Loy Catada and The World of Tequila

The World of Tequila program from Proximo Spirits kicks off this May, and looks to explain the big world of tequila through the lens of the 11th generation Jose Cuervo family. To book a World of Tequila session in your venue, contact your Proximo representative or email info@proximospirits.com.

Tequila has never been more popular; in a lot of bars, tequila now outpaces gin as the most popular spirit, everyone has a spicy Margarita take, and even whisky brands have tried to hijack traditionally tequila cocktails like the Paloma. There’s no doubt about it: we’re living in a tequila world today. 

It’s a world far removed from even 10 years ago when tequila was still a hard sell for most bars; back then, tequila was mainly drunk as a shot, and nine times out of 10, it was drunk with ‘training wheels’ of lemon and salt. 

Today, tequila is appreciated for the historic, cultural beverage that it is — one that offers an array of flavours and uses, from cocktails to celebrations to quiet contemplation. 

Below, lightly edited and condensed for clarity, we talk all things tequila with Loy Catada, the national spirits specialist for Proximo Spirits, and a longtime brand ambassador and bartender — and one of the nicest guys in the business. 

Loy is embarking on a tour of Australian bars to share his knowledge, expertise, and passion, and showing bartenders around the country the new World of Tequila program from Proximo Spirits.

Boothby: I want to talk to you a bit about tequila, but first, tell us what this World of Tequila program is all about?

Loy Catada: The World of Tequila training platform is a tequila education focused on the category. We want to lead bartender education in tequila from the Proximo and the Cuervo family point of view.

So you’re doing category specific stuff: what is tequila, how tequila is made, all that sort of thing?

We’re going to touch a little bit more on different types of agave, but really it’s all about the history, the heritage, the craftsmanship and giving bartenders  the key specifics and knowledge to really sell tequila in their bars, and how to make fantastic drinks.

I want to talk to you more about the need for tequila training at the moment, especially coming out of the pandemic times, but before we do that, how are you going to be delivering this around the country? When does the program kick off?

Yeah, we’re looking at kicking it off in May. I’m going to do a national tour around key cities, rolling out the World of Tequila masterclasses. And then I’m going to be hosting a limited and exclusive La Familia dinner, and it’s just going to be a little bit more intimate — it’s going to focus on our premium and luxury portfolio like the 1800 Milenio, the 1800 Guachi Monton, and the Jose Cuervo Reserva de la Familia.

Talking about the need for this kind of training at the moment, I speak to bar owners and bartenders around the country and it seems like some base knowledge of bartenders these days is a little bit lacking, more than perhaps it was before the pandemic. Where do you think the level of bartenders’ tequila knowledge is at the moment? And how does it compare when, say, talking to the punters at large?

That’s a really good question. So first of all, you’re right about the pandemic, and I look at it in the perspective of a young bartender — the actual skillset and the knowledge of skills in bartending and spirits education is actually quite broad. So if you look at bars that are really focused on premium cocktails, where there’s more focus on guest experience and services, the level of knowledge and skills are up there. Probably some of the best in the world, right? But then you have younger generations of bartenders who’ve just started off in other bars. 

There’s always a new generation.

What if you just turned 18 during the pandemic? You have no knowledge of what to expect, you haven’t been out, you haven’t been a customer. It’s really a big thing. It’s getting better, but I think there’s still a job to be done by people like you, myself, other bartenders. It’s about supporting hospitality and spirits education. And tequila is one of the best spirits to actually talk about right now. It’s hot. It’s growing at a faster rate than gin. Margaritas are one of the trendiest cocktails around.

What’s behind the rise in the popularity of tequila at the moment? It amazes me that it’s outpacing gin in a lot of places. Especially in the States too, I think the States, it’s the number one spirit.

Yeah, I believe it has overtaken vodka in that category, that’s really quite exciting.

Because I mean we are old enough to remember a time when tequila wasn’t so easy to sell.

Look, can tell you all about that, you know, when I first started bartending. But let’s talk about that a little bit later on. 

I guess there’s a number of factors that’s making the tequila category explode.

Obviously you’ve got premiumisation, in Australia especially, we’re really getting into our cocktail culture, bartenders are becoming more professional in their craft in terms of knowledge and sharing stories to customers, the guest experience of course, and customers are becoming a little bit more suave — they’re wanting to know what they’re putting in their body, they’re willing to pay a little bit more for something premium. 

And then you have obviously got the celebrities getting into the tequila bandwagon and making tequila popular.

Do you think they’ve had an effect in popularising tequila with customers?

Yeah, absolutely. Without a doubt. But to me, the most important thing that’s going to make it grow in the long term is the authenticity. You think about it, if you really look at how tequila’s made, from field to bottle, it’s in one place, in a very specific place.

There is a sense of place to the spirit. Other spirits like whiskey, can get grain from anywhere.

100 percent. Tequila is Mexico, it’s that culture, but then it’s also deeper than that. That amount of time an agave grows is a long, long time. Versus, for example, rum, you know, like if you think about sugar cane, takes nine months. Agave takes seven to nine years, sometimes 12, right? Crazy. 

It’s quite special, right? That’s where that terroir, that story comes in. And then you’ve got different agave from different regions, from the highlands to the lowlands, they have different flavours. And then you add in the ageing.

What's next for 1800 Tequila?

This year 1800 Tequila is releasing its finest expression yet, recently awarded The World’s Best Tequila at IWSC —  we are super excited to be launching it in the coming months. This is 1800 Tequila’s first step into luxury tequila and for us there is no better way to keep growing the brand at the rate we are seeing, than expanding our offering into this segment. We are seeing consumers move towards brands that offer them a rich heritage and authenticity and that's exactly what 1800 Milenio delivers, along with an exceptional flavour profile.

Where do the agaves come from, and what are the processes involved in making 1800 Milenio?

In the highlands of Jalisco — that’s where all the agave for 1800 grows. Whereas Jose Cuervo, Tradicional and the Reserva de la Familia and our other extension of luxury and prestige tequila like Dobel, comes from the lowlands.

1800 Milenio spends more than three years in American and French oak casks then four months in cognac casks which gives it a balanced, soft and unique flavour with notes of vanilla, red fruit and cinnamon. 

That’s the reason why World of Tequila was created. It’s actually to tell the story of tequila. And when you tell the story of tequila, you can’t go past the story of the Jose Cuervo family. La Rojeña is the oldest tequila distillery, actually the oldest distillery in Latin America. It was established in 1812. Cuervo and tequila is intertwined in history and we don’t tell that story enough. Our job as brand advocates with tequila is really giving that history. Did you know that Jose Cuervo, the family was the first family to get a licence to legally produce tequila? That was in 1795. In 1795, tequila wasn’t called tequila. It wasn’t a category at that time. It was known as mezcal. It wasn’t until the late 1800s that tequila was coined tequila because they made the best. Now, 11 generations later Jose Cuervo can be credited with pioneering the tequila category, it's the number one tequila brand in the world and the brands within the family portfolio have so much to offer, from people who are new to tequila maybe trying a blanco, to connoisseurs seeking a refined aged expression.

Speaking of history, you’ve been around for a while. You’ve had a long career behind the bar. You have many years as a brand ambassador. What gets you up in the morning and going to work? What excites you about the gig today?

Why do I love what I do? Even going back to my hospitality days when I was a bartender, I think it’s really important for people to find out their purpose, right? 

What do you enjoy most? And it’s not about a thing or a career. It’s about that feeling. I actually realised that early on in my career as a brand ambassador — I love it but it’s hard, late nights, weekends, working public holidays — but at the end of the day the reward is actually making people happy, creating that experience. That’s what gets me up in the morning — actually seeing people succeed with my help, mentoring, educating, helping venues become a great business. 

And that’s why I love doing what I’m doing, especially with a company like Proximo.

The World of Tequila program from Proximo Spirits kicks off this May, and looks to explain the big world of tequila through the lens of the 11th generation Jose Cuervo family. To book a World of Tequila session in your venue, contact your Proximo representative or email info@proximospirits.com.