By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Spirits Blogger
One shot…Hey! Mas Tequila-
Two shots…Hey! que veneno-
Three shots…Arriba! Mas Tequila!
Hey! Hey!
– Sammy Hagar, Mas Tequila
Ahh, tequila. The spirit that has launched a thousand bad ideas. All with a smile on your face.
The spirt that lifts our spirits in drinks such as the famous margarita and the Eagles-inspiured tequila sunrise.
The spirit that has inspired countless stories of fun and adventure, although as Hagar himself told PubClub.com, “the best tequila stories (pause), you don’t remember.”
We’ll drink to that of course.
But drinking tequila may be more difficult – and expensive – for not just the producers but consumers, particularly in the U.S.
This is because the tequila craze that swept the industry in recent years – leading George Cloony and his celebrity buddies to rake in a fortune when they sold Casamigos to distributor Diageo for an eye-popping $1 billion – has faded like a bottle left out in the sun too long.
In order to take advantage of the sudden popularity of tequila, more producers emerged who planted agave “all over the place,” according to Guzman, an 80-year-old farmer from the Los Altos region of the western state of Jalisco. “Some people sold their factories, hotels, land and ranches to start growing agave,” he told AFP.
This has created a glut that today’s slowing market cannot match. As a result, the price of agave has dropped from a high of 35 pesos – about $1.70 at the current exchange rate – per kilo to around 40 cents in USD. The break-even for growers is about 60 cents per kilo.
And then there is the potential looming 25% tariff for Mexican products imported to the U.S. The United States is by far the biggest importer of tequila and consumes about 85% of the the tequila produced in Mexico. And, like bouron in Kentucky, scotch in Scotland and champagne in France, only Mexico can produce the product called tequila.
So on the one hand, a glut of agave and tequila means lower prices for consumers. On the other hand, if there’s a 25% tariff placed on it then the price of a shot, a margarita, a tequila sunrise or any other drink, is likely to increase by as much as, well, 25%.
It’s enough to drive a person to drink.
Uno mas, bartender…one more…mas tequila!
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!
Yo can drink the water, but don’t ya eat the ice;
Take your vitamin “T” with salt ‘n lemon slice!
I say,
One shot…Hey! Mas Tequila
Kevin Wilkerson is an award-winning journalist, lover of tequila and avid drinker of margaritas. This story was written by a human with no assistance from AI.
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