Tequila. Once the preserve of novelty t-shirts bearing prescient legends (“one tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor”), tequila has since stepped up to fill the gin-shaped hole in the market, gin having done a James Corden and become so ubiquitous that people started to hate it.
Where once it was a spirit solely for students and stag parties, drunk almost in exclusively in gut-shuddering shots, it has become the it-drink of the moment. Hotel bars are lining their top shelves with great painted bottles of the stuff, pulling them down for Palomas and highballs, or for shimmering clear glasses drunk the same way as whisky. It turns out there is more to tequila than Jose Cuervo.
Not necessarily known for being quick off the mark, celebrities have nevertheless cottoned on. It’s probably handsome George Clooney’s fault; he and a mate started making their own tequila, Casamigos, apparently just for themselves and a handful of pals. Apparently, allegedly. It’s not hard to be sceptical, given Clooney and his crew later sold it for about a billion.
And look, I don’t want to be a cynic here, but I think it may have been that billion dollars that suddenly inspired a fresh roster of celebs to suddenly find their new favourite drink. The stuff must be pretty easy to source, too; you seemingly don’t require the resources of George Clooney to get a few cases of the stuff together. I understand that, say, Puff Daddy or The Rock might be able to get a brand off the ground, but finding out the Backstreet Boys have skin in the game was a surprise.
The one that’s really been doing the round lately is 818, Kendall Jenner’s get rich(er) quick(er) scheme. It’s been a sell-out in the US, was being knocked back at the Oscars, and a little while back made it over here, too. I’ve no idea what ties Jenner to tequila, though there is a fairly amusing photo of her drinking the stuff straight from the bottle with a straw. The internet threw a bit of a hissy fit about that one, slamming her for being irresponsible which, let’s look a little closer here, is patently unfair: Jenner clearly has no idea how to use a straw, given the bottle remains full. Someone needs to drag her for a night on the tiles with the rugby lads at any red brick uni — although, granted, getting a taste for strawpedo-ing spirits might start to put a dent in the modelling career.
Given 818 has become a mainstay of TikTok, it seemed only sensible to give it a try. In the video above, we put it in with three other blanco tequilas in an entirely blind tasting. The other knocked back are Rita Ora’s Prospero, Clooney’s now-sold Casamigos and guitarist Carlos Santana’s Casa Noble (expected to be, er, Smooth). You can watch the results above. There’s more to tequila than Jose Cuervo, then, but it turns out that perhaps there shouldn’t be.
818, £49.99, selfridges.com
Prospero, £40.95, thewhiskyexchange.com
Casamigos, £65, waitrosecellar.com
