I'm going to be going there straight from my office in the Loop. Anyone else going from the Loop and wanting to share a ride or a cab?

I have two thoughts on what to bring:

- cash. Even half a bottle of tequila per person sounds like overkill (or just outright death), and leaves us with the problem of either transporting open bottles or giving Molly and Justin enough leftovers to bathe in

- a few bottles of common tequilas, with Sharpie markers, rating cards, and paper bags, so we can do a blind test test a-la America's Test Kitchen with your more exotic brands

Let me know what you think.

Santander wrote:Let me know what you think.

I think we stick with Molly's suggestion, which is much like yours:

figmolly wrote:My thinking is that if get 20 guests and have 10 bottles of tequila that will be more than enough for tasting. Assumming the tequila costs between $30-50, the people who aren't bringing tequila can bring $40 to pay for food and to contribute to those who spent more than $40 on tequila. Does that make sense or is it too confusing?

Here's the bottle RSVP's thus far:
me: Herradura Añejo, probably some bonus Xtabentun
the Hammonds: Orendain (añejo), Racilla
Hellodali: El Diamante del Cielo añejo
aschie30: reposado: Don Diego Santa or Riserva del Senor

Agreed that we don't need every person to bring a bottle, but remember that part of the point is variety. I'd like to see at least a couple more reposados and a couple of platas. If you don't know what to buy, here are a couple of things you could read for inspiration:
Refined Tequilas, Meant to Be Savored - New York Times
SLAMMED v2: Which tequilas fit best behind your bar? Spirits expert Sean Ludford gives us his view on 41 of the best.

If you are planning on bringing a bottle, please indicate what you plan to bring. If you aren't bringing a bottle, please bring $40-50 cash and we'll good-naturedly settle accounts before we get too far into the tasting.

For the sake of posterity, I've purchased to bring the Don Diego Santa reposado (not the Reserva del Senor). Not that it matters much, as I'm the only one bringing a reposado at this point . . .

Looking forward to this event.

I will bring a bottle of Cazadores Reposado, my current favorite.

Does no one want to bring Cabo Wabo? I mean, Sammy Hagar can't be any worse a tequila producer than he was frontman for Van Halen.

I plan to bring something and will shop tonight and let you know. What time are we starting? (I know that has to be in here somewhere?)

What time are we starting?

6 pm

Even half a bottle of tequila per person sounds like overkill (or just outright death

I think that the variety is what I was looking for - not that we necessarily finish the bottles.

- a few bottles of common tequilas, with Sharpie markers, rating cards, and paper bags, so we can do a blind test test a-la America's Test Kitchen with your more exotic brands

It looks like we have 5 bottles purchased and 2 more on the way (figs and Barbarella). We need 3 more tequila-bringers, so I think you could go either route.[/quote]

Do we need music? I have a few CD's of the Mexican singer Lila Downs, whom I adore if we want to play Mexican music. All of the other Spanish language music I have is from South American countries or Spain though I am happy to bring those if we want to expand the geographic boundaries. Anything to avoid having the song "Tequila" running through my head as it is doing right now.....

da DA da da da-da DA-da
da DA da da da-da DA
da DA da da da-da DA-da
da DA da da da-da DA

da da-da DAAAAAAAAAAAAAA dao
da da-da DAAAAAAAAAAAAAA dao
da da-da DAAAAAAAAAAAAAA dao

DA-DA DA-DA DA-DA DAAAAA (hunh!)

Thanks a lot, Hellodali.

Sorry Santander But LTH Forum is, after all, a community. Hence, we share each other's pain

What a great idea. Sounds like a lot of fun.

I see a new excuse for a party, er, tasting.

Have fun!!!

Do we need music? I have a few CD's of the Mexican singer Lila Downs, whom I adore if we want to play Mexican music

We don't have the greatest sound system, but we can play from the computer, CDs or the television. I know Comcast carries a few Mexican stations and we'd be more than happy to include your CDs in the mix.

Due to an unexpected work conflict we will no longer be able to make it
So, hopefully next time!

a new "final" list reflecting several cancellations:

germuska+1
figmolly+1
nr706 +1
Hellodali+1
aruzin
Hammond
aschie
Santander
G Wiv
Barbarella + 1

So that's 15 (and my "+1" is still uncommitted). If you were on your own mental waiting list and would like to join us, please post here. Again, we're looking to have no more than around 20 people.

Here's the bottle RSVP's thus far:
me: Herradura Añejo, probably some bonus Xtabentun
the Hammonds: Orendain (añejo), Racilla
Hellodali: El Diamante del Cielo añejo
aschie30: reposado: Don Diego Santa reposado
GWiv: Cazadores Reposado

We're still looking for platas... If you're inclined to purchase based on the bottle, here's a gallery of Blanco/Plata bottles from various mfrs.! Tequila Source.com actually looks like an interesting little site in general...

We picked up a bottle today. figjustin wanted to try something new and was persuaded by the bottle (he's a sucker for packaging). We picked up a bottle of Corzo Silver. It's imported by Cazadores...other than that and the brief description on the tag ("notes of citrus and vanilla.") I don't know much.

At least we can add a blanco to the bunch.

Add happy stomach+1 to the list. They'll just be bringing money for the pot.

My +1 will probably drink enough for the both of us, so we'll contribute a bottle (and money). I'll go to Binny's tonight and figure out maybe another blanco? If there's one that folks want, please speak up. I'm at your service.

FYI: I just bought a bottle of 1800 anejo.

Sorry all...I need to cancel. Hope to see you all soon.

My +1 will probably drink enough for the both of us

That would be I.

I didn't read through all the tequila threads that Germuska cited but I noticed in this thread that there wasn't talk of a Paloma. I had one of these at a wedding reception in Mexico and it was wonderful. Blanco tequila and Squirt basically. Well, really the mix according to the guy who got married and just gave me his recipe today is 1.5 shots blanco over ice, Squirt, and the juice of half a fresh lime, and salt the rim of the glass. So, I was wondering if anyone's planning on bringing Squirt. If not happy or I will try to pick up a six pack. I'm assuming there will be limes around.

So, I was wondering if anyone's planning on bringing Squirt.

Yes, we'll have Squirt.

(The LTH bus for this event is now full. I'm sorry I couldn't accommodate more folks. With a bigger car, I really would have happily picked up as many people as I could fit. See everyone tomorrow! )

I'll be coming from Evanston to the tasting and will need to make a pick-up in the Loop. If anyone still needs a ride, I can take one more person or two more if you don't mind a cozy ride to Pilsen. If you need a ride, PM me with where to pick you up. I'll also be a designated driver on the way back north Evanston-bound after the tasting. I have room for one more person on the way back.

Edited to say the LTH bus is now full.

Sadly for the other attendees, it'll be just me, without the +1.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone tonight! If there is anybody out there who was waiting until the last minute to decide if they could/should come, feel free to stop by. I think we're at around 16 people so we have room for you.

I think once everyone gathers tonight - we'll decide what we want to eat, phone in our orders and venture out in small groups to pick up the stuff.

Cheers! Molly

I've been looking forward to this for weeks, so it pains me to report I won't be there. I've been fighting bronchitis for about a week, which even the sopa de ajo at Casa de Samuel couldn't clear up, and today I have no voice, which will make me pretty poor company. I'm lucky at least not to have any singing engagements this weekend. Please do a round for me and I'll look forward to the pictures and reports!

I've also been looking forward to it, but I feel like I'm fighting off something, and I'm not sure a night of drinking tequila would be good for me. But I'll look forward to the reports.

ok, so fill all of us in...how was it and can we do it again?

As the first to leave last night, I might be the most awake this morning so I'll jump in with a quick post. First many thanks to Molly and Justin for hosting us and for making the food run, to Joe and Molly for coming up with the idea and organizing, and to Joe and Gary for making the Uncle John's barbecue run. It was a terrific LTH evening of good food, good drinks and excellent company.

It was great to have blancos, reposados and anejos to taste and compare. It was my first time doing that and I really appreciated the opportunity. I was surprised how much I enjoyed just sipping the blancos as I've always thought them as mainly good for margaritas. My two favorites of the evening were the Don Don Diego Santa reposado that Wendy brought and Gary's Cazadores Reposado. Both very smooth but with a lot more going on in terms of complexity and intensity of tequila-ness (I am woefully lacking in tasting adjectives this am). I thought the El Diamante de Cielo that I brought was nice, but it kind of vanished. There wasn't a lot there. I really enjoyed David's Orendain but I found it almost like a cognac, or single malt scotch than a tequila.

But the racilla, ah the racilla. That was a revelation. I've never tasted anything like it and it opened new horizons for me. And for many others as you'll see from the photos that will be posted later I'm sure.

Again, many thanks to the gracious hosts, organizers and fellow guests last night.

My delay in posting about this event was due only to weekend busyness and the fact that I was away from a computer for most of the day.

This was a great event. As Dimitra stated so well above, many thanks to Joe & Molly for organizing, and to Molly and Justin for being such gracious hosts. The event went later than I thought it would, the group proving to be good drinkers and convivial.

As for the tequilas, it was great to try them side-by-side as we did. While I liked so many of them, my favorites were the Herradura anejo and Gary's Cazadores reposado. Both were extremely smooth for their types; others may have had more dimension, but sometimes that dropped off, or became too much over too many sips. But there wasn't one bottle there last night that I tried and didn't like except . . .

Hammond's raicilla. With a petroleum nose and rubber shoe finish, what's not to love? It was fun tasting it anyway, although I'm still having a hard time understanding the advantage to drinking raicilla, unless, of course, you like gasoline and rubber. I'd probably try it again, though, just for fun.

But again, many thanks to the organizers and it was great seeing many of you again.

Thanks to the FIGs for providing a great spot to have our tasting. I thought it was really good fun.

The Don Diego and the Orendain were my favorite new discoveries, both having sweet (but not Xtabentun sweet) profiles but with rather different details. After those, my fave Herradura Añejo really seemed to get lost. (Also after the raicilla, and the barbecue and other strong flavors).

Sorry that some folks had to miss out on this, but I could be persuaded to participate in another one