Tequila Tasting (September 16th, 2019)
This is our 1st Tequila Tasting, it was definitely a ‘survey’, knowing very little about Tequila at the time, it kinda shows, but it was still interesting and enlightening. We have Blanco/Resposado/Anejo/Extra Anejo, all together! We did this one as a group, in person, and we did food pairings with it. Everyone brought something. It’s a good way to build participation.
Since this wasn’t blind I can match the grid to the picture. For blind tastings, obviously when taking the picture, I don’t put it in the tasting order, since the picture is taken before the tasting.
| TT Label | Description | Category | Price (CAD$) | Rating |
| A | Jose Cuervo Reserva de la Familia * | Extra Anejo | $180 | 9.5 |
| B | Cazadores | Resposado | $36 | 6.4 |
| C | Patron | Blanco | $80 | 5.9 |
| D | Don Julio | Anejo | $95 | 7.8 |
| E | Corazon | Extra Anejo | $80 | 8.4 |
| F | Patron XO | Coffee Liqueur | $48 | 7.5 |
* In order to keep the price down, I only charged for the shots on this one, and we didn’t draw for that bottle
The Survey Results
We had 10 participants for this tasting, it was early fall, this is the results of the alcohol. Jose Cuervo was an interesting one, in this one with the group knowing it’s $200/bottle, it got a 9.5 rating, when we did it blind, the same bottle got a 6.5, interesting.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | |
| Jenn D | 10 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 7 | – |
| Christine | 10 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 9 |
| Tara | 9.5 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 7.5 | 6 |
| Jean | 10 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 7 |
| Brad | 9.5 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7.5 | 7.5 |
| Stacie | 9 | 4.5 | 7 | 6.5 | 9 | 8 |
| Leslie | 10 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 6 |
| Neil | 9 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
| Maria | 10 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 9 |
| Marcia | 8 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 7 |
| Total | 95 | 58.5 | 78 | 63.5 | 84 | 67.5 |
So the winner 95 out of a possible 100 (95%), was Jose Cuervo Reserva de la Familia. It’s an Extra Anejo, and comes in a very fancy wood box, that they commission a different artist to design artwork for it, every year. It’s a very dark Extra Anejo, I’ve heard some reviewers don’t like it, since the ungava is pretty well gone at that point, and it tastes more like a whisky. I need to re-taste it, to judge that, since I now know more whiskys. I’ve always liked it, I’m on my 2nd bottle.
The Food Pairings
We learned after our first tasting/pairing, to judge the alcohol first, then the pair of the alcohol with the food. So here’s our results of the food with the alcohol.
| Pairing | Jenn D | Christine | Tara | Jean | Brad | Stacie | Leslie | Neil | Maria | Marcia | Avgl |
| Patron Blanco (Silver) with Shrimp Ceviche | 8 | – | 9 | 7 | 8 | 7.5 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 8.3 |
| Don Julio Anejo with Jalepeno/Bacon Soup | 7 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 5.8 |
| Cazadores Reposado with Guac and Chips | 9 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7.25 |
| Corazon Extra Anejo & Ate Con Queso, Bagette | 5 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 8.5 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 8.2 |
| Patron – Coffee Liquor and Cupcakes ** | 9 | 8 | 8.5 |
It seems by the last pairing, people did fill in their form, so unfortunately the coffee and cupcakes didn’t get a fair shake. Everyone had good time though! We gave the pairing win to the “Patron Blanco with Shrimp Ceviche”, prepared by Stacie! The shrimp ceviche really paired well, since the blanco did poorly by itself.
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