Our 2018 Tequila Aficionado Tour begins early this year, in late July, as we depart from Texas and make our way up to the Mammoth Lakes area of northern California.
In early August the first stop on our tour will be the Mammoth Margarita Festival (August 10-11). We’ll have two crews there bringing you all the fun and festivities with live video daily. While we won’t be pouring sponsor brands there, we will be auditioning tasters for Tequila Aficionado and using sponsor brands for those tastings. So whether you’d like to taste what we’re touring with or actually get a Tequila Jockey gig working for tequila, we’d love to see you for open auditions in Mammoth!
Our next stop on the 2018 Tequila Aficionado Tour will be in Monterey for the Monterey Bay Tequila and Cuisine event on October 13. We’ll be covering all the fun there with live video and plenty of recorded interviews. Tour sponsor brands will get exposure there by product placement in our videos.
As we make our way south toward Pasadena, we’ll stop in Bakersfield at Sol y Luna Mexican Cuisine for a special pop-up event.
We will finish the 2018 Tequila Aficionado Tour with a massive event at El Cholo Restaurant in Pasadena on October 26, where we will be pouring sponsor brands in the VIP area at El Cholo’s annual Tequila Tour.
In addition to all of this, sponsor brands will receive a ridiculous amount of social media posts on behalf of Tequila Aficionado, on all of our social networks, to promote their brand(s). Brands interested in participating in our biggest, boldest tour yet can find the complete list of posts and items that we will be providing to all of our sponsor brands – for each expression – here.
Pasadena, California’s landmark El Cholo Cafe Restaurant’s Tequila Tour has been a major community event for the past 17 years. Commemorating its 94th year serving authentic Mexican cuisine to Southern California, the October 27, 2017 edition was destined to be special.
Needless to say, it was an honor when El Cholo’s owner, Blair Salisbury, graciously asked Tequila Aficionado Media to anchor an exclusive VIP Hour during El Cholo’s Tequila Tour, and to share the fine craft agave spirits accompanying us on our 2017 Wild Wild West Tour.
Flawlessly guided by El Cholo’s point man for this shindig, consultant Alex Delgado, we were given the restaurant’s intimate West Patio to showcase the Brand of Promise(c) nominees that traveled with us throughout the month of October.
A Very Special Guest
Days before the El Cholo Tequila Tour, with help from the fine folks at PKGD Media who handle publicity for Tequila G4, we managed to convince the “Mad Scientist” of tequila, Felipe Camarena, to make an unscheduled guest appearance at El Cholo’s fiesta.
It was enlightening to discuss the state of the Tequila Industry from a long time agave grower’s point-of-view. Of great concern was the ongoing Agave Crisis, the ramifications of an agave shortage, and what Felipe considered was the real cause of the problems.
[*FTC Disclosure: Brands appearing on the Tequila Aficionado Wild Wild West 2017 Tour were vetted as Brand of Promise(c) Nominees and paid a nominal fee to be included.]
The VIP Hour
Before we knew it, employees of El Cholo’s opened the floodgates of the West Patio to the VIP Hour.
Joined by CMO Lisa Pietsch, Tequila Aficionado’s Founder, Alex Perez, and Tequila TJs Dave Dinius and Rick Levy, as well as some Brand of Promise(c) representatives, we were instantly surrounded by the smiling faces of dozens of passionate tequila aficionados.
These anxious VIPs were more than ready to sample some of the finest small batch, micro-distilled and handcrafted agave spirits that may or may not have been available, yet, in California.
Where It All Started
Mid-way through the VIP Hour, Blair, Alex, and myself took a few minutes to reminisce about that first podcast, and how each of our endeavors had grown exponentially with the demand for 100% de agave tequila, and now, mezcals.
Alex and I even took a moment to record a brief audio podcast memorializing the humble beginnings of Sipping Off the Cuff(c).
End of The Trail
El Cholo’s regularly scheduled Tequila Tour went off without a hitch, while almost everybody who had purchased VIP tickets lingered throughout the rest of the evening.
It was very gratifying to meet and greet so many fans and followers, to answer their burning questions on the participating Brands of Promise(c), and to experience the level of sophistication of the current crop of agave spirits consumers, whether newbies or seasoned sippers.
To Continue the Battle
Constant and continuing education on agave spirits is a must these days.
El Cholo’s yearly Tequila Tour is not just an event designed to savor authentic Mexican cuisine, but to also elegantly enjoy your continuing agave spirits education.
We look forward to joining forces once again with El Cholo in 2018 to, as Felipe Camarena put it, “Para darle la guerra.”
You can view more photos of El Cholo’s 2017 Tequila Tour here.
Wrangles Agave Spirit Brands of Promise for History Making Promotional Roundup
For Immediate Release!
SAN ANTONIO, TX, UNITED STATES, October 3, 2017
Like the early settlers of the frontier, Tequila Aficionado Media goes west. Driving a prairie schooner (actually, a travel trailer) loaded with distilled agave spirits—26 brands with 58 distinct expressions in all–to share at private events, public pairing dinners, pop up seminars, and educational catas (tastings) throughout the month of October.
“Our tours are all about co-creating meaningful brand stories for craft agave spirits worthy of the public’s attention,” explains Lisa Pietsch, CMO of Tequila Aficionado Media and Co-Founder of TequilaPR.
“According to current statistics,” states Mike Morales, CEO of Tequila Aficionado Media and Co-Founder of TequilaPR, “three of the top ten tequila consuming states is out west, and that’s exactly where we’re headed.”
With the determination of the Pony Express, Tequila Aficionado Media’s Wild Wild West 2017 Tour will barnstorm to rowdy saloons and ghost towns in Van Horn, Texas, White Sands, New Mexico, and Tombstone, Arizona.
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On the route is a whistle stop at the famed Elvira’s Tequila Cocina Vino in Tucson, Arizona where Terralta Tequila from legendary 3rd Generation Master Distiller Felipe Camarena will be introduced along with an exciting new menu.
Glitz, glamour, and glamping are reserved for a special visit with Torch Cigar Bar and Lounge in Phoenix, hosted by the award winning Embajador tequila.
Inspired by the California Gold Rush, Tequila Aficionado’s Wild Wild West Tour rough rides toward La Jolla for a private interview with tequila Dos Almas’ founder Emilio DeSoto.
The following evening, a tequila pairing dinner with DesMaDre tequila is on tap at Sol Mexican Cocina in Newport Beach.
On location in Los Angeles, there will be two more private catas held by Revel Avila blue agave spirit, and Tres Ochos tequila.
During the public and private tastings, the “jarrito” tumbler–a new experimental glass designed specifically for tasting and serving tequila, mezcal, and other agave spirits–will be showcased.
Developed by Chisholm Trail Craft Glasses in Austin, Texas, the jarrito tumbler is expected to revolutionize the glassware industry by being more aesthetic and organoleptically accurate than other vessels currently used to sample and judge Mexican agave spirits.
“The range of agave spirits on this year’s Wild Wild West 2017 Tour is some of the finest sampling of Mexican agave spirits we’ve ever travelled with,” declares Morales. “We urge you to try them for yourself.”
For a complete list of participating agave spirits on the Wild Wild West 2017 Tour, click here. For ticket information on El Cholo’s Tequila Tour, go here or call 626-795-5800. More about Chisholm Trail Craft Glasses is here.
Learn all about tequila from field to glass and then get paid to share your love of agave spirits with others! Buy Them Both Now!
We’re packing up and getting ready to ride for some spectacular brands this year. Here’s what our tour itinerary looks like, barring any unforeseen adventures. It’ll be a nonstop month of tequila and mezcal fun!