Over two days in March, Sydney will be the scene of the biggest ever agave spirits event to be held in the southern hemisphere when Agave Love kicks off.
On Sunday the 22nd and Monday the 23rd of March, some of the biggest and most knowledgeable names in agave spirits will be conducting tastings, talks and masterclasses — along with some Agave Love-fuelled parties — at six Sydney venues around Oxford street (Casoni, Low302, Hello Sailor, Shady Pines Saloon and The Winery) and at Mr Moustache in Bondi.
They’ve lined up some great speakers for the event — we had a quick chat to Tomas Estes to ask him about where the industry is heading. Check out the story below, and visit agavelove.com.au to book tickets.
Name: Tomas Estes
Role: Founder of Cafe Pacifico and Tequila Ocho, writer on Agave Spirits and presenter
Can you tell us a bit about what you do?
I run my restaurants and bars in London and Paris, earlier I was in Sydney with Mr Bayly with Cafe Pacifico. I promote and direct my brand of tequila around the world as well as Australia.
What does a typical day for you involve?
Today has involved answering e-mails about a variety of things, such as hosting visitors at the distillery of Tequila Ocho, arranging a presentation in Edinburgh on tequila, planning a trip to Lisbon to a barshow there and continuing on to Athens to visit the Greek market for Ocho, arranging a bottle of Ocho Single Barrel for a journo for Liq.com, making an order of tequila from California to London for my bars, etc, etc.
What’s your preference, tequila or mezcal?
I prefer the fresh, lively experience of tequila — like pilsner or lager beer it can be light and easy to sip or mix. Sometimes I enjoy the deep, profound experience of mezcal (like an ale) which is more like food than drink. Each has its time and place.
Could you describe a favourite moment with agave spirit?
Being in La Capilla Bar in Tequila town with Phil Bayly visiting Don Javier the spiritual leader of us tequila pilgrims.
Where do you see the agave spirit industry heading?
The category is going — like the rest of the world — in two opposing directions. One is toward uniformity and mass production and the other is the “Slow Food” movement/consciousness where diversity is fostered. The first is — and has been for some time — under full commercial steam and the other is flirting with market dynamics to the extent that the terms, ‘craft’, ‘artisanal’ and ‘small batch’ are showing up more and more. Where this will go depends on us and what we spend our money on. No producer is immune to the demand side of the market.