It’s taken a while for the word “tequila” to shake off it’s negative connotation. It’s easy to flash to a collegiate montage of blurry drunkenness and bad decisions when someone suggests a round of tequila shots, but not anymore. Tequila has had quite the facelift in the past decade or so. Last week at the Angeleno Hotel, the recently-launched Herradura Double Barrel Reposado was paired with West restaurant’s finest selections and an agave shaving from a third generation jimador.

Herradura’s Newest Family Member

“It is hard to get people to come to a tequila event on a Wednesday night,” said the hotel’s marketing coordinator Jessica Ayers. However, for anyone that knows their tequila, the Reposado was worth stopping by for.  The excitement and conception of the pairing event, grew from the Herradura’s distributor Brown-Forman. Morgan Plant of Brown-Forman made the trek to Mexico last year to Casa Herradura for a barrel blending. “Brown-Forman, which also owns Jack Daniels, shipped the bourbon barrels down to Mexico initially,” said Plant. “My colleagues and I had the pleasure to watch the whole distilling process, where the master distiller at Casa Herradura is a woman. Which is pretty cool in Mexico,” she added.

Let the Shaving Begin

The real excitement of the event was focused around the five foot tall agave plant that stood in the center of the room. Casa Herradura’s third generation jimador, Jose Cortes, traveled from Mexico to be a part of the event. With his agave cutting tool (coa de jima) in hand, he began shaving the leaves off of the plant.  Normally, Jose starts working at 6 AM, he works for five hours and estimates cutting off the leaves of around 120 plants. “After we work, we drink during the week. We get drunk on the weekends,” he admitted. He tells us that in Mexico it’s more popular to sip tequila rather than mix it in a cocktail. This is something that is catching on here in the States. Jose spoke passionately about being a jimador and explained that there are not many because it’s very hard and dangerous work.

¡Comamos!

Following the shaving of the agave plant, the food pairing began. The food was selected by West’s Chef Medina and were not your obvious tequila pairings. I didn’t see a burrito or taco all night. The first round was a spoon sized bite of tiger prawns with avocado, roasted tomato, shallots and espelette pepper. The salty fish cocktail tasted beautifully next to the Herradura Reposado served neat (no ice, just straight). The soft, caramely agave expression was easy to taste. There was also marinated crispy calamari paired with the Herradura Silver margarita with limoncello that had a nice kick. The Reposado with O.J. Cointreau, soda with muddled orange was then paired with a grilled flat bread pizzetta with goat cheese, mozzarella, and marinara. This cocktail was also paired with all-natural lamb meatball skewers with garlic, mint and parmesan. The definite highlight of all the food pairings was the west Dungeness crab cakes made with tarragon, Serrano pepper, and Dijon mustard. This yummy sample came with the Reposado mixed with lime, orange, triple sec, grapefruit and a spicy salt rim.  It was hard to eat just one of the little, yet mighty crab cakes that exploded with flavor!  The unconventional pairings of the night proved that tequila is great with any salty food. The tequila seemed to compliment all the savory selections and are featured daily on the menu at West.

The crowd appeared to really be enjoying the Reposado. For attendee Bella Vodovoz, this was something not to be missed. “The Double Barrel Reposado is not that easy to find. I won’t be surprised if I walk out of here with a case tonight,” she said, since the tequila was for sale at the event. Bella, who is normally a vodka drinker, enjoys the Blanco Herradura for its smooth, refined taste. She likened sipping Herradura to that of a “refined cognac.”

The night proved to be an unexpected pairing of weed whacking and tequila sipping with savory delights at a great L.A. spot.

Additional Information
http://www.herradura.com/
http://www.westatangeleno.com/
http://www.jdvhotels.com/angeleno/