Bottling Infused Tequila… and an Entrepreneurial Dream

[inline:teq] While Bros hold down jobs of all types, there is no career aspiration more common among us than the prospect of becoming a successful entrepreneur. What Bro hasn't had an idea for a new business and dreamed of making it big -- and yes, striking it rich? And so, every week, BroBible picks the mind of a successful Bro entrepreneur and discovers what it takes to turn a simple idea into a thriving business. You've already met Maverik Lacrosse's John Gagliardi, Tap'd Founder Craig Zucker, New York party promoters Derek and Daniel Koch, TOMS shoes founder Blake Mycoskie, sports agent Doug Eldridge, Hollywood agent Ben Press, and YouRenew.com co-founder Rich Little Hale. Up next is Jonathan Rojewski, who founded Tanteo Tequila, a new premium spirits company that offers Jalapeno-, Tropical-, and Chocolate-infused tequilas. Rojewski debuted Tanteo in his hometown of New York City this past year, and already has plans to expand to California, Florida, Texas, and beyond. Rojewski spoke to BroBible recently about the intricacies to tequila production and the intoxication of pursuing an entrepreneurial dream. Check back later this week for Tanteo Tequila cocktail recipes. BroBible: Why the jump from finance into premium tequila? Jonathan Rojewski: I was spending a long time in Mexico in the early 2000 years, traveling and surfing, and really just got into tequila. Before I was in finance I worked as a chef and thought was going to be my ultimate career path. And so the whole culinary component of the world and wine and spirits. and they all worked together was something that I was always very interested in. And so one thing just kind of lead to another, and the accessibility of the tequila world in Mexico -- people tend to be pretty amazing and pretty open. So I just started learning about it. Going to Guadalajara, a great under-appreciated city I think and Tequila is about an hour outside of there and just found some distilleries and started learning the craft, started infusing tequila of on my own, just as a hobby. In March of 2006 the government body that regulates tequila changed the standard and essentially allowed for infused tequilas to exist, where they hadn't been previously. Tequila has an appellation of origin, like Scotch or Champagne, and has to be made according to the standards set forth by the CRT is the acronym: the Regulatory Council of Tequila. And so that preparation on my end, the desire to build a brand, came together in this really nice confluence of events. And the opportunity to do something as a small player in a really competitive, large industry was contingent upon that change. To be able to be one of the first people to go out there to be able to work to get a product done that was artisan style, catering to the modern tastes of what was happening in the cocktail culture here in the United States. The tequila revolution almost was taking off from 2000 on was when you really started to see the numbers really jump. There's one particular big-dog tequila out there that everybody kind of knows now and they've done a lot of the education of the consumer. The mixed tequila that gave the product such a bad reputation is a $20 bottle of tequila. Now kind of the standard in a lot of places is a bottle of tequila that's $50. Can you explain the difference between a well, frat party, Aristocrat tequila and the premium tequilas?

Rojewski: Essentially, after prohibition there was a huge demand for alcohol. And not enough supply. And Mexico was a good source for booze and the Mexicans started cutting the tequila that they made to increase the amount they could sell with sugar water. Essentially any distillation is a liquid that has some kind of sugar content in it. You add yeast, the yeast eats the sugar, which releases carbon dioxide and alcohol and that fermented solution is then distilled one, two, four, six times, depending on the alcohol. That's what's mixed tequila is. That's the inexpensive stuff and one of the reasons that it doesn't taste great and gives you bad hangovers is because you have a mixture of two types of sugars. The agave juice is the natural, mythical liquid that creates tequila that's fructose and then sucrose is obviously what's in sugar. From sugarcane. And we all know that too much sugar in drinks is a surefire way of getting a bad hangover. That's kind of what the standard was for years. And then the other three main types of tequila are blanca, which are 100% agave, that's unaged, that's the white stuff, tends to be a little bit more fiery, have a little bit more character. That's the stuff I kind of like. Then Reposada means "rested." And that's aged up to a year and by law you have to age tequila in white oak barrels. And then there's Anejo, which is aged up to three years. And through all that time there was only four types of tequila you could have. And then March of '06 when they changed the rules, they amended them to include infused or flavored tequilas, and then the other one is Extra Anejo, which is aged three years or greater, and so that's sort of where we are today. There have been some players that have tried to take a stab at it of doing some flavored products but in my opinion they've gone about it in totally the wrong way. They've tried to use flavorings from flavor companies to try to put some flavor in mixed tequilas and created a poor quality product. When clearly the consumer is looking for a high-quality, 100-percent Agave product and they're not going to be fooled, especially with the way the cocktail culture has really just continued to grow and grow and grow. And so basically the idea for Tanteo was to take advantage of all that, what I thought was a trend that was going to really grow with the tequila. Because people were clearly recognizing it as a spirit that was really fun to work with, that it was totally not the same sort of alcohol that it probably had the reputation for, and the sensibilities of New York. I've lived downtown in SoHo for about 10 years and the whole personality of the product is staying true to the history and heritage in terms of distillation process, but we're doing something very modern and progressive by infusing it. We use all natural, fresh ingredients. We have big tanks down at the distillery and we buy all the ingredients at local markets, and they're all processed, all the jalapenos for the jalapeno tequila are processed by hand. Same thing with the fruit, same thing with the chocolate. Can you explain why you picked your three flavors? Rojewski: The Jalapeno was sort of a no-brainer to me, because that was what I had already been working with just on my own before when I was infusing it. It was something I like to drink, and I thought it was kind of a no-brainer. It makes great margartias. So that was sort of where we started. And then while I was living down there working on the project, the next thing was inspired by, if you go pretty much anywhere in Mexico, you see these little fruit cart stands. These guys sell chopped up fruit in cups, and they sprinkle traditionally it's lime juice and salt, and chili pepper or jalapenos or whatever on your fruit. And that's kind of what that is. What the Tropical is is sort of an interpretation of that. We worked with lots of different fruits and fruit combinations to find a good balance between the Agave and the fruit and then there's a little bit of jalapeno infusion that's added to that whole blend. All the tequilas are all multiple infusions that are then blended together in a formula to get to what I think is a good balance between everything. So that to me I thought was authentic Mexican. You've got your 100% Agave tequila, you've got fruits that are indigenous to the country, you have a little bit of jalapeno in there inspired by this fruit from the fruit carts. What's the best type of drink for the Tropical Tanteo? Rojewski: We've got lots and lots of recipes. Anything from the basic margarita to others that have been designed by master mixologists here in the city at different restaurants. They go from the basic to the very complicated. We do one that's a takeoff of the Hemingway drink -- the Papa Doble -- we call it the Doble Especial. And that's the drink Hemingway made famous but we substitute Tropical tequila and grapefruit juice and a little bit of lime juice and some maraschino cherry liqueur, and a little bit of agave nectar. Great drink. And the chocolate? Rojewski: The chocolate is one of my favorite places to go in breakfast in Guadalajara has sort of famous for their mole sauces. And they use a lot of moles in breakfast dishes like chilaquiles and eggs. And mole sauce is essentially this raw chcoolate, unsweetened, and chiles, and some sort of stock and so on. And so the Chocolate is an interpretation of that too. Chocolate is Mexican and we use raw cacao beans and different roasts of them and then they are infused into the tequila. There' s a little bit of vanila in there and a little bit of jalapeno. And we don't add any extra sugar to any of the infusions. So what you get is something that is not -- chocolate is tough because really it should be called mole, but for obvious reasons, we didn't need Americans running around thinking that you're making a mole tequila. [Laughter] It's not sweet, it's not syrupy, it's beautifully amber colored and it's got some really amazing reviews and is pretty special and most of the time people drink that on the rocks. Sells well as a digestif or an aperitif in finer dining restaurants. There's a lot of premium spirits out there, so how are you standing out from the rest? You're based out of and are only offered in New York for the moment, so how have you used the city in your marketing strategy? Rojewski: The whole idea before when I was thinking about whether this could really have a chance of working, the economic climate at the time, the growth in the category, and the fact that there was this recent change in the standard all really sort of played into, O.K., check the box, that works, that works, that works, and especially most importantly the competition, and the lack thereof. There is no reason why someone would want to bring a new product to market that has a new vodka or a new plain tequila or a new gin, I don't see it. I would never do it. I think it's far too competitive and the only way that I see that one can have success in that is just to spend a tremendous amount of money. Because you're essentially paying for the consumer to choose your brand over another brand that is essentially the same product. And you have to do the same thing with the bartenders and the restaurants, and you're just paying all the time. Millions and millions and millions of dollars before you really even have a realistic shot. I think the thing about Tanteo is, it has no direct competition, and if it goes onto a drink menu or somebody sees it, they don't even have to recognize the brand in order to think to themsleves, 'Wow, I'd really like to try that jalapeno margarita. Spicy margarita? no brainer.' Every place that sells Mexican food or Southwest or Tex-Mex or whatever have you, people put spicy margaritas on the menu and they sell. So the marketing strategy really is to have people taste the product and get it on to places where people can actually see it. Because the restaurants and the bartenders like it, they want to work with it, it's unique and they have seen increases in sales because they're offering something new and unique. For consumers, it's not so niche, that's the other part of it -- some people bring about products that are very, very niche products that only really appeal to a certain small subsection of the cocktail pool that really doesn't necessarily have a good chance of really having a lot of exposure in the broader markets. Margaritas are 38% of all cocktails sold in the country. Oh wow. Rojewski: 55% of the tequila consumed in the United States is by women, so we're not asking people to really say, 'O.K. drink a Jenever or start your night out with absinthe' or some of these really obscure types of things. You're where people are naturally going and they're going to say, 'Oh, I want a margarita.' Bartender goes to make a margarita and they say, 'Oh, we have this jalapeno tequila, you should really try it, it's great. Done. It's a very simple process, which we didn't want to overcomplicate for anyone. And that sort of plays in the New York because that was something I was seeing here in the places I went -- downtown restaurants and places like Milk and Honey that were opening up back years ago one of the first real cocktail places that didn't have a phone number, was in behind a tailor shop and so on. And these were things you could really see here in the United States -- great high-quality infusions that other people were doing whether it be with vodkas or some tequilas or so on. Death and Co., which is a cool cocktail spot -- after I started this project, they were open and they were doing some infused tequilas, so you could really see places popping up that were supporting what I thought was really going to be taking place. I never intended to have those types of establishments stop infusing their own products and buy Tanteo, because their business models were premised upon the perception that they have great handle on how to create spirits and infusions, it's a whole process, it's a whole display. But we have had a number of places, Shang restaurant, which is in the Thompson Lower East Side Hotel, they had a big mixologist and produce their drink menu and they had a chili-infused tequila as one of their cocktails and they just kept having problems because of consistency of heat and flavor and so on. And one of the bartenders had heard about Tanteo and suggested it to the chef and manager and everything and they swapped it out, and it's one of their best, #2-selling cocktail over there, depending on the month. The quality and the consistency of the product, you can infuse your own things at some places, but you're not going to do a better job at it than using multiple infusions, blended together, filtered through, low-micron German filters and the whole deal, we have to consider everything. And relative to the other part of the marketing plan is trying to do things in a natural, organic way, because most bigger brands that are out there, they're not super dialed-in to the influencers, they have to pay. So again you're paying out of your pocket. To pay for this chain of people to get involved so that they can hopefully get you involved with those influencers. For me, I'm in touch with those type of "influencers" by phone call, and so that was the other key part of the marketing strategy is just being able to have our product in the hands of those people that are going to be the big influencers and we can do it in a way that's natural to them because it's not some big corporation or a big budgeted spirt trying to be a wolf in sheep's clothing. We're actually really doing it. To have sort of a New York, downtown brand or spirit kind of like a local band and that whole sort of mentality, where you're playing the small clubs, people are really wanting to come and see your project, we've really aligned ourselves with some cool spots and we do a lot of events over at Milk Studios, which is a big production studio that does all big fashion shoots that has multiple floors, they have a gallery, and digital spaces and casting and production. Talk about the right kind of people that are flowing through that spot everyday. And by being there it gives us credibility, because it's a good association and you're reaching the same people, or at least a percentage of the same people, over and over and over again. It's that repition that really sort of seals that brand loyalty and helps create that long-lasting emotional bond to a brand. And normally people do that through, you know, other brands. When you're massive, people have to do that through advertising, through other types of outreach. But for us we're small enough where we can do all these types of natural, organic types of outreach that really work to seal us a great, downtown modeling for what we're doing. You mentioned the influencers who are able to expedite a brand's popularity. Do you have any plans to align ourselves with a pop culture figure or do you plan to do it more organically? Rojewski: We don't have any specific plans, it's not written down in the marketing plan that by this date we want to have some celebrities that are going to be supporting this brand. It's not the way I run things. If it happens naturally or organically then that's consistent with the personality of the brand. So we by definition in just the normal course of what we do and who we know, there are celebrities and musicians -- Ben Harper being one in particular -- who are fans of the products. Harper loves the chocolate -- has it on the tour bus with him -- but we don't promote it like that, it's just the way it is. Are you sold retail? Rojewski: We're about 20 retail stores in the city right now, and about 80 bars or restaurants. We really only had up until recently just one salesman who was out really pushing the product and so the results that we've had for the resources that we've thrown at it so far have been pretty extraordinary. You also have to consider the state of the economy. And the fact that we're bringing out a new serious product in that environment and in the winter time. Tequila is typically not considered a winter drink. We've hried other people, we're bringing on another group of four people over the summertime and then I think what we're hoping to do is start in California and Florida and Texas starting in the fall. Nice, so start that expansion. Rojewski: Got some people ready on the ground and just need to pull the trigger and get ready to go. We've made 4,000 cases. And are you still working off that? Rojewski: 4,000 cases doesn't sound like that much compared to the some of the top three -- Cuervo, Sauza, and Patron -- are selling 8 million cases a year between the three of them which is a little less than 80% of all tequila sold. But that's still like 50,000 bottles for you guys? Rojewski: Right. {teqbot}How important is the shape and contour of the bottle, because we know that's one of the cool ways of differentiating yourselves in the industry? Rojewski: Good question. One of the guiding principles of the brand is a blend of modern tradition and contemporary design. And so I started out I've got an old whiskey bottle from like the early 1800s, it's beat up, it's old, it looks like it just washed up on a shore. It started with that idea. glass bottom, really rugged construction because manufacturing techniques weren't that so sophisticated back then. Something raw and traditional and old, and so, all right, let's go from there. Let's not make our job any harder than it is and looked at what sort of the traditional tequila bottles -- they're squatty and short, which is fine, but if tequila is really growing, which means people are drinking it more and more, which means that its in bars and we want to be part of the cocktail culture, we need something that's going to fit into the rail that has some functionality to it, that's easy to use. We went out and interviewed a lot of different bartenders and restaurateurs, and found they all pretty much universally hate all those bottles. Tough to work with, pour spouts don't fit in them, and there's an average 10 percent or so of liquor loss associated with them. So that kind of drove the overall shape, that we wanted something that was going to be tall and skinny and then blending masculine and feminine forms into that bottle to give it a nice silhouette where it's proud and tall but also slender and feminine at the same time. And then you'll see on the bottle there are rings around the neck, some ridges, and those are put in there so that when the bartenders grab the bottle, it sort of fits right where your ring finger would go when you pick up the bottle to pour, so it has a little bit of an ergonomic grip to it. So I tried to have tradition, contemporary design, masculine, feminine, and then functionality. What have been the biggest challenges... other than the economy? Rojewski: The economy for us really didn't play a tremendous role in what we were doing. Because when you're starting from a base of zero and you're basically choosing which accounts you want to focus on out of the gate, you're gonna focus on places that are strong, that have been around, that are going to do good numbers. Now that wound up taking longer to getting into some of the more corporate accounts but ironically the entrepreneurial accounts seemed to be more apt to pick up the product and this is because -- and this was a surprise to us -- that, hey look, with what's going on, we need ways to keep the consumer in, to keep the consumer buying. And having something that is totally unique like these Tanteo products are actually going to keep people interested and they might buy one extra drink instead of a boring vodka tonic. The creativity and the flexibility that comes with these owner-operated places, where they're really just always in the trenches, trying to figure out new ways to drive revenues, and that's kind of really worked for them. We've had a number of places basically say after the winter time, they're re-ordering Tanteo and they're re-ordering Patron, and that's it. Nothing else is moving. Getting the product made was very difficult. How do I say this gently? It's another country, Mexico. They don't necessarily do things like New Yorkers do them. And as a small, small player, it's difficult to get to be put first in line for anything. And so the timelines -- everyone says it takes longer and it costs more money, well that's true, but you know if you multiply whatever that situation was by multiples and that's a challenge. Managing expectations relative to what actually happens and what you're told. Eventually stuff gets done. But just trying to keep people motivated, keep on a good time schedule, and try to manage costs. Has the swine flu or any of the drug wars impacted anything for you down there? Rojewski: No, Guadalajara seems to be pretty insulated. It's a great city, lot of Spanish influence there in Guadalajara. It's a very wealthy town and city, basically a lot of the minerals and metals and so on all came out of the mountains there and then were shipped out via the Puerto Vallarta port. And so it's still a great super town, and what I heard was, that there are a lot of narcos, which they call them, they are in Guadalajara, but a lot of it moved to Monterrey years and years ago. And then these big beautiful mansions, communities in Monterrey, which was also quiet for a number of years, where everything was pretty much done a 180, because that's where all the narcos were living. They're just kind of hiding out and blending in with normal society. And then they got kind of woken up by the recent activities by the government. So it's only, Guadalajara is only about three million people I think, so it's still pretty small. Do you have any advice for the budding entrepreneur? Rojewski: The number one thing I would say is do your homework. We live in an age where information is so readily accessible and there is no reason not to have spent, I think for me, I spent two or three months just doing solid bottoms up, fundamental research on this project and I think it's easy to get really really over-excited about jumping into something because the prospect of pursuing an entrepreneurial dream or a vision is pretty intoxicating. But by doing thorough analysis and thorough homework in front of whatever you're gonna do, it can save you so much time and potentially a lot of money in the onset of what you're doing. So that's number one for me: doing your homework. What's on tap for the next few months? Rojewski: We have a lot going on. We're moving into a new office and we're building sort of a clubhouse. It's gonna be a combination of bringing some part of that distillery feel and a lot of antiques that we've bought in Mexico that we've had brought to the United States, and we're going to decorate that and that's going to kind of serve as a cool little spot. So we're working on that. That's going to be built all summer, so that's going to take up time. We will be out in the Hamptons, so we'll be doing a couple of events out there. And we've also got a couple ideas that we're going to be do here in the city. We've really worked hard. We've got a project called Operation Spring Fling, and it's really aligning ourselves with a couple of the higher-end outdoor spaces here in the city, because we think there are going to be a lot more people here this summer than there have been before given everything that's happening, and you know there's such a much greater supply of outdoor venues than there used to be. All the rooftops. Rojewski: Yeah, all the rooftops. We're going to be doing a bunch of things, trying to bring some of that Hamptons type of activities here to the city, because I think it's a cool play on the whole idea, saying, you know, who needs to go all the way out there? You're here in the city, let's bring some of that here to you. Let's bring some of that fun and excitement of the beach and clambakes and do some things here or out on some boats in the Hudson.