Tiff Christie
It would seem that markets around the world, but particularly in the United States, can't get enough of tequila. According to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, tequila's popularity has risen to such an extent that they predict that it is set to overtake vodka this year. But what does it take to set up a tequila brand in 2023? And is there still room for new brands to make an impact in the market? To find out more, we talk to Drake Screws, founder of tequila brand La Caza, about establishing a brand, the insatiable consumer appetite for the spirit and fermenting to classical music. Thank you for joining us, Drake.

Drake Screws
Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

Tiff Christie
Now, I believe La Caza actually means the hunt. What are you hunting?

Drake Screws
It does. It does, besides the fact that my family and everybody involved is passionate about the outdoors and hunting and that aspect. It actually was a perfect fit for the brand when we were creating it because it took so long to hunt for the right aspects of what we were trying to build and what we were looking for in a distillery and getting into the market. It was kind of it was a good play on word and brand name, just because we were hunting to build community with this brand and try to, you know, try to bring people together.

Tiff Christie
I believe setting it up was quite lengthy. Do you want to take us through the process?

Drake Screws
Sure, yeah, it definitely. It definitely took a long time. I started working on it back in 2014. So definitely had a lot of speed bumps, trial and error along the way.
While I started it I was still in college, so it was really a part-time process for me, you know, fully taking the time to understand the market over the years.
And the first thing I did was identify how do you find these places that actually make the tequila in Jalisco?
So I started logging on back then in 2014 to any information I could find in the CRT world, the government, you know, anything, Jalisco and I started finding the list of distilleries and starting marking them out on the map, and I made my first trip down to Mexico in 2015.
And ever since I went down the first time, I fell in love with it, and so I started flying back and forth for the next 18 months when I could fit it into my school schedule, and I visited 60 distilleries over that time period and it was more or less almost not even identifying who we were trying to work with at that time. It was more of just I want to fully grasp and understand the industry down here before, you know, coming over to the States and understanding it over here. So I kind of broke it up in parts. So it's really understanding what happens where it's actually made, and so that just took a long time to identify and go through the pros and cons of each distillery that we did come across, and during that time, it was making a list of what you're looking for. It was expansion within the distillery capacity, all those things and the communication level with the distiller, and so we ended up finding the Rovonco family and that was the first step in building it.

Tiff Christie
How does a college student, especially back in 2015, develop an interest in tequila?

Drake Screws
We had a ranch here in South Texas. My dad has always been a tequila guy, growing up and then having a ranch. He always used to make ranch waters, which are now a mainstream cocktail in the world, but back then, in 2014 and prior, they really weren't a mainstream cocktail yet. They were very selective. Only a few places really did them. Everybody kind of had their certain way of how they liked to make them. But my dad actually would make them in a pitcher, and everybody would come out to the ranch Every time they'd leave, they'd call, or they'd text or whatever and ask, hey, I'm at the store, what do I buy to make those?
Or what's in it? Can you send me the recipe? It just became so much that I figured I was like, man, there's got to be a way to possibly premake this or can it, or bottle it or whatnot. And at that time nothing was on the market and so I bought a canner, bought some CO2 and bought some cans and concentrated mix and I started making my own at the house and I got pretty good at it and I took it to a distributor and just wanted to get their take on it, their idea, and he told me that it was a really cool idea, really cool product, but the problem is, where are we going to put it?
Because stores don't know what to do with premixed cocktails at that time. And he told me, if I really wanted to get into the game, you need to set out and go make a main spirit and get a following, and then you can always do cans later. And so that was kind of what I did. And like a year and a half after that, the can market just kind of exploded with certain things coming out, and so I was like, well, it's okay, it was still great advice.

Tiff Christie
And just out of curiosity, will you eventually do a ranch water in a can?

Drake Screws
We don't have any interest in getting into the can market. We have something else that's in the works, but it's not in a can.

Tiff Christie
There are, as we all know, a lot of Tequila brands on the market. What made you think that it was worthwhile to start another?

Drake Screws
So what really identified it is in Texas. It's a little hard for someone to grasp that, because they walk down an aisle at your local specs or Total Wine or one of these places and you're like, oh my gosh, they've got two aisles or one full aisle of brands. How can they all compete? How can they possibly do that? Then you look outside of Texas and you start looking at other states and looking at other these markets and there's not near the amount of brands or competition in these other states. And that's a good identifier that, okay, there is room for growth in this market for brands to come in.
And another thing is, I'd say this kind of leads into almost the education piece of it. I can't tell you how many people ask me all the time so where do y'all distill it here in Austin? And that makes me think, okay, there's a lot of room for growth here in this market, just because the education piece is still lacking. And I think with more brands getting involved and people doing more advertising and those types of things, I think there's a lot of room for growth for sure.

Tiff Christie
Talking about education, how much education do you think is still needed? Are people asking for tequila and drinking tequila without really understanding what it is?

Drake Screws
Yeah, I mean it's still you got your typical bar scene that different age groups will just go in there and say, hey, I want a tequila soda lime. It's something very basic, really regular, but they don't even they don't know what type of tequila is being poured in there and that aspect. And so I think, as the market keeps evolving and we have more aficionados getting into the game, more people starting to listen in to these podcasts and start getting more educated on behind the spirits part of it, and I think we'll see an improvement in the market and the education side of it too. I mean, you're always going to have your cheaper brands and your adage of tequila is those types of things Like that's always going to be there. At the same time, it's not horrible that they're there. There's still a market for them, like in the Wells, and even if somebody's drinking that, it's still keeping them engaged in the tequila market. So it's not a full loss if they are drinking something that's not particularly great at that moment.

Tiff Christie
Now it seems to me you've done an enormous amount of research. How do you think that research has come through in the tequila that you've made?

Drake Screws
I mean, it's been major?
I think yes, it did take us a long time to get to where we're at and, like I said, there was a lot of trial and error and roadblocks and financial struggles that you have along the way when you don't have a bag full of money, Just throw it something and see if it works.
So the research that we did and the team that we put together over the years was crucial to arrive at what we have today, which was understanding the true difference between the equipment of how the product is stilled, where the agave is actually being sourced, what type of water they're using and everything more of getting into the fine details of it instead of picking up the phone and just saying, hey, can you make me a tequila? It's really being invested and involved and I can 100% guarantee you that your product will be a lot better if you actually get involved and you want it to sustain in the market and have a great profile moving forward. It's really just getting invested in it and spending that time on quality control and double checking your product every step of that way.

Tiff Christie
With so many large brands and multinational brands, how difficult is it on a shoestring budget, to start a brand in the liquor industry today?

Drake Screws
It's incredibly tough. You've got to be prepared to take a lot of punches.
You're going to get told no, a lot by a lot of different outlets in the market retailers, host sellers, whatever it might be because at the end of the day, yes, you've made a great product, you've done the branding, you've got it in a bottle, you're ready to go.

But at the end of the day, all those individuals that are taking you into the market we are a number to them and everybody's a business, and so they're looking at it from the bottom line of going okay, well, he doesn't technically have the budget to market or go up against this other brand that we carry. How do we differentiate ourselves in a cost way to break into the market? And that's really identifying who you are in, understanding your dollar right up front. And instead of going out into the market and just going to go blast and not really have a path forward, you really need to identify an area that you want to be in. You need to stick in that area and try to win market space. And that would be my kind of advice to anybody that was getting into the market and is really find a home base and just try to win market space there.

Tiff Christie
And what has yours been?

Drake Screws
Yours has been here in Austin. Texas has been tried to try to win market space here in Texas To kind of build on that. Texas in particular is very hard right now to break into and to win market space because there's so many brands that are based out of here and so you go into some other states it's a little easier. But we're trying to win market space here Orlando, florida and Cleveland and Columbus Ohio. I think if you identify what you're able to do and what your dollars can be utilized the best in those markets, you can start to really win some market space and try to get liquor to lips.

Tiff Christie
You are based in Austin. How difficult or easy has it been for you to therefore compete against brands that are purely Mexican?

Drake Screws
That's a good question, I would say. I mean it hasn't been too difficult because most of the tequila consuming market that's over here in the United States is 80% American, and so when you're looking at a Mexican brand or a Mexican owned brand, there are a lot of different variations and, I would say, everybody's palate. So people that are from Mexico, they have a much stronger palate than us Americans over here. They're able to really try something that's, I would say, a little bit more bold, more raspah. But when you bring that profile like that over to the American consumer, they're just not prepared for that. They want something that's really soft, really smooth, doesn't burn, doesn't make you have that tequila face that a lot of people do. I think there's a lot there that has to do with separating yourself away from a truly Mexican owned brand and profile compared to somebody that's more on the American side that's producing it or trying to bring it to the market.

Tiff Christie
So does that mean that you would describe your tequilas as being quite soft and quite approachable?

Drake Screws
Very soft, very approachable, easy to drink, has great flavor. You know all of our tequilas have a real cooked agave taste to them and so it mixes really well in a cocktail. You taste enough of the tequila without it tasting, I would say, like alcohol, like real strong, real strong alcohol. So there's a real good balance right there.

Tiff Christie
What would you say is the distinguishing difference with your tequilas, though to a lot of what is on the market? Aside from the softness and the approachability, is there a flavor differentiation?

Drake Screws
So one thing that we do strive on is that we are filtered one time before our product, which is, it's not super common in the market, but there's a reason of why we wanted to do that, because we did not want to filter out every sediment or everything that comes with the natural flavor of cooking agave. I feel like if you filter it way too much, it's going to be getting on the lines of avatka or getting on the lines of made with a diffuser or an autoclave or something like that, which are still fine, but it's not what we wanted to really strive for. So definitely being filtered and then owning our own barrels and being really passionate about the aging process of that tequila.

Tiff Christie
Now you brought out your three tequilas, your Blanco, your Reposado and your Añejo, all at the same time. Why did you choose to do that?

Drake Screws
So that was more of a market demand or request. We tried the going in with just our Blanco, even though we had everything ready. At the same time we were still able to store. But meeting with all these distributors over here and them trying to get it into the market, it was really them saying hey, if we're going to take you on, or if we're going to really take you into the market, we're going to need all three. It's going to be really hard to come into the market if you're not going the celebrity route or using somebody and just having a Blanco. They were like you really need to have the other three paired with it and I think that's going to give us selling point edge. So that was really the only reason why we decided to act on releasing all three.

Tiff Christie
One of the distinguishing features of your tequila is your fermentation. You ferment to the sound of classical music.

Drake Screws
That's right.

Tiff Christie
What difference does music make to that process?

Drake Screws
There's a romance to it. That's been a method that's been around for a long time. I was a professor at a school in the city of Cedar named Sepolo Salis. Back in the day I was implementing that classical music into his fermentation process and thought it would really serenade the tequila and the cooking process along the way and I think everybody really found that great. There's over in Japan and some of the foreign countries where they do whiskey, they're fermenting and they say that it really helps with exfoliating the notes within the fermentation process. Is there a way to really understand that in full depth? I don't know, but I know it's a cool process and I love it. Every time I walk into the facility and I hear it, the vibrations. They might have something to do with it within that 32,000 liter vat. It's a cool thing that we do.

Tiff Christie
A lot of people would say that the US is going through an agave golden age. Do you see the trend towards tequila and mezcal continuing to tempt consumers?

Drake Screws
going forward. I do. I would say right now I'd see a bigger growth on the mezcal side. I think that's becoming more and more of a trend. One is that I see it more in the brick and mortar side. We're starting to see more mezcal bars pop up throughout the area, much more than a tequila bar, which I find really fascinating that we're seeing this brick and mortar front of all these mezcal bars but not really on the tequila side.
And so I think that's just coming with the romance of how mezcal is made. It's a little more expensive and it's got a unique flavor to it. But I think more and more people are just starting to gradually get into that more. I think we're still going to see an uptick over the next five years with both spirits tequila and mezcal just because I think there's more room in the market and I feel that maybe in five years that we might see a little bit of a burnout of this celebrity craze, of just every celebrity getting involved, whether it's a mezcal or tequila. I think we might see it filter off maybe in several years, just because it's going to get to the point where it's too gimmicky.

Tiff Christie
Back to earlier about the tequila being really good in cocktails. What sort of cocktails would you recommend that someone try and make with this when they buy a bottle?

Drake Screws
Of course we really love ranch waters here, but your standard paloma is really great. I love making that one with the reposado. I think it just gives it a great flavor with that grapefruit. It's a really nice touch. Another one that's been surprising that really been a big one for us is actually old-fashioned making with our reposado and in Yeho, Since our aged tequilas are a little more bold. They're sweet, bold, but still smooth. They have almost a bourbon flair to them. I think anything that is a bourbon-based type of cocktail can really be translated over to our repo or our Yeho.

Tiff Christie
What do you want people to take away from their experience with your tequilas?

Drake Screws
I definitely want them to take away that they obviously really enjoyed it and that they would buy it again for sure.
But also, when they buy it and when they have it at their house or when they have friends over, it becomes a great conversation piece for their camaraderie.
That's what I really hope, Also having this feel of, yes, we're in multiple states and we're going to keep growing and we do want to be a big tequila brand and expand and keep true to what we do currently. But we want to make sure that this brand and this product, when it's going into a different market, that it almost feels like it could be a local product and a local brand that is there. So that's why we talk about community so much is how do we take the brand and place ourselves in these different markets that we're in and make sure that we're making these people feel like this brand is approachable and that they really want to be a part of it and support it? And so that's a big thing is just making sure that we're definitely talking to the public and getting with the public in those areas, that they really enjoy the product and want to keep buying it again, just because it's more of a community driver.

Tiff Christie
I imagine getting into those new markets is very much your aim over the next 12 months or so. But having brought out three tequila's aside from expansion, what is the future of La Casa?

Drake Screws
So the future of La Casa is one we're going to do a few other skews, one being a French oak line aged tequila, so something a little different. Currently, right now, we do all of our aging and used bourbon barrels, which is great, my favorite, it's been a big hit here in the market and we just want to offer something that's a little more unique, something that's a little different tasting when it comes to age, and so, using a new French oak barrel that hasn't been aged or anything, I think we'll be a good little try into the market and give somebody else another option. And then we do have plans for an extra in Yeho. I would say, whether that be on the used bourbon barrel side or the new French oak side, I think we'll probably have both and we'll probably tie that in with it being more of a reserve line.

Tiff Christie
Out of curiosity, which, out of the three that you've released so far, is proving to be the most popular?

Drake Screws
The Reposado.

Tiff Christie
Okay, yep, so that middle yeah.

Drake Screws
The middle child has definitely won more people over and I think it's just got so much flavor to it with that natural taste. But it really mixes well and that's my favorite too. I think if I'm going to make a cocktail, I'm definitely going to make it with the repo. For sure, I love to sip the Blanco, so it's a little reversed.

Tiff Christie
Now, of course, if people want more information, they can, of course, go to your website, which is lacazaspirits.com, or connect with the brand via your socials.

Drake Screws
That's correct. They can go to our Instagram lacazaspirits and then our Facebook lacazaspirits as well, and then we're in Google search too, if they ever want to pull up anything in that regard, to get press or to find out any information that we've done with other outlets.

Tiff Christie
All right, Well, look, thank you so much for your time today.
Drake