Below, Bayly talks about the craziest experience he and Estes had in Tequila town; what it is about tequila that he loves (and why you should love it, too); and what to expect when and Estes come together during Sydney Bar Week.
What’s the craziest thing to have happened to you in Tequila (that we can print)?
La Capilla Bar: It was the June 1990, Tomas, Danny Rodriguez, Jay Travis and myself had flown to Mexico on a research trip.
The four of us were staying at the Camino Real Hotel and were the honorary guests of Jose Cuervo for the day. We were picked up from the hotel and driven out to the agave fields to be with the jimador and watch the harvesting of the agaves, we were then taken on a tour of La Rojeña Distillery in Tequila Town and then driven back to Guadalajara to be wined and dinned in to the early hours of the morning. That was day one.
Day two consisted of being the honourable guests of Tequila Sauza, visiting the agave fields with the Jimador, going through La Perseverancia Distillery and then being wined and dinned in to the early hours of the morning again. It was an incredible experience with the full extent of Mexican hospitality. The only down side was that we were on their schedule.
Now on day three we decided to hire a car and drive out to Tequila town ourselves and get the low down on what was really happening in town. We left early, well about 9am early anyway, taking into consideration the previous evenings events. Half way to Amatitan we found a roadside stall selling Pulque so we thought, what a great way to start the day. They had Mango flavoured, papaya flavoured, you name it, all in a can like a soft drink. Well after we drank that, we decided we should never have stopped.
We must have rolled into town off of the main road about 10am. It was a beautiful day and the light was still crisp before the heat and the dust rolled in. I bailed out of the car and started shooting everything that moved with my camera. I planned to meet up with the others near the main plaza in about half an hour. That didn’t happen! I must have wandered town looking for them for about an hour. I started to think the worst, when a deep metallic blue low-rider came down the street towards me with my Chicano friend Dan Rodriguez hanging half out of the passenger window waving his hands and calling out “Puto! Hey Puto! Andale!”
He was with a local guy whose name was Jose Luis, they pulled up and I jumped in the back and off we went with our newfound friend at the wheel only to end up at La Capilla bar. Well there we were, with I suppose you would call, pre-lunch drinks? The place was rocking, there were about 10 locals in this tiny little corner bar plus Tom and Jay.
Well we started drinking tequila and beers, a local wandering Mariachi band turned up and started playing, food was ordered in, even a guy on a horse rode in, turned his horse around and road out again. It was hilarious. At about three o’clock, Jose Luis demanded that we watch him play football at the local oval. Somehow we staggered down there, I recall lying on my back on a bench and thinking ”I have to get the hell out of here” I stumbled around trying to find an exit with no success. I finally ran into the others again and some how we all ended up back at La Capilla , drinking again. I couldn’t believe it. Jose Luis had been drinking with us, went and played a game of football and then went back to drinking with us once more. It was getting dark and he was just making plans for us to all go to his disco that evening when Jay turned up in our car and rescued us. I don’t know how he drove back to Guadalajara but he did. The trip was very uneventful as we all just trying to keep it together to navigate the way back.
The moral of the story is, if you plan to go to La Capilla, get a hotel in town so you can just walk home. Chances are you wont be in a fit state to drive.
When you’re talking to someone about tequila, what are some of the reasons you give as to why you love the stuff, and why they might too?
That is a damn good question! Well I think firstly it would have to start with the raw material. What is it about the plant that makes it so unique? It’s the way the plant has evolved over 12 million years and the time it takes to grow and mature, its ability to reproduce and survive. Look at the sugars it produces and some of the benefits the plant has with regard to medicinal uses. The plant provides food, drink, shelter, rope, paper, timber. What other plant used for making booze does that? None that I know.
Then there is the spirit. For me it is difficult to talk about Tequila without including Mezcal, after all, it was all originally called Vino Mezcal. It is one of the most diverse spirits on the planet. The expressions take you from a clean white spirit through to something that could be mistaken for an armagnac or a cognac, include mezcal and you go into single malts, what is left apart from liqueurs? Not much. Tequilas and mezcals are both experimenting with cask finishes and producing some amazing results.
Then of course there the feeling, the effects of tequila are quiet different to a normal drunk. I think we all know that from experience, but as they say, “It’s all about the journey, not the destination”
What can people expect from your event during Bar Week?
We have two sessions on the Tuesday and they will be very different from one another
The first will be with the Academy of Bartenders, at 11.30am. This will be our stories and experiences in Mexico together dating back through the 80’s when we were wild and crazy, which should prove to be quite entertaining from what I can recall.
The second is at Big Poppas at 2.00pm and we will be celebrating 8 Anos de Ocho (Ocho’s 8th birthday) by launching the US packaging to the Oz market.
Tomas will be explaining the new ranches coming up and current ones that have just arrived. We will be doing some vertical tasting of earlier vintages and discussing the terroir that effects them.
There will also be a signed copy of Tomas’s book The Tequila Ambassador’ up for grabs and a few other surprises up our sleeves.
Tequila and Stories from South of the Border by Tomas Estes
When: 2pm – 4pm, September 20, 2016
Where: Big Poppa’s, Oxford Street, Darlinghurst
Internationally renowned Tequila aficianado, Tomas Estes will introduce Ocho tequila’s new 750ml packaging and talk about the latest and upcoming vintages. Accompanied by a cheese matching from Big Poppa’s larder. Numbers strictly limited.
RSVP: Essential. Email andy@vanguardluxurybrands.com