If you wish to find out about tequila, chances are you’ll must make a pit cease at a tiny mom-and-pop restaurant in San Francisco’s Richmond District, which has been the go-to place for tequila connoisseurs for the previous a number of many years.
“In 1999, I used to be on the entrance web page of the Wall Road Journal, and on the left-hand column, which is the development column,” mentioned Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant proprietor Julio Bermejo. “It known as Tommy’s the epicenter of tequila in the USA.”
That is as a result of, when you come to Tommy’s for tequila, you’re prone to get greater than a style. You’re going to get an training concerning the spirit – studying the distinction between blanco, reposado and añejo, to highland and valley tequilas.
“There’s principally two philosophies,” mentioned Bermejo. “Highland tequila, when it’s younger, may be very citrusy and spicy. And valley tequila, by comparability, is a bit more pungent. And if you age it, it begins to offer you some extra stone fruit-like qualities.”
Julio Bermejo, proprietor of Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant in San Francisco, ponders the subsequent tequila shot.
KPIX
In the present day, Bermejo is a worldwide ambassador for Mexico’s Cámara Nacional de la Industria Tequilera (Nationwide Chamber of the Tequila Trade), the place he has devoted the final 40 years of his life educating individuals concerning the spirit made in Jalisco state.
“Tommy’s was one of many first bars and eating places in America to cease pouring common tequila in favor of what is often known as 100% agave tequila,” mentioned Bernejo. “We’re also called the venue or bar on the earth with the biggest classic number of tequila. So many company journey right here to attempt issues which are unavailable of their international locations or cities.”
However what actually put Tommy’s on the map was their margarita recipe, which grew to become a game-changer for the cocktail business.
“We created the Tommy’s margarita nearly 40 years in the past, and we’re proud to say, the recipe could be discovered on menus of each single high bar on the earth,” mentioned Bermejo. “We have been one of many first bars to make use of agave fructose as a sweetener.”
And as Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant celebrates its sixtieth Anniversary, it comes at a time when tequila is extra widespread than ever earlier than. Based on a current report by Connoisseur Professional, whereas the sale of alcoholic spirits in the USA has remained flat, final yr gross sales of tequila rose by almost 8%.
In the present day, vodka stays on high within the U.S. with $7.2 billion in gross sales, adopted by tequila with $6.5 billion in gross sales, surpassing American whiskey, bourbon, and rye at $5.3 billion in gross sales.
“80% of the world’s tequilas are consumed by 5 American states,” mentioned Bermejo. “So, it has room to develop, which is frightening, as a result of the worry is that tequila will grow to be so costly that common individuals like me cannot afford it.”
In the meantime, his loyal clients embrace members of his tequila membership, which has now grown to greater than 10,000 members.
“The membership began within the late 80s and we now have graduates from 4 continents, and a few which have gone on to open tequila bars, to importing tequila, and even making tequila,” mentioned Bermejo.
Members even have the privilege to journey to Mexico with Bermejo, who leads instructional excursions to many tequila distilleries, serving to to unfold his ardour for the spirit, one glass and one bottle at a time.
Extra from CBS Information
Ryan Yamamoto