Tequila entrepreneur bringing a taste of Mexico to Leeds
“LIKE most other people when I was a student, I had the most horrific experience with something we were told was tequila,” said Cleo Rocos, the entrepreneur and connoisseur behind AquaRiva Tequila.
This bad experience might have put her off tequila for life, but visiting Mexico 15 years ago changed her mind.
“The editor of Vogue was sitting by the pool, and kept drinking this dark liquid from flutes. I asked what she was drinking she looked like she was having such a good time!” Ms Rocos said.
“I realised that I had never had tequila until that moment. The tequila we have as students is a bad experience – it’s mixed tequila, only 51%. The rest is a mixture of sugar cane syrup and colouring.”
From then on, Ms Rocos found her passion, and that the real deal she was drinking was 100% derived from the agave plant, and nothing else.
“When you’re drinking something clean, it’s about having a good time and feeling fabulous the next morning.”
AquaRIva is made from the Weber blue agave plant from the highlands of Jalisco in Mexico. She spent 11 months with master blenders in 2011 developing her own brand which Ms Rocos said is “fruity and floral.”
“I really wanted to make affordable tequila at great quality. 100% agave tequila is like champagne, there are only designated areas in Mexico where you can grow the right plant. It is the most regulated spirit in the world.”
“A good tequila you should be able to sip,” she said. “The drink you have when you’re throwing shots down your throat, that will be a mixed tequila. You wouldn’t be able to swallow it if you could actually taste it.”
Ms Rocos knowledge and experience of the tequila trade meant she was awarded the Masters Medal, 3 Gold Medals and “Best of the Best” by tequila.net and in 2009 Cleo was honoured with a prestigious award by the tequila industry in Mexico.
But, she said: “It’s about having a good time with people, feeling good the next day and keeping the bar bill down!”
Cleo Rocos will be hosting a tasting session of her award winning AquaRiva® Tequila at MOJO on Thursday 19 May.
