This week, we’ll be speaking to Bradley Large of Del Bravo Imports, the people who bring us award winning Route 66 (Brands of Promise Platinum in 2015), Diva (Brands of Promise double Gold in 2014) and Penasco Tequilas.
March 14, 2016, San Antonio, TX—Tequila Aficionado Media’s Third Annual 2015 Brands Of Promise© Awards were broadcast LIVE on Blab in Tequila, Mezcal and other assorted agave-related categories. See the full list of medal recipients here.
Among the brilliant stand outs of 2015, Ambhar Tequila took the Judges’ Best-of-Show accolade scoring highly in several categories. Recent upstarts GOZA and Papa Bueno also made significant showings. In a surprise return to the Brands Of Promise© Reposado class, Del Bravo Spirits unanimously took the Platinum award with Route 66 tequila.
Legacy brands Orendáin, Milagro, Tequila 1921, Centinela and Herradura were well represented in both the High-End and Value segments, while Dulce Vida and Suerte convincingly cornered the Extra Añejo tequila market.
In what proved to be the toughest bracket for the judges to date, Malinalli Tequila swept the Platinum trophy in the hard fought Blanco division, with Ambhar, El Mayor, and Mamalón tequilas close on its heels.
The surging Mezcal classification was dominated by the popular Gracias A Dios brand, while Montelobos and Amarás collected Golds in each of their groups.
Gold Medal Winner Lisa Elovich, brand owner of Organic Tequila One With Life, was ecstatic, saying, “Thank you so much! It is such an honor to get this award. I know this will help us with marketing and distribution.” She graciously added, “Congratulations to all of the nominees and winners! So happy to be part of it!”
In an equally gracious statement made over their Instagram account, medal recipient Papa Bueno Tequila wrote, “We are honored to have been among this impressive group of nominees! We love tequila and congratulate all the winners and thank Tequila Aficionado for the time, humor and love they bring! Definitely Bueno!”
About the Brands Of Promise Awards
All brands were judged by Founder, Alex Perez and CEO, M.A. “Mike” Morales, as well as by other Tequila Aficionado staff, on how they performed during Tequila Aficionado’s wildly popular Sipping Off The Cuff™ video series seen regularly on TequilaAficionado.com and viewable on its YouTube channel.
Unlike other spirits contests, The Brands Of Promise™ Awards does not require participating agave spirit brands to pay an entry fee. It also does not charge winners additional hefty licensing tariffs for the rights to use the medal award graphics on their labels, neck tags, shelf talkers, brochures, point-of-sales materials and websites.
For a full list of Brands Of Promise© winners, click here.
To enter your tequila, mezcal, sotol, raicilla, bacanora or other agave spirit or related product in the coveted Brands Of Promise™ Awards, click here.
Alexander Perez and M.A. “Mike” Morales taste and discuss Penasco Tequila Plata (Blanco). They also discuss why they’ve nominated this tequila for the 2014 Brands of Promise Awards.
We apologize for the sound quality. We’ve fixed the issue in recording and this is one of the last reviews with poor sound quality.
Visit Penasco Tequila online at TequilaPenasco.com
Follow Tequila Penasco on Facebook here.
Follow Penasco on Twitter here.
From their website:
Welcome to the world of Tequila through the vision of Del Bravo Imports.
We are committed to bringing you one of the finest distilled 100% blue agave tequilas on the market.
Tequila Peñasco represents quality, is named for the famed beach town located in the Mexican State of Sonora, on the sea of Cortes. Today, Tequila is one of the fastest growing liquors in the world. The direction of the growth is decidedly upscale. An entire tequila culture is being developed not just in Mexico but all over the world. Enjoyed in many countries, local pubs, neighborhood bars as well as many sophisticated restaurants around the world.
There is a large market of excellent 100% blue agave tequilas available in the range of $20 to $30. A greater quality of tequilas made of 100% blue agave in the $30 to $50 dollar range. Most all tequilas priced under $20 dollars are mass produced for local markets and export and are made from a mix of agave plants.
For the enjoyment of our beloved loyal Tequila drinkers; Tequila Peñasco is enjoyed in the USA in Arizona, Texas and South Carolina, as well as 3 northern states of Mexico, Sonora, Chihuahua and Baja. Let your senses be your guide! DISCOVER THE DIFFERENCE…
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We’re expecting the gentlemen from Del Bravo for a visit on Monday so I’m doing a little preparation in the kitchen today.
Whenever we’re contacted by brand owners who will be coming through San Antonio, we like to invite them to the Tequila Aficionado Headquarters for drinks and a chat. We like to film a great deal of the chatting part which you’ll soon see in several articles coming up from Mike Morales. Since I love to pair and prepare foods with tequilas and mezcals, I usually make a little something so we don’t send our guests off into the night hungry. I’m particularly excited about meeting the gentlemen from Del Bravo Tequila, the makers of Penasco and Diva Tequilas. 
I’ll admit, I’m not a big fan of infused tequilas for the sole reason that nine times out of ten, they are overdone, poorly done, or are just a company’s way of putting sub-par products on a shelf to sell to those women who still think tequila is for shooting. (Yes, I’ve become a bit of a tequila snob.) Diva Tequila is one of the very few infusions to pass the sip test here at Tequila Aficionado.
My first reaction upon seeing Diva’s presentation was a very girly “Ooh, what a pretty bottle!”
Let’s face it, the tall, faceted bottle topped with the brilliant-cut diamond style stopper is just plain gorgeous.
The question that followed was a practical one “But how’s the juice?”
Truth be told, I was afraid of being disappointed yet again with the promise of a pretty bottle with no substance to back it up. So I gave Diva a day and tried the Penasco blanco instead. After enjoying Penasco, I was prepared to give the Diva my undivided attention the next evening.
I wasn’t disappointed.
Instead of the usual overdone, sugary sweet concoctions marketed to the female drinker, I found the same crisp, clear blanco that Penasco delivered only this time it had a delightful twist of pink grapefruit. Not too tart, not too sweet, and still a wonderful sipper! (Like Goldilocks only with tequila instead of porridge!)
The Del Bravo folks know what they’re doing. From the Diva Tequila bottle design (which would look lovely placed in a box of long-stemmed roses for Valentine’s Day *hint*) to the juice inside, they’ve done this right.
After a few sips, I knew I had to take this lovely lady into the Tequila Aficionado Test Kitchen. I could see pairing her with brunch items, desserts, salads and so much more. Yes, this is the guest you must invite to your girls’ night in or ladies’ brunch.
My first project was to tweak a Strawberry Margarita Cupcake recipe I’d found on Pinterest. It was a hit!
Here’s the original recipe:
Here’s my version:
Diva Margarita Cupcakes
I prefer to cook sugar free since I have sugar issues and, nobody trusts a cook who doesn’t eat her own creations!
The orange jello was the perfect complement to the pink grapefruit in Diva.
The JLP Golden Lime Margarita was a no-brainer. I absolutely love these margaritas and knew it would be excellent in this citrus dream.
I thought coconut oil might give the cupcakes just a pinch of tropical flavor to set off all the citrus and I was right.
This recipe yielded 18 cupcakes.
When it came time to top off little darlings, I wished I had created tiny white chocolate crowns. As it turns out, they didn’t need anything so glamorous as all that. Instead of the Tequila Cream Cheese Frosting, I used the Pillsbury Sugar Free frosting and added a tablespoon of Diva. It worked out great! Then I topped each cupcake with a single chocolate pearl.
We enjoyed them for a very long time!
Tequila Cream Cheese Frosting
Of course, if you don’t feel like going through the hassle of baking, Diva Tequila pairs just as well with dark chocolate covered strawberries!
No matter how you enjoy Diva Tequila, you WILL enjoy it.
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