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BBC News
27-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
The return of Mexico's famous Tequila Express train
With "tequila tourism" gaining popularity in Mexico, a train taking tourists to the home of the spirit has relaunched after nine years away. The Tequila Express offers a gateway to an intriguing culture, alongside impressive on-board cocktails. As I boarded the Tequila Express at Guadalajara railway station, a tour guide with curly gelled hair was holding court in a bar carriage. Holding a gold-coloured microphone and a bottle of tequila, he spoke enthusiastically to a group of Mexican tourists about their country's famous spirit. At 10:30, when the train left the station, he handed out shot glasses. From Nuremberg's Techno Train to the late-night London to Margate Train, I've witnessed many chaotic alcohol-soaked railway adventures. I wondered if the long-awaited return of the Tequila Express, the tourist train running between the city of Guadalajara and the town of Tequila in Mexico's Jalisco state, would signal a similar experience. The Tequila Express launched in 1997 to serve the nascent "tequila tourism" industry in Tequila, its namesake city, which now has a population of around 45,000 and is the epicentre of the tequila industry, home to around 25 distilleries. Knocking back tequila on the two-hour, 65km ride across Jalisco's cactus- and agave plant-lined landscape proved popular, and, in 2012, the Jose Cuervo tequila company launched a rival – and much more expensive – tourist train on the same route. The original Tequila Express stopped running in 2015, then relaunched in 2017 in collaboration with the Herradura tequila brand. In 2020 it stopped again, as Covid decimated tourism. It finally returned in September 2024. Mexico's tourism industry was healthy again, and by 2023, Tequila was attracting 1.2 million visitors a year, with more distilleries offering tours. Government authorities and tourism companies reportedly invested around 170 million pesos (£7m) to get one of the world's most unique short-distance tourist trains, which offers a trip directly to the heart of the culture behind Mexico's most famous export, back on track. Carriages were refurbished for the relaunch, to the degree that my journey felt more boutique hotel than party train. I'm teetotal, so at a marble-topped bar I ordered Almave, a non-alcoholic spirit made from the same agave plants used for tequila. Piped mariachi music was constant, and tasteful low-light lamps were attached to wood-panelled walls. TV screens showed distilleries and tacos: pleasures awaiting us in Tequila. Onboard, I chatted to Antonio Cabrera from northern Mexico, who told me he was 55, but only now taking his first Mexican train journey. With Mexico currently lacking a country-wide passenger rail network, its best-known trains are arguably tourist routes such as the Tequila Express, the controversial new Tren Maya, and the Chepe Express Copper Canyon train. There were a few European backpacker types dotted throughout the carriages, but most passengers were well-dressed middle-aged Mexicans, like Cabrera. As a bartender stirred a creamy cocktail, carefully placing herb sprigs on its textured glass, Cabrera and I happily agreed that there seemed little sign of the trip getting messy, at least before we got to Tequila. The mic-wielding guide explained flavour notes as tourists gently sipped. Cabrera himself was drinking Corona. "I'm from the border area; tequila is not that popular there," he said. "But I want to try tequila later." The drinks had a socially lubricating, if not quite party-starting, effect. An exuberant American in a floppy sunhat named Leigh was on her second Tequila Express trip, and eager to talk about the previous ride. "People were dancing as they got more inebriated," she said. Silverton belly danced as we trundled past rows of Agave tequilana, the species of large, spiky blue agave farmed for tequila. The train's carriage windows were enlarged during the refurbishment to allow for better views. In the far distance, Jalisco's mountains loomed over orange-dry land. The agaves, planted by farmers with regimental precision and bearing blue sword-like leaves, had conquered the dirt all around us. The agaves' ubiquity can be explained by regulations. Since 1974, for tequila to legally be tequila, it has needed to be produced in Jalisco or one of the designated tequila municipalities located in four other states. In 2006, Unesco named Tequila's cinematic, agave-dominated rural landscape, along with the town's ancient industrial facilities, a World Heritage site. When we arrived at Tequila's Sun-blasted single-platform station, buses took tourists to agave fields and the massive distillery owned by Sauza, a major tequila producer. Passengers can buy these tours as part of train ticket packages or explore Tequila independently after departing the Tequila Express. I'd arranged to meet tour guide Luis Alberto Gutiérrez Rojas in the town's main square. We met by the large, colourful "TEQUILA" letter blocks erected for Insta-tourism impact. Around us, street musicians created a sound-swirl of guitar, trumpet, accordion, double bass and wailing vocals. Gutiérrez showed me a vast mural depicting lightning striking agave plants. This, he said, represented Indigenous people discovering the liquid that would become tequila, long before the Spaniards arrived in the 1500s. According to legend, after lightning struck agaves, juice from the burned plants fermented and the alcoholic discovery was made. He pointed out the faces of people from tequila-producing families depicted in the mural. The Cuervo and Sauza families were among Tequila's early commercial distillers, beginning in the 18th and 19th Centuries, respectively. These names still adorn some of Tequila's biggest distilleries. More like this: • The Train Maya: Mexico's ambitious new tourism megaproject • A 58-tunnel slow train through India's Eastern Ghats • The Baltic Express: Central Europe's new hop-on hop-off train We walked along Calle José Cuervo – as well as a distillery, an entire street bears the Cuervo name – and into a small cantina. A green sign behind the frayed wooden bar read: "One More Batanga". La Capilla is Tequila's oldest cantina and a place the Tequila Express staff said I must visit – for atmosphere if not alcohol. The batanga cocktail was reportedly created here in the 1960s by founder Don Javier Delgado Corona, using Coca-Cola, lime and El Tequileño Blanco tequila made in a distillery 500m from the bar. Don Javier died in 2020 aged 96, but still keeps watch over the bar in portrait form, depicted with white hair and offering a batanga. I ordered a "virgin" batanga from the barman, who assured me that he was related to Don Javier. I gave two guitar-toting musicians wearing huge black hats 100 pesos (£3.80) to play a jaunty song, then got chatting with an agave farmer. I nodded as he complained about the plant's price dropping to under 10 pesos (38p) per kilogram due to supply outstripping demand. The next morning, I was on farmland myself. I'd booked a tour with Atanasio Tequila, a small distillery also recommended by Tequila Express staff. Sheccid Carranza, who started working with Atanasio after her family invested in the company, took me to the distillery's agave field in the back of a truck. Some other Tequila tours, including Sauza's, also visit agave fields. But many are more about consumption than education, with reggaeton-blasting party trucks designed to resemble tequila barrels carrying shot-downing tourists around town. "Drinking, drinking, drinking," said Carranza. "We were forgetting about the essence, the roots… we don't appreciate how much the field workers work." Picking up a barretón – a shovel-like tool – Carranza stabbed the base of a large agave then pulled up a pineapple-sized mini-agave. She held it aloft, like a hunter with freshly slain prey. This was a hijuelo, a young agave that grows from its parent via asexual reproduction. "Your turn," said Carranza. I made 40 barretón stabs to a nearby hijuelo's base before hearing the crunch signalling that I could pull the spiky infant agave free. Carranza said that if I were a real field worker, harvesting one hijuelo would earn me one peso (4p). Planting it away from its parent plant, where it would grow for around seven years before being harvested, would earn me another peso. Carranza said that these field tours show that behind every tequila shot is a culture of hard work and farming experience. She handed me a pick-axe-like tool called a talache and ordered me to dig a hijuelo hole. I thudded the talache into the ground. As red dirt flew up, I considered how, rather than a ticket to alcohol oblivion, the Tequila Express opens up a far more insightful ride. -- For more Travel stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram.
Scotsman
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
I tried Edinburgh pub's new Detroit-style pizza and I'm dreaming of another slice
Watch more of our videos on and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565 Visit Shots! now Lifestyle Editor Gary Flockhart dropped into Chanter, a busy bar just off bustling Lothian Road, to check out their new menu. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Whether you want New York's floppy and foldable slices, Chicago-style deep-dish or Neapolitan thin crusts, Edinburgh's pizza scene has the pies to satisfy any craving. A self-confessed pizza-lover, I've ordered from restaurants and takeaways all over the city, but I'd never had an authentic-tasting Detroit-style pie – until recently. As you may imagine, I wasn't expecting to find one at Chanter, a large sports bar situated on Bread Street that used to be better known as a lively student haunt, with cheap drinks and no thrills. That's all changed now, however, with the large venue having launched a brand-new food menu that's a match for some of the best lunch spots in town. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad On a recent visit to Chanter, a friendly waitress ushered us to a table with amazing views of Edinburgh Castle. After taking our drinks order, which included two fantastic cocktails, I ordered one of their new Detroit-style pizzas, which I was told was 'a great choice'. You can say that again. The sizzlin' pepperoni pie, which had a crispy bottom crust and a light, fluffy interior, was bursting with flavour. It was also gigantic, and could probably fill the bellies of two people (not that I was for sharing, I scoffed the lot). My dining companion, meanwhile, opted for the Caesar Burger, served in a bun with crispy coated chicken, baby gem lettuce, salt, pepper & chilli mayo and garlic & herb sauce, Italian cheese, and skin-on fries. A happy face opposite said the chicken was crispy and tender and the chips suitably fluffy. As well as the delicious food, we had four fabulous cocktails between us – Tommy's Margarita (Jose Cuervo tequila, fresh lime and sweet agave nectar), Passion on the Beach (Smirnoff Mango & Passionfruit Twist vodka and peach schnapps, mixed with cranberry & orange), Rumbungo (Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum, passion fruit puree, pineapple and a drizzle of grenadine, finished with a splash of Schweppes Lemonade) and Espresso Martini (Smirnoff vodka and coffee liqueur, shaken with coffee and a touch of sugar). From what we can remember, the cocktails were to die for. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad All told, we were very impressed with Chanter. There's good vibes and cracking food and drink, while manager Lisa and her staff are lovely and make you feel welcome as soon as you walk in the door. Get yourself down there and check it out for yourself. Click here to sign up 👇
Forbes
24-03-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Jose Cuervo Says The Additive-Free Movement Is 'Damaging' To Tequila
Jose Cuervo, the world's top-selling tequila brand, is not a supporter of the additive-free campaign that has swept up the industry over the past couple of years. 'The additive-free movement is something that we believe, as it is today, something that is inaccurate and it's probably damaging the category more than it's helping,' Lander Otegui, senior vice president of marketing at Jose Cuervo producer and distributor Proximo Spirits, tells me during an in-person interview. Some additives—including caramel coloring, glycerin, sugar-based syrups and oak extract—are permitted as long as they are less than 1% of the weight of tequila, according to the standards set by the Tequila Regulatory Council, or CRT. Groups like the Additive Free Alliance (AFA) aim to band together tequila brands and retailers that support tequilas that are only made with three ingredients: 100% weber blue agave, water and yeast. The AFA says it isn't against brands using additives in their production process, but says that the industry should embrace transparency. Craft tequila brands have been among the biggest proponents of additive free but big brands are also taking notice. Last month, Patrón debuted a new marketing campaign that lauded that brand's commitment to additive-free tequila. The CRT has refused to develop a testing process that would verify some tequilas as free of additives and allow those brands to market their products with that claim. This lack of clarity about ingredient usage in tequila runs counter to what consumers say they want. Three out of four shoppers say they prioritize ingredient transparency and two-thirds say they would switch brands to one that provides more in-depth product information beyond nutrition facts, according to a global report by the Food Industry Association and NielsenIQ. Much of the controversy about additives stems from tequila's soaring popularity. From 2002 through 2019, tequila's volume increased 180%, an average of 6.2% per year, according to trade organization Distilled Spirits Council. Tequila and mezcal revenue totals $6.7 billion annually in the U.S. market, the second-most popular category after vodka. But that growth has led some tequila producers to cut corners. Agave needs up to eight years in the ground before it is ready to harvest but some have been harvesting the crop after just a few years, which can result in a bitter flavor. Brands can mask that flavor by using artificial sweeteners. Otegui says the conversation around additives is misguided because these ingredients are not only found in other spirits categories, including whiskey and rum, but many other food and beverage categories. 'Additives are not harmful,' says Otegui, during our interview about additive-free tequilas at the Jersey City office of Proximo Spirits. 'Tequila is the only one that is being challenged or targeted.' Jose Cuervo uses additives in some expressions, including caramel coloring in Especial Gold, for a more desirable consistency that will allure shoppers. 'You want to go to the shelf and you want to see that your product has the same consistent color every single time and the same flavor every single time,' he explains. Devil's Reserve, a lower proof tequila that debuted in 2024, is also infused with 'natural' flavors, though Proximo doesn't disclose the full ingredient list. He says the industry should stop infighting over additives and instead focus on bigger problems, including maintaining appropriate levels of agave plants and addressing rising demand for water. Some of Jose Cuervo's sustainability initiatives include composting agave byproducts in the fields, the implementation of stillage treatments plants to process wastewater, and reusing agave fiber to create plastic alternatives including straws and cups. The sales growth for tequila has slowed down over the past couple of years, a trend that producers like Jose Cuervo attribute to a reset after the COVID pandemic led to an artificial spike in demand for alcohol. Becle, the Mexican-based parent company of Proximo Spirits, in February reported that total volume declined by 6.2% in 2024 from the prior year, due to a double-digit drop in the highly competitive ready-to-drink category in the U.S. and Canada, and as distributors destocked liquor they had on hand. Otegui struck a positive tone about tequila's future growth prospects, noting that the industry has made inroads in European markets and still has a lot of growth potential in Asia. Within the U.S., market penetration is especially strong in states like California, Texas and Arizona, but tequila still has a lot more room to capture share from rival liquor categories outside those core markets. 'We still believe it is a category that can grow the next 10 to 20 years without seeing the slowdown that we are seeing in other categories,' says Otegui.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How will tariffs affect QCA residents at the grocery store?
New tariffs on items imported from Canada, Mexico and China took effect today. The tariffs are expected to increase prices for many commonly found items in grocery stores. The following list contains these items and their current prices as of March 4, 2025. Our Quad Cities News will check these prices at these stores weekly. Hy-Vee Mexican tequila – Jose Cuervo, 750 ml bottle, $20.99 at Hy-Vee March 4 Canadian whiskey – Fireball, 1.75 liter bottle, $21.99 Avocados – 96 cents each (regular size) Tomatoes – grape tomatoes, 24 oz. $7.99 Crushed tomatoes, 28 oz, $1.99 Ragu spaghetti sauce, chunky tomato garlic & onion, 24 oz, $2.28 Raspberries – 6 oz., $4.99 Bell peppers – green, 86 cents each – red, $1.48 each Strawberries – 1 pound, $3.99 Cucumbers – 76 cents each Jalapenos – $1.99/pound or 30 cents each Limes – 99 cents each Mangos – $1.99 each Maple syrup – $7.98, 8 oz. Fareway Mexican tequila – Jose Cuervo Silver, 750 ml bottle, $19.99 Canadian whiskey – Fireball, 1.75 liter bottle, $29.99 Avocados – $1.50 each (regular size) Tomatoes – grape tomatoes, $2.99/pint Crushed tomatoes, 28 oz, $2.39 Ragu spaghetti sauce, chunky tomato garlic & onion, 24 oz, $2.99 Raspberries – 6 oz., $4.99 Bell peppers – green, $1 each – red, $1.99 each Strawberries – 1 pound, $4.99 Cucumbers – $1 each Jalapenos – $3/pound or 30 cents each Limes – 99 cents each Mangos – $1.50 each Maple syrup – $9.98, 12 oz. Walmart Mexican tequila – Jose Cuervo, 1.5 liter bottle, $32.98 at Hy-Vee March 4 Canadian whiskey – Fireball, 1.75 liter bottle, $22.97 Avocados – 88 cents each (regular size) Tomatoes – grape tomatoes, 24 oz. $5.98 Crushed tomatoes, 28 oz, $1.52 Ragu spaghetti sauce, chunky tomato garlic & onion, 24 oz, $2.24 Raspberries – 6 oz., $3.47 Bell peppers – green, 92 cents each – red, $1.48 each Strawberries – 1 pound, $2.86 Cucumbers – 76 cents each Jalapenos – $1.72/pound or 43 cents each Limes – 25 cents each Mangos – Not available Maple syrup – Import not available for comparison. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Bloomberg
27-02-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Jose Cuervo Maker Sees $80 Million Hit From Potential US Tariffs
Becle SAB, the maker of popular tequila Jose Cuervo, forecast an $80 million impact to its earnings this year if the US moves ahead with a threat to apply tariffs to Mexican products next week. The Mexico City-based company has been boosting inventories in the US, shipping bottles from Mexico and Canada, in anticipation that President Donald Trump will go through with his pledge to start the levies on March 4.
