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Vancouver’s growing tequila sunrise

Darryl Lamb sipped a reposado tequila Tuesday afternoon and said, “Wet sidewalks, man. It’s like bam!” Lamb, brand manager for Legacy Liquor Store in the former Olympic Village, mused about damp sidewalks about eight tequila tasters in.

Darryl Lamb sipped a reposado tequila Tuesday afternoon and said, “Wet sidewalks, man. It’s like bam!”

Lamb, brand manager for Legacy Liquor Store in the former Olympic Village, mused about damp sidewalks about eight tequila tasters in.

Bartender Kevin Brownlee called one “buttery.”

They were two of 10 judges, including two Courier staffers, picking the top 10 People’s Choice Award Tequila finalists for the fourth annual Vancouver International Tequila Expo May 30.

We sipped 13 tequilas altogether, seven añejos, which have been aged one to three years, five reposados, aged two to 12 months, and one blanco, or the clear stuff people are most familiar with shooting, which is bottled shortly after distillation.

One of the añejos smelled like the kind of tequila that makes you go “gah” after it’s gone down, but it transformed into a creamy caramel-like substance on the tongue. A rose-hued reposado laced with hibiscus conjured images of summer barbecues and another sweet selection set the stage for dessert.

Manuel Otero, a founding partner of the tequila expo, told the Courier in 2012 that organizers wanted to create more demand to see more brands of tequila in local liquor stores.

The annual event, combined with growing community of 5,000 Mexicans in B.C., more taquerias popping up in Vancouver and 1.8 million Canadians visiting Mexico each year developing a taste for the local libation, appears to have worked.

Otero says the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch featured only five brands of tequila when he started importing it in 1994. Lamb says the LDB now features up to 20. (If you search for tequila in the LDB online catalogue, 48 products pop up.)

“It’s over $20 million of tequila [sales in B.C. per year] and growing,” Otero said.

Legacy maybe carried 20 brands of tequila in 2012. Now it slings 90 brands of tequila and mezcal, the same quantity that expo-goers will be able to sample on the May 30 event.

The tequila expo has expanded from a one-day event to Vancouver Agave Week, May 25 to 30 while the expo’s attendance numbers have more than doubled.

The East Van Taco Safari, which visits five taco joints for tortilla-based treats, tequila and mezcal, swiftly sold out.

Otero said tickets to the Downtown Food and Agave Safari, May 28, which transports tequila tasters on a trolley to restaurants that include Joe Fortes, Coast and Left Bank, “a French restaurant, believe it or not,” Otero said, are going fast.

For the first year, the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts will host an evening of cooking and pairing with agave, May 27, and Legacy Liquor Store will host and onsite shop featuring products available at the show.

The Peloton de La Muerte Cocktail Competition will return to the grand tasting for the second year to show tequila and mezcal-wielding newbies this type of liquor can be mixed into more than margaritas.

Last year, Brownlee won the mixing competition. He concocted a strawberry and black pepper liqueur, infused the Peloton de La Meurte mezcal with Serrano chilies and raw cacao, and mixed these ingredients with fresh lime juice, simple sugar and Peychaud’s bitters. Garnishing the creation was a hollowed-out green chili filled with white chocolate and red chili flakes, to symbolize the Mexican flag.

To ensure bartenders are intimately acquainted with mezcal and tequila, Otero said the expo has donated more than $20,000 to the B.C. Hospitality Foundation to make sure bartenders are up to speed on all things agave.

Otero advises drinkers to check that tequila is made from 100 per cent blue agave, not agave mixed with other sugars. He says a good blanco costs as little as $26, a reposado $100-plus and añejos $150 to $300.

“I’ve got a friend who’s got a $1,000 bottle of añejos in his house. I
tried it. It was fantastic,” he said.

At that price, you don’t want to knock it back.

“It’s still OK to shoot it for celebrations,” Otero reassured.

For more information, see vantequilaexpo.com.

crossi@vancourier.com
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