Strong
Tequila Sunrise
3
oz. tequila
4 oz. orange
juice
3/4 oz.
red grenadine
Stir with
ice.
Cafe
Azul
112
NW 9th Ave., 525-4422
One of the more
robust selections of tequila on the local bar scene, currently
sporting nine premium and semi-premium varieties.
www.margaritaville.com/tequila.htm
Check out http://members.aol.com/mrtequila
/companies.htm
for a slow-loading but attractive portal for 18 different
tequila Web sites.
TNo one other than a bunch of half-drunk, tropically
clad Parrot Heads gives a flip, but the grandpappy of corporate
cool, Jimmy Buffett, is the horsepower behind Seagram's
newest liquor, Margaritaville tequila. We're talkin'
multimedia synergy, folks. You now have the opportunity
to order a Margaritaville margarita, play Margaritaville
on the jukebox and commence to wasting away....
No matter that lots of people don't really like tequila.
They dutifully lick the salt off their arms and suck the
pulp from a juicy lime because, without these supplements,
tequila is to them a barely potable form of turpentine.
They don't give a rat's ass what kind of tequila they're
drinking. They think they like Cuervo, but they couldn't
tell the difference between it and the higher-quality 1800
stuff if their drinking careers depended on it. They've
never downed an agave worm, but they've indulged
the party nag who wants to get the shindig thumpin' with
a forced round of body shots and upside-down margaritas.
And so, because of our collective ignorance of the finer
points of tequila--for instance, the subtle oaky undertones
of a finely aged specimen that has been certified 100-percent
blue agave by the Mexican government--we will all undoubtedly
cross paths with Margaritaville, another middle-of-the-road
tequila, at some point in our lives.
This new, semi-premium tequila (relatively affordable at
$17.95 for a fifth) enters the market with such a ho-hum
posture that you may never even notice it sliding your way.
A double jigger of this stuff would give a Tequila Sunrise
no more oomph or esophageal burn than would, say, a double
jigger of that sentimental fav, Cuervo Gold.
At an official Margaritaville tequila tasting last week
at The Fez banquet room, Christopher Lewis, a bartender
at Champions sports bar downtown, agreed that Margaritaville
isn't top-shelf, but he's still sure that it will go over
well with the middle-aged, crushed-margarita set. "This
isn't a top-of-the-line tequila by any means," Lewis told
me. "But it'll probably be just as popular as Cuervo Gold--and
it's definitely got a sweeter flavor."
The celebrity tie-in aspect ought to pump market shares
even more efficiently than the product's catchy, sweet flavor.
With such blinding star power, this one's destined to become
the 80-proof beverage of singalongs and sunburns damn quickly.
Buffet might not have the barroom jukebox crowd secured
underneath his tanned thumb quite as firmly as Garth "Low
Places" Brooks, but Garth ain't touring the country to promote
his very own liquor either. Yet.
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Willamette Week | originally
published May 10,
2000
|
