I’m pretty new to tequila. I’ve found five brands available. What do you guys recommend?
Arandas - silver and gold (500)
Jose Cuervo - silver and reposado (550ish)
Lunazul - silver and gold (620)
Sauza - gold (600)
Pepe Lopez - ? - (600)
Go find a bottle of Patron, it’s not cheap (NT$2k+ for a bottle), but it’s way better than all of the cheap stuff, as it actually tastes nice rather than like petrol… Even the cheapest Patron is a 100x better than Jose Cuervo…
patronspirits.com/
For true quality, as in a sipping tequila, what you want is a tequila made of 100% blue agave. It should say so on the bottle. Patron and Herradura are prime, top-shelf tequilas.
Cuervo and Sauza are fine if you’re having margarita parties, or are looking for something that’s not necessarily top shelf. But they’re made of 51% blue agave, with the remainder being cane distillates. I would classify these as mid-shelf tequilas, the minimal line between superior and inferior tequilas.
Avoid Pepe Lopez. Blech.
There’s quite a few top shelf 2000+ bottles at Breeze, but it’s for cocktails, not sipping, and even though I believe in quality ingredients for cocktails, that’s beyond my budget really.
Anyone tried the Lunazel?
I spent ages last night wading through the mess which is spirits reviews on the net, and the best I could come up with was that Jose Cuervo and Pepe Lopez are pretty bad, Lunazel’s alright and nothing on the Suaza or Arandas.
this used to be available in Taiwan.
found it to be better than the standard Cuervo.
Wow, that looks like a bottle of mouth wash…
For completeness I thought I should add that this one is also available (at Wellcome):
Montezuma Aztec Gold
Review suggest it is one of the cheapest and nastiest.
I think I’ll by the Lunazel today or tomorrow.
I bought the Lunazel Reposado. As I said, I’m no expert, but it tastes good to me. It’s certainly way better than the Jose Cuervo, which I also tasted. (Both were open for taste testing at drinks). It was only 589 with membership too. They also have an Anejo for only about 750 or something. The Reposado tasted nice sipped, and great in the Tequila Sunrise that I’m drinking right now. Oh it’s labelled 100% Agave, too.
I’ve never tried it myself. Sounds like you made an excellent choice.
100% agave is the key thing before worrying about brand too much.
Even the mainstream brands like Sauza, Jose Cuervo, etc. put out 100% agave versions. They are just a bit harder to find than the ‘mixto’ (i.e. less than 100% agave) rubbish you find in most bars.
For mixing cocktails involving fruit juice I’d probably be wanting the cheapest 100% agave I could find. For more spirit focused cocktails (i.e. Tequila-based variations on an Old Fashioned or a Manhattan) then it makes more sense to think about using something really top shelf. For sipping straight it just depends what you’re feeling like.
I don’t always value smoothness in a Tequila. Some of the 100% agave tequilas can be rough around the edges, with a nice peppery vegetal character (particularly the blancos) and that can work really well in a cocktail. You don’t always want the base spirit in your drink to be as smooth as possible. The stuff you add is going to smooth things out, so a base that is too smooth could lead to a bland drink.
Monte Alban is pretty good. I believe Carrefour has it.
Monte Alban is mezcal, not a true tequila. That alone doesn’t automatically make it a bad thing!
Yeah. I know. But to me, they are in the same family. And Monte Alban tastes much better than the common Jose Cuervo.
Bump. I’m looking for tequila mainly for cooking, but that’s enjoyable to drink as well (writes someone who may have never had a shot of tequila, and certainly hasn’t done so since ill-fated pub nights decades ago).
Preferably available at a typical Carrefour, or perhaps Jason’s. Any recommendations of one that’s tasty yet won’t break the bank?
[quote=“lostinasia”]Bump. I’m looking for tequila mainly for cooking, but that’s enjoyable to drink as well (writes someone who may have never had a shot of tequila, and certainly hasn’t done so since ill-fated pub nights decades ago).
Preferably available at a typical Carrefour, or perhaps Jason’s. Any recommendations of one that’s tasty yet won’t break the bank?[/quote]
Since my post 4 years ago, the only good one I ever found that doesn’t cost 2000nt or so was the Lunazel available at Drinks.
Thanks! I’ll be looking for it.
One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.
Avoid the one named "Wake up at 3am naked on the hood of your car with your car keys stuck up your {back part of your body}.