequila

By Emma Eversham

- Last updated on GMT

Citrus sidekick: lime is a perfect partner to Tequila (credit: AlexPro9500/iStock/Thinkstock.co.uk)
Citrus sidekick: lime is a perfect partner to Tequila (credit: AlexPro9500/iStock/Thinkstock.co.uk)

Related tags Tequila

A far more subtle and sophisticated spirit than it’s often given credit for, there are many other ways to enjoy Tequila than slamming it back with salt and a wedge of lime. Emma Eversham reports.

Innovation, education and experimentation within the Tequila category has led to a growth in sales, but producers and pubs are still working hard to convince more consumers to throw aside outdated preconceptions and give the spirit a proper chance. 

A decade ago the majority of pubs stocked one bottle of Tequila which, when ordered, would be duly taken from the back bar, poured into shot glasses and distributed with slices of lime and some salt to be quickly knocked back.

Rarely did anyone bother to taste the liquid, let alone think about what they were drinking or how it was made. Perish the thought that anyone would have talked about its nuances and flavour profile.

A decade of innovation

A decade on and, thanks to innovation from Tequila makers, an educational drive by them and forward-thinking publicans and bar staff alongside growing interest in craft products, consumers not only have more than one Tequila to choose from, they are happily sipping, rather than downing, the shot or picking out its smoky, citrus or peppery flavours when mixed in a cocktail.

“The trend is moving away from shots and strongly towards high-quality cocktail combinations and increasingly sophisticated sipping products,” says Wine & Spirit Trade Association chief executive Miles Beale, whose latest market report notes Tequila sales in the on-and-off trade have risen by 37% to £173m in the past two years.

“Long serves like the Paloma and even Tequila and tonic are becoming more popular. And sipping, rather than shooting, Tequila is more commonplace as consumers understand the category more and more and switch from drinking Tequila made from mixed sugars to those made with 100% agave and from industrial to artisanal Tequilas,” adds Michele Tuveri, spirits development manager at Catalyst PLB.

As Tuveri states, Tequila’s growth would not be happening if it wasn’t for the increasing focus on more artisanal methods of production, which enables it to ride the craft wave with other spirits. The company’s own artisan Tequila – Villa Lobos – has quadrupled its sales in the UK in the last two years.

However, it’s not simply a focus on artisan which has given Tequila the boost it needs – innovation in the category has also helped it shake off its outdated image.

Existing products, like the 150-year-old brand Sauza, already well-established in the UK, has just redesigned its range to “present a more premium and contemporary proposition for the back bar” and is championing the use of its Sauza Silver in citrussy star cocktail the Paloma.

Others have taken things even further. Cazcabel, an independent micro-distillery based in Mexico’s Arandas, entered the UK in 2014 with a Blanco Tequila alongside two flavoured Tequilas – Cazcabel Coffee and Cazcabel Honey. Last year it launched its Reposado – an aged Tequila with notes of white pepper, caramel and toasted oak.

Flavour-twist incentives

Nick Whitby, head of bars at the New World Trading Company (NWTC), whose business stocks Cazcabel Honey and Coffee, believes the flavour twists have helped persuade those put off by Tequila’s perception as a ‘rough spirit that burns your throat’ to give it a try.

“We’ve found that the Cazcabel products have been flying. You give someone a shot of Cazcabel Honey and you then tell them it’s Tequila afterwards and that opens their eyes,” he says, before pointing out that flavoured Tequilas aren’t a “true representation” of the spirit. 

Another stockist of Cazcabel – East Midlands-based seven-strong pubco The Orange Tree Group – experienced a 300% uplift in sales of all four Cazcabel products it stocks – Blanco, Reposado, Honey and Coffee – during a March promotion where staff held Tequila-themed events such as a Mexican cantina night and were encouraged to get creative.

“We found people tended to like Cazcabel in shot form but we also introduced them to premium cocktails,” says deputy marketing manager Simon Kemp. “We generally like to pair Tequila in cocktails with a range of products such as Frangelico, gin, vodka and Cointreau alongside sweeter juices.”

Move towards cocktails

Examples of the Tequila-based cocktails on offer at The Orange Tree pubs include the Warsaw Breeze, a mix of vodka, Cazcabel Honey, apple and lemon juice and topped with lemonade, or the Honey Margarita, using Cazcabel Honey instead of a Blanco Tequila.

Kemp says that when Tequila is used in this way, the usual 70/30 shot to cocktail split moves to a more balanced 60/40 across his bars but, he makes clear, the product has to be a quality one in the first place to enable bartenders to sell their ‘interesting creations’.

Using quality and well-sourced Tequilas in cocktails is a point Ruben Acezes, global brand am-bassador for El Jimador Tequila, is also keen to push. 

“There are still a lot of bartenders who think, ‘If it’s going to be a cocktail, who cares what Tequila you use because when it’s mixed you can’t even taste it’, but they are wrong. If you make a beautiful recipe with a horrible Tequila then your beautiful recipe becomes a horrible cocktail. Make it with a beautiful Tequila, then it will be a beautiful cocktail.”

Improving understanding

Earlier this month, Acezes and colleagues transported 20 live blue agave plants and a jimador (agave farmer) to trade shows and media events in the UK, including Imbibe Live, to show how the plant is harvested and turned into Tequila to help improve understanding.

“It has helped, because many people still think agave is a cactus, which it’s not,” he says. “With the 45-minute demonstrations we have done, they can learn what type of plant it is, how it looks and how difficult it is to harvest it.”

Acezes evidently welcomes Tequila’s advances in the UK, but believes the trade still has more work to do to educate itself and consumers about its provenance and the different varieties. Blanco and reposado, for example, boast very different flavour profiles, let alone any flavoured offerings.

”A lot of consumers think that all Tequilas are the same, but it’s like whisky. There are horrible whiskies and amazing whiskies, it all depends on how you make them or how much care you invest in creating the product,” he says.

More education needed

NWTC’s Whitby believes that Tequila still hasn’t quite reached its potential and agrees there is more education to do. His bar staff are continuing to experiment with it and pass that on to customers.

“It’s a great spirit to work with, but it’s not to everybody’s palate. We usually like to do twists on classics in our bars using Tequila, but it can be hard to convince people to try it.

“I was chatting to one of our bartender’s who had a guest in on a quiet afternoon and he was experimenting with some new flavours. The guest said she didn’t like Tequila, so he made her a blueberry and basil Margarita and she loved it.

“The reason she thought she didn’t like Tequila was because of a very unrefined, rough night out she once had.

“So has it got the potential to grow further? As more people open their eyes to it and tastes change, and with the cocktail progression that’s happened, there might be a slight increase over the next five years.”

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