Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Welcome to the Tequila Journal...

My name is Gabbi Villarrubia, and I like to drink. Like is a soft word in a hard world to describe my love of drinking, and even though my world is far from hard, I like to soften the edges with a drink. Often. Though I would comfortably say I like all sorts of drinks and elixirs... mixed, shaken, stirred, shot, frozen, white, brown or black and tan... the queen of my dream bar is our Mexican princess, Tequila.

My love suits my life, since I live in a place well suited for my tastes...Mexico. Not just Mexico, mind you, but Sayulita, Mexico. I live here with my wife and partner in freedom, Andrea, and our son, Maximo Lobo, and if you care to know more, visit our world at www.gabrea.com. Our town is small, but dynamic and international, and our scene is one of joviality and family. Sun and surf is the name of the game, but for those of us not born to ride waves, we ride highs of another sort. We drink. I drink. And I drink at the SFT Tequila bar www.sayulitafishtaco.com - a place for a guy like me to celebrate the joys of life, and the wonder of a great glass of Tequila. This bar has a short history, but an amazing future, and I feel lucky to have this kind of place to hang my hat. I enjoy drinking tequila and studying its amazing varieties to such an extent, and have met so many others with the same love, that I have decided to write about it. I like to write about things I drink, things I read about, people I meet at the bar, and the widom of those around me - all through the rose or rage red glasses of a Tequila glass. I hope you dig the ramblings that are born from all the above.

This is my journal, these are my words, and this is my life. Take it for what it is - best served with a glass of Tequila.

Wisdom from behind the bar

I don't just drink at my favorite bar, I listen... Mark talks. Here is some recent wisdom I learn and live by...

"With all the rush-rush in life, I have gone on a new campaign. "Sipping for a longer Life"
By slowing down, it lets a person relax for a moment and regain ones self. It's a fact that we are on this stinkin' planet for a very short time. Maybe it's not about how much we can get done, but the quality of what we have done. Sip and ponder - The SFT Tequilapeutic lifestyle. Charging the Hunger, Sipping for life."

Mark Alberto, the man behind the bar, my guru, mentor, the man.
SFT Tequila Bar www.sayulitafishtaco.com

Sweet Sweet Tequila, the blood of Christ or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bottle(s)


I have had a long and fruitful love affair with alcohol. I often want to write about it , but hesitate, full of worry that my loved ones will see my affection for this bottled elixir in a wrong light. I don't worry much, as a man of 39 years, well schooled in hard knocks as much as private school blues, I have been the kind of fella that can walk the line, without falling in the ring of fire (thanks Johnny). But enough of the trappings of worry and concern, lets move on the carelessness that got us into this fabulous situation! Love! Alcohol! Life! Their now everlasting connection. I live in Mexico, and our spirit of choice here is Tequila. The world has really gotten to know Tequila in the last 10 years, at that point exiting the era where Tequila was purely discussed in terms of the worm and Cuervo Gold. Luckily for us, the magic and long time crafted art of Tequila distilling has hit the world by storm, and most anywhere in the world you can find unique and awe inspiring Tequila (and Tequila highs...). Here in Mexico you can go a long time before running out of new bottles to empty, and recently, my friend Mark Alberto Holt has opened Sayulita's first Tequila bar, the S.F.T. Tequila bar - making it even harder to not have something new to savor. Mark is a local legend, known in the surf community and world wide as the proprietor of Sayulita Fish Taco - tasty for its food and wave riders. Since it opened, I love stopping by for a sipper or 4 (shooting tequila is for the slop, or for those in a hurry), and discussing with tourists or locals (but mostly with Mark) the intimacies of the most recent glass to touch our lips. We track our drinks, rating them on a handy 1-5 scale in a great guide Mark has whipped up, and discuss the good and bad. Mostly good, as stated by my often repeated mangled quote from Will Rogers -"I never met a Tequila I didn't like". Tonight my friend Ed Schwartz, Sayulita local, all around wine king, and writer of all things alcohol, asked me to join him at the Tequila bar to write an article for one of the magazines he writes for. My challenging job? Sharing in the extra tequila, casually making comments about my likes and rare dislikes, and just generally drinking and discussing Tequila for a few hours. We really dove into the deep end, Mark treating us like kings, tasting all sorts of delights. From the simple Blancos, barely aged, to the spicy Reposados, rested for a while in wood, but not too long. Then came the kings, the warn and m apley Anejos, starting to bring to mind the the flavors of Whiskey and spice. Lastly, yet right on time, came the Ultra Anejos... Oh my. Amazing depth, warmth, and an earthy flavor that you would not expect from Tequila. And I end with that, the simplicity of this love affair. Tequila is not what you think it is, not even close to it. If you fall in love with it, the goal is to always search for what you think it is, but never find it. Its just like love.