Tequila Thespian with Joe Mantegna (TCGP S3 E9)

AI Transcript: TCGP S3 E9 

announcer:
Joe Mantegna here, and you're enjoying the cocktail guru podcast and as you can see we've got plenty of cocktails Jonathan Pogash is the cocktail guru a mixologist and hospitality expert see no big words dude I'm the cocktail guru Cheers Jeffrey's his dad a wine and spirits author historian and consultant I Do my homework? With decades of experience, they're always looking for the next big thing. Join this father and son duo for a few laughs as they explore the hottest trends in hospitality with the service industry's leading trailblazers and tastemakers. Welcome to the Cocktail Guru Podcast.

Jeffrey:
John, you had a great, splendid, marvelous trip to Las Vegas, and I wish I could have been with you. I know. But I had other obligations. I'm sorry. You did. I know.

Jonathan:
I keep going on these trips, and you're not included.

Jeffrey:
Yeah. And it's been so it's been years since I've been to Las Vegas, Viva Las Vegas. And I'm way overdue for another trip.

Jonathan:
It was a great time. I was able to record some live episodes and interview some really great people because I was there with the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America organization and it was their Access Live conference. So it was quite a quite a show. It really was fun.

Jeffrey:
And you got to hang out with Tony Abou-Ghanem. I did. In his bar. And you got to do a guest bartender stint at the Vault. That's right. The prestigious Vault. I wish I had been there. At the Bellagio. See it? At the Bellagio, yeah.

Jonathan:
And I hosted a brand battle competition, which is like a shark tank for liquor companies. It was a lot of fun.

Jeffrey:
And you also got to schmooze with some really great Hollywood stars. Yes. You interviewed them and you really had a grand old time.

Jonathan:
Well, you know, if you can guess who the person is that is coming up on this episode, he was there in Las Vegas and I got to sit with him and we chit chatted a little bit. I'll give you a hint.

Jeffrey:
See, now I'm really jealous. I'll give you a hint. I really don't. Please do.

Jonathan:
Um, the hint is criminal minds.

Jeffrey:
It must be Joe Montana. It must be. Yes. Yes, it is. He plays supervisory special agent David Rossi on criminal. That's right.

Jonathan:
Well, you know, Joe. We're on a first name basis now. You know, Joe was in some really great things. Some great Godfather Part Three. Godfather Part Three. The Simpsons. Yes, his voice in The Simpsons. And we talked about that a little bit. Fat Tony. But before we get to the interview with Joe Mantegna, I sat down with my good pal, Paul M. Basie, who's with North American Beverage Company and Barrett's, you know, the ginger beer and sodas. And we had a

Jeffrey:
We love Barrett.

Jonathan:
Yeah, he was on the floor. We actually, well, I interviewed him in this little like pod situation that they have for podcasting, a podcast pod on the floor of the Access Live competition. So we'll hear from Paul and then we'll hear from Joe. You ready?

Jeffrey:
Yeah, I'm ready. So away we go.

Jonathan:
All right, Jonathan Pogash here again with the Cocteau Guru podcast. We're once again here live in Las Vegas at Access Live with the WSWA. And it has been an amazing time and we've had some amazing guests on. And I'm here with one of my good pals from the industry, Paulin Basie from North American Beverage. How you doing, man? I'm doing well, Jonathan. How are you? Yeah, good, good. Thanks for having me. We see each other pretty often when we go to conferences and travel around. But we usually get into this one question with our guests every time we have someone on. If there was one cocktail that you could have if you were stranded on a desert island, what would that be?

Paul:
It is a good question. I have to say, if I'm going to do one cocktail for that humid, tropical, sunny island, it's going to be the pina colada.

Jonathan:
Oh, that's a really good one. A lovely, delicious, icy pina colada. I like that. Absolutely. So let's get into, you know, how you got to where you are, got into this industry, this wild world of spirits and beverages. People know that I got into it because of my dad. And I think you work with your dad. Is that not right? It is. It's pure nepotism. Yeah, a couple of Nepo babies right over here.

Paul:
I was completely unqualified. They just, you know, said, all right, let's just, you know, have a drink, relax.

Jonathan:
So what happened? You grew up, he was working in beverages and you just kind of grew up with it.

Paul:
Yeah. Actually, the interesting part is my father and his father were in the beverage industry on the soda side. So they were on, they sold 7-Up. And so they have a lot of, yeah, so my grandfather in Basie, his family came over from Sicily. So, and then he started in Philadelphia where they were born and raised, had a bakery and he got into 7-Up, into selling 7-Up. Wow. So yeah, I, didn't think I was going to be there and started out in journalism and it was great experience, great lessons. About 08, it was when the economy was just tanking and was looking around at different things and my father said, you know, hey, if you're interested in it and it would be more sales. And I said, Well, you know what, thank you for the offer. I came aboard and haven't looked back. And that's when we just about started. This was like September, October 08. We started selling Barrett's Ginger Beer in January 09.

Jonathan:
Yeah, that's probably right around the time I met you. I feel like it was probably right when you started. Yeah, about 15 years. Yeah, it's crazy. Yeah, I love working with my dad. You know, he doesn't... He's he's not a partner of mine or anything like that, but I hire him. You know I take pity on him That's what he always he always likes to say that Carrie our producer is shaking her head He all he that's what he wants. He wants me To take pity on him and to take advantage of him because he is an old man. No. I'm sorry I don't know what's going on. It's because of the late night last night But what are there I mean I assume you like you like working with your dad. I love it. Yeah Yeah, I mean, what are some things that you've realized that you've noticed as you get older, as we get older? I noticed that, listen, he's getting, it's tough to say, but he's getting up there in age and I'm able to just kind of connect with him way more than I could ever do before. And for me, this is like, I wanna take advantage of it. Beautiful, right? Yeah. And this tonic water, I'm gonna try it. I can help you there. There you go, thank you. That's delicious, too. All right. And how do you sell these? You sell them in the cans and in bottles?

Paul:
Just cans. Yeah, we just launched with our four-pack, seven-and-a-half-ounce, good cocktail size, less waste. Yes, it is good cocktail size. Yeah, and just seeing as the industry's kind of gone from consumers to consumers telling us, less bottles, more cans. So there's just a lot more things in aluminum cans these days. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's why we did it.

Jonathan:
How about getting onto airplanes? I mean, that would be cool, right? That would be wonderful. Anyone out there? Do you know anybody out there? Yeah, anyone out there? Want to put some Barrett's into those carts?

Paul:
Please, please get in touch with Jonathan. I'll get in touch with Jonathan.

Jonathan:
What's next for you? Are you off anywhere else after this, after Vegas? Do you travel a lot with the business? Not as much.

Paul:
Not as much anymore, yeah. So, no, at home with wife and our two little girls, which is lovely.

Jonathan:
Wow. Yes, that's right. And how old are your kids? Four and two. Right. So what's that work-life balance like? It's good, actually. Yeah, it's post-pandemic. So what's the secret? Secret? Have you found the Holy Grail?

Paul:
Yeah, but I can't share it. You know, sorry. I'd have to kill you.

Jonathan:
Jeez. Okay. Well, maybe off camera you can show it. Off camera, I'll let you know what it is. Because it is quite a balance. We all know that. Yeah, it is. But this has been a lovely conversation. So the point of coming to Access Live is for brands to make appointments with distributors so that you can get a wide expanse across the country. Yeah. And you set up appointments and you've got some amazing appointments coming up, right? Absolutely.

Paul:
Oh, sorry. We have distributors from coast-to-coast. We're about to talk with Horizon Beverage Rhode Island, which is actually one of our oldest distributors. We started with them in July of 2009. It's also for us a great opportunity. Our team gets together annually at WSWA, so I love seeing it because I love being there because we get to be in person. Yeah. Only time all year because we're all Road Warriors.

Jonathan:
So it's kind of like a company meeting for you, a bit of a retreat?

Paul:
Yeah, we've been doing remote work from home for years, so... Yeah, that's crazy.

Jonathan:
Well, this has been a really lovely conversation, and I wish you the best of luck here at Access Live. Thanks for having me, John. Yeah, thanks, man. Take care. All right, you too.

Criminal Minds Trailer:
All my years as a profiler, I studied killers, but I never studied what a pandemic would do to them. They couldn't move, they couldn't hunt. So they started communicating to become better predators. The BAU is different.

Jonathan:
Where others see monsters, we see patterns.

Criminal Minds Trailer:
Where are we with the profile?

Jeffrey:
This guy is in a textbook.

Criminal Minds Trailer:
We need to get to the bottom of this. Maybe it's time we call our expert.

announcer:
We promised we wouldn't. I don't know who else could help.

Debbie:
God, I hate how easy it is to pick this back up.

Criminal Minds Trailer:
Do you need my login or password? This is the biggest case we've ever had. Somebody is feeding you clues. He's been setting us up this whole time. There's another theory we have to consider. There isn't enough time. This isn't your burden alone. Then you explain why we failed.

Debbie:
No, it's not over. We're just getting started.

Jonathan:
All right, well, we are here once again doing a live recording of the Cocktail Guru podcast at Access Live, WSWA convention. I'm Jonathan Pogash, the Cocktail Guru, of course, and we've been having amazing guests, but I think that this one really tops it. I don't know how we can top having this amazing guest on our podcast today, Mr. Joe Mantegna.

Joe Mantegna:
How you doing?

Jonathan:
Oh, man, it is an amazing- I have to live up to that intro now. It's an amazing honor to meet you, sir.

Joe Mantegna:
My pleasure.

Jonathan:
We always ask every one of our guests who are on the podcast this one question.

Joe Mantegna:
You ready?

Jonathan:
Yeah, I'm ready. Okay. What is your desert island drink?

Joe Mantegna:
My desert island drink? It would be taking a little of our Cafe Elegancia, and probably mixing it in a blender with a little ice cream.

Jonathan:
I tell you. Oh yeah, like a chocolate creamsicle.

Joe Mantegna:
Yeah, like a chocolate creamsicle. Like a mudslide. Yeah, because if you talk about an island and it's hot. Yeah. I mean, I just thought that up in fact. Because when you said, well, I don't care on a tropical island, it was here. But yeah, but that or just maybe an inch of the, Either the Blanco or the Agnello and then put one ice cube in it.

Jonathan:
Oh, that sounds really delicious. Yeah, that's good. I like it. Well, you have a tequila here called Señor Rio.

Joe Mantegna:
Señor Rio.

Jonathan:
Is this a song?

Joe Mantegna:
No, it just made me think of it.

Jonathan:
Oh, okay. Yeah. How did you get into working with Señor Rio?

Joe Mantegna:
It was an interesting kind of convolution of occurrences. Do you remember the show, The Booze Traveler? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, okay. So the host of The Booze Traveler is a friend of mine, and he came to me and says, there's this woman, Debbie Medina, who has this company that I think you should meet, because there's this whole story behind this tequila company that she is now that I was the sole owner of. And he explained to me briefly what that was about. It was enough for me to say, let's do it. And as it turned out, I was going down to Arizona anyway to do a thing with the Chicago Cubs, and Debbie lives in Arizona. And I meet with this woman, and she tells me the story behind Señor Rio Tequila, which is a fascinating story. This whole thing, I mean, in a nutshell, baby girl who does not know who her father is because he left when she was a child, contacts her when she's an adult, says, I'm your father here in Mexico, I want to see you. Her attitude was, or you've been all my life, I don't think so. And her young husband says, no, let's go. This is your shot to me. They do it. They find this. Here's this man who's now been had three generations of making this tequila just for their own consumption. Yeah. And in the meantime, they're reconnecting as a parent to his child. Her and her Debbie and her then young husband decide, hey, this is serendipitous. Maybe we should start a business with the blessings of the dad. They do it. That's who Rodrigo is. Yeah. On the bottle cap. Oh, yeah. He passes away. All right. Debbie continues the business with the husband. the husband unexpectedly passes away. Now you've got this woman running this business 100% by herself and for the last 15 years has been like initially selling it out of the trunk of a car and working its way up to where it's being sold in all the total wine stores throughout the country. But now here she is without a dad, without her husband. She's got grandchildren, she's got, you know, she's looking for perhaps somebody to partner with to like take it maybe to the next level. And as I told her when I met her in Arizona and I heard the story and tasted the product, I said, the only last obstacle is my wife who I've been with for over 50 years. She's got to be in. She's not in, it's no go. I feel the same way. Because we're bringing another woman into my life here on a big basis, right? Well, my wife fell in love with it as I did. And I just, I've been with it for less than a year now, but I just feel so strongly about what we're doing, about the product we're selling, and just, and the people I've been meeting, and even people like yourself, I mean, in this trade, in this industry, I meet a lot of interesting types. Maybe because everybody's got, not that we have a little tiny buzz on, But it's just like, let's face it, it's a product that is to be enjoyed safely and judiciously, but whatever.

Jonathan:
And hearing you talk about the story, and it conjures up cinematic visions in my brain, and I assume that maybe coming from the movie and TV background, Maybe that was going through your head a little bit when you were first introduced, like, this is such a great story, I'm attracted to these kinds of stories.

Joe Mantegna:
Oh, great story, absolutely. That too, and also, look, I'm going into my 17th season now of Criminal Minds, and what's funny is my character, David Rossi, I'm the one on the show they always have at the back of the plane, pouring himself a drink and stuff like that. I said, well, David will be drinking tequila from this point on, that's for sure. But it's like, it's part of the culture of the world. I mean, let's face it, wine and spirits and all, it's not a phenomenon to the United States or to North America or this side of the planet. It may be existing interplanetary for all we know. So I mean, there's that universality thing about it. And like you said, there's a cinematic aspect to it too, and so it's all good.

Jonathan:
Are there differences in these two industries, the wine and spirits industry and the motion picture TV industry that shocked you at first? That you're like, hmm.

Joe Mantegna:
Not yet. I mean, this convention could be not much different than what I could go do for the Comic-Con or these kinds of things in a different way. But no, I mean, like I said, it's also part of the entertainment industry when you think about it. So there's a lot of similarities.

Jonathan:
Can we talk about some of your acting work? Sure. So, I think one of your first roles was on, was The Three Amigos? Is that correct?

Joe Mantegna:
That was an early one. Yeah. Yeah, it was. Certainly in film, it was.

Jonathan:
What, I mean, what a classic.

Joe Mantegna:
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I got to work with, you know, Chevy Chase, Martin Short. Marty, I call him Marty. Marty. Steve. Yeah. Yeah. Why am I basically on Steve's last name? Steve Martin. Of course, Steve Martin, the easiest name of all.

Jonathan:
Same last name as the first name of Martin Short.

Joe Mantegna:
Yeah, exactly. That was a great experience, a lot of fun. In fact, I think the voice I used for Flugelman, because I think I played the head of the studio then, I kind of changed that voice a little bit when I became Fat Tony on The Simpsons. because I kind of liked where Flugelman's kind of persona was. And so, you know, I had Flugelman talk a little bit like this, but then I had kind of brought Pat Tony more down into this kind of a level. So, I mean, it depends. Sometimes you discover things by doing other things.

Jonathan:
I love that. I mean, that's what I grew up on. And my friend John is here, too. Probably Airheads, too.

Joe Mantegna:
I bet you guys saw Airheads. Yeah, I can spot the Airheads fans. Yeah. Yes, exactly. What was the line? Not exactly. Right. They call themselves the Lone Ranger, right? They're the name of the band. Brendan Fraser and Steve Buscemi and Sandler. And I basically, I play like this. I patterned my character a little bit off of Howard Stern. That's why I asked for that wig. I said, give me a Howard Stern type of wig. And the name I chose was Ian the Shark. And I chose that because I worked for a week with Jed the Fish, who ran the rock and roll station out of L.A. back at the time. He was a big rock and roll disc jockey. He was called Jed the Fish. And I spent a lot of time with him. What it was like to be a rock and roll DJ and work those, you know, and he was wild. He was nuts. And so as my homage to him, I made him Jed, Ian the shark, that little shark on the microphone.

Jonathan:
And talk about another classic, Godfather 3.

Joe Mantegna:
Godfather 3, yeah, I get to play Joey Zaza. What's it like playing? Well, I mean, I'll tell you, my dear friend Vinny Guastafaro said to me when I got the role, he says, I can't believe it, man. You're going to be in Godfather 3. You're going to be in the Italian Star Wars. And I thought, yeah, I thought that's probably the appropriate way to put it. Uh, so in a way, yeah, I am, I am in the Italian star Wars now. And ironically, one of my closest friends in the world is Andy Garcia, who anyone who has seen the film sees, he don't treat me very well now in that movie. Uh, but when people see us together sometimes on the street, they'll go, Oh my God, they, they like each other, you know? Uh, well,

Jonathan:
Searching for Bobby Fischer.

Joe Mantegna:
Searching for Bobby Fischer. That's a special movie.

Jonathan:
You guys at home can't see or hear who's talking off camera here.

Joe Mantegna:
Well, because sometimes everything comes together. You take a movie like that, the guy who wrote it, Steve Zalian, it was his first time directing, not his first time writing, but he worked his way up, made that movie, directed it. The next movie he wrote, was, and I'll tell you a little anecdote to it. We were finishing up the movie of Searching for Bobby Fisher, and we were like in the last few days, and he would run off the set, and I'd see him scribbling, scribbling in the corner. I go, Steve, what are you doing? He goes, I gotta finish this next script. They hired me as a writer for it. It's the next movie, and it's Steven Spielberg's movie. I go, what's it called? He goes, Schindler's List. And I said to myself, I'm thinking like five easy pieces. And I'm thinking Schindler's List. So it's like a guy goes to the grocery store with the wife's list and it's something to do with that. He goes, oh no, no, not that. And because of that, because Ben Kingsley, of course, was in search for Bobby Fischer, I think Stephen came to visit us on the set to meet with Steve Zalian. And I think he met Ben, and that's how Ben wound up being in Schindler's List. So you think about it. We do this movie, searching for Bobby Fischer, the next thing the guy writes is Schindler's List. And I think he was nominated for an Oscar for both movies. Schindler's List, of course, won. So you got Ben Kingsley in that, Joan Allen I got to work with. Amazing people. Amazing cast. Tony Shalhoub played, he had one line, I think, in it. Even the small parts were well cast.

Jonathan:
A mutual friend of ours that we went to college with was on Marvelous Mrs. Maisel with Tony Shalhoub.

Joe Mantegna:
Yeah, like Tony just he played, I think he had one scene where my son beats him in chess, like makes one move and that's it.

Jonathan:
He's great. I haven't met him, but I'd like to meet him. He's a great guy. You've had an incredible career, quite a storied career.

Joe Mantegna:
I've been at it a long time. I guess you're still at it. I'm still at it. I'm still at it. I'm still chasing criminals every day. I'll be back in Los Angeles tonight, because I'll be filming again tomorrow on Criminal Minds. We're in our 17th season. That's amazing. I'm here pushing this tremendous product, which I really feel very strongly about, all the Señor Rio products that we have. I just feel great about the whole company. And that little lady right there. Let's get the little lady in here. Debbie Medina.

Jonathan:
Oh, we're going to talk to Debbie now.

Joe Mantegna:
All right. All right. Well, let's give them. OK.

Jonathan:
Yeah. We'll introduce her. Hi. Hi, Debbie. How are you? I'm well. How are you?

Debbie:
I'm fabulous. I'm here. You are here. And we're going to have a seat in a little bit, and we're going to talk with you.

Jonathan:
Sound good? OK.

Joe Mantegna:
I'll let her do the heavy lifting with the tequila.

Jonathan:
I'm going to spin my chair here. Oh, our executive producer, Kerry, would like some insight into the break in between Criminal Minds, because was there a few years in there?

Joe Mantegna:
Yeah, well, what had happened is, first of all, we'd been on CBS for 15 years. And then it was done, we were canceled, it was done, goodbye, no more Criminal Minds. And I think part of the reason was, what a lot of people didn't realize, Criminal Minds at the time was not just on CBS, we were also co-produced by, I think ABC, other people had a lot of the syndication rights. So we were big all over the world, but I think CBS wanted that hour to themselves 100%, that prime time. And so it was like, we'd run our course there, okay, see you later, we all thought that's it. Well, about a year or so later, when it became one of the largest syndicated shows in the world in popularity, I think Calmer, Ideas prevailed. Yeah, and so CBS got together came with Paramount Plus started streaming Which CBS is part of and so Paramount Plus got involved and they said no this is worth bringing back So ironically, they had they had knocked out all the sets. They destroyed the plane. They've gotten rid of everything I just thought it was all gonna be a memory next thing, you know I think that was one of first things I released on social media was my assistant Dan shot me walking onto the soundstage and you saw the you saw them building and the BAU and you saw the building the airplane in the back and it was like, guess what's coming? And I think that kind of let people know, yeah, they're back. And it's been great. We're in the middle of season, we did the last season when Paramount Plus was very successful. We're shooting season 17 right now. We got held up by the writer's strike and the actor's strike. So it was like a whole year. Again, at first there was COVID, then there was the strikes. But I didn't forget what it was like to be an Italian FBI agent. I mean, I'm halfway there anyway, being Italian.

Jonathan:
Do you have the opportunity to do movies and TV while you're doing the TV or not really?

Joe Mantegna:
Yeah, I mean, I do other things. I've done some little parts on movies. I have another show that I've been doing for 13 years on the Outdoor Channel actually called Gun Stories, which is not as ominous as it sounds because it's about, we trace historical firearms. It's indeed a niche kind of a show. Some people do understand is that the history of firearms is the history of the planet Earth because every country Has them right and sometimes there's something historical behind them So we've done episodes like the guns of Annie Oakley or the history of the Gatling gun and things like that So that's what kind of fun for me because it's not a lot of commitment, but it's a it's interesting Yeah. Uh, and my, my father grew up on a farm in Oklahoma after my grandparents came over from Sicily. And so there's a whole connection with that kind of rural life and, and the company's based out of Oklahoma. So, so I did that partly for my, my, my pop. And, uh, so anyway, but yeah, I do, I, I do, and I've been the voice of fat Tony for 32 years. I'm still doing that.

Jonathan:
That's insane. 32 years.

Joe Mantegna:
And I'm not the youngest guy in the building, that's for sure.

Jonathan:
I mean, you must be a pretty easy guy to work with.

Joe Mantegna:
I hope so. I mean, I hope so. I would like to think they'd bounce me if I wasn't, you know what I mean? But my feeling is this, though. Our industry is hard enough as it is. So whenever I go into a project, my feeling is let's make this as much fun and let's be as professional as we can. Let's make it as enjoyable as possible because this is an environment that you're gonna spend probably more time in than you are with your family, which we do. In TV and movies, you'll spend a 12, 14 hour day as typical. So yeah, I try to keep it lively. Just be a good human. Yeah, exactly right. I learned a lot from other guys. Tom Hanks, I did a Bosom Buddies with him years ago.

Jonathan:
Oh, an episode of Bosom Buddies.

Joe Mantegna:
An episode of Bosom Buddies. Oh my gosh. And I learned from him, I remember on the first day you do a script reading with the whole cast. Yeah. I was a guest guy, I did like two little bits on it at the time. This was back in the early 80s. And I remember Tom walking around the room, who was the star of the show, saying, hi, I'm Tom, welcome to our show. And I thought to myself, if ever I get to be number one on a call sheet, that's what I'll do. And I've been number one on a call sheet for 17 years now, and that's what I do. So you learn from guys like him. The Fonz, Henry Winkler, another one. There's not a nicer human being in the world. And when you meet guys like that in the business, those are the role models.

Jonathan:
That's awesome. Well, it's very inspirational to hear the story of Senior Rio and also your background and your stories. And I wish we could hang out and just hear your stories. Another time. All day long. Yeah. Another time. Well, thank you so much. Thank you. Thanks. But wait. Are we going to taste? Should we taste together? Hell yes. Hell yes. So.

Jonathan:
Here is, I presume, is it the añejo? We're gonna try the añejo, and then we'll try the coffee? Yeah, then we'll try the café elegancia. Cheers.

Jonathan:
It's lovely.

Joe Mantegna:
It's very clean and crisp, and it has these vanilla and spice... Exactly, hits you right in the back, but not sharp. Right.

Jonathan:
Vanilla and spice notes.

Jonathan:
I like it. Oh yeah. All right.

Jonathan:
Here we go. Now the cafe, tell me about this cafe.

Joe Mantegna:
This is like a secret weapon stuff. You start with this, you have your evening, you're drinking your tequila, you sit and drink it as you want to drink it. Maybe you drink it, you know, neat. Maybe you put a little ice cube in it. That's what I like. I like to chill it up a bit. You hit him with this. Every time I've done tastings at the stores, they go, oh, this tequila's fantastic. Now try this. And as they're about to leave with their bottle, and then they try this, and they go, oh, I need a bottle of that, too.

Jonathan:
Am I right? That is really nice.

Joe Mantegna:
You follow up the tequila with this, and you've got that tequila afterbite, aftertaste with it.

Jonathan:
It has a little bit of an herbaceous note to it. It's almost like a little minty.

Joe Mantegna:
Oh, yeah. It's got arabica beans that we use for it. I poured this stuff on ice cream.

Jonathan:
Oh, you guys, I guess, could have your own. I like it. It's really interesting. Isn't it? It's unlike other coffee liqueurs.

Joe Mantegna:
Oh, no, no, no, no. Yeah, this makes Sambuca taste like a Pepsi.

Jonathan:
It's lovely. That's delicious. Love it. Well, we're gonna bring on Debbie next, but thank you so much, Joe.

Joe Mantegna:
My pleasure. Pleasure to meet you. Thanks for having me.

Jonathan:
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Debbie:
I am fabulous. Thank you for having me. You know, this is wonderful. I love talking tequila. You find me talking tequila everywhere. So perfect.

Jonathan:
We have quite a story. And Joe is telling us the story about the brand and the product and how everything kind of came to fruition. And it's a really lovely story. And I'm glad that you're able to tell it through the liquid.

Debbie:
Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, it's quite amazing. You know, To start a tequila company from scratch with really no experience in the industry after my dad shared his recipe at our reunion, it's kind of a big leap of faith. And to be able to say here we are 15 years later, I mean, there's some staying power, I think. If it were bad tequila, I would be out of business.

Jonathan:
I think so. I think you're absolutely right. And, um, you're here at access live and probably most likely in the hopes of, you know, getting on the short list of some amazing distributors across the country.

Debbie:
Well, you know, Joe is so iconic that when, you know, he decided to partner and become a co-owner, he said, it's time we take this baby and make it an adult. So, you know, we are open to what the future holds. Yes.

Jonathan:
That's awesome. And do you have any strategies coming up that you're excited about, you know, for bars and restaurants or for off premise or events or anything?

Debbie:
Well, we are committed to Total Wine and More stores. And Joe loves to go in and we do bottle signings and meet and greets and his fans line up. And there's days we sell every bottle of Señor Rio on the shelf.

Jonathan:
Yes, that's the point. Mm hmm. And yes, the bottle is very uniquely designed and I love it. Is there any backstory to why the bottle is like that?

Debbie:
Well, you know, when we were deciding, and again, we'll go back to 2006 when I reunited with my dad in 2009, when we brought it to the market, we had that three year to kind of play with what do we want to put our tequila in? Yeah. At that time, most of the bottles were short like a bell and you needed two hands to hold it. Well, our bottle has been called very sexy. I like to say it has the curves as a woman does. But the long neck is for easy pouring. So it's bartender friendly. Yeah. And the stopper, which is the chest piece, is actually a picture of my dad in his younger years, silhouetted in there, lasered in. And then the stopper is a rubber stopper so that it's airtight. You could have this bottle for 50 years and it's still going to taste like day one. So there was a lot of thought that went into the bottle. Even on the bottom of the bottle, you can feel the name, which is etched into it. Then you're real. So I always said, if the bottle were empty and take the label off, I would still know this bottle a hundred years from now. But what's also interesting is inside the bottle is a secret message. I bet you didn't know that.

Jonathan:
I did not know that.

Debbie:
Well, why don't you pick up a bottle and take a peek and look behind the front label, kind of from the side angle. What does that say?

Jonathan:
Oh, it says, sharing tequila.

Debbie:
And then on the other side, the back label.

Jonathan:
Oh, it says, is sharing life.

Debbie:
Yes. So it is our hope that when you open this bottle, you open it with the people that you care about, you know, your family, your friends, your close friends, maybe not all your friends, but anyway, it's a tequila to bring people together. You know, it's sharing your life stories, creating your memories. Tomorrow's not promised. So we like to say celebrate life. And we hope that Senor Rio can be a part of your celebration as it brings generations together, like it did with my dad and I and my late husband. So the message is there so that we can just cherish the time that we have together. And you know what? Tequila does bring people together. I mean, I like to say that it tells a story. There's such a history behind tequila. Our tequila is authentic, traditional, made the old fashioned way. No additives, no artificial coloring or flavoring. And when you taste it, you can tell the difference because you are getting a taste of Mexico. Shall we start with the Blanco? I know you had the Añejo in the cafe, but I would love for you to take the Blanco. Because, you know, the Blanco is tequila in its purest form. We do not age it at all. So this is just double distilled and bottled immediately. It's a lowlands tequila, so it comes out of the town of Tequila, volcanic soil.

Jonathan:
Salud to our health.

Jonathan:
Mm-hmm. Oh, yes.

Debbie:
So the first sip always opens the palate, and the second sip is where you get all the wonderful notes.

Jonathan:
Exactly.

Debbie:
How did you like that?

Jonathan:
Good. It's really nice.

Debbie:
You ready for reposado? Yeah, let's do it. OK. So the reposado, which everyone knows means rested, we rest in cognac barrels for only six months. And it just picks up a lot of lovely layers.

Jonathan:
That's lovely, too.

Debbie:
The oak is introduced, the cognac sifts through, you still keep the integrity of the agave. So I really love sipping the reposado, mostly with sliced oranges sprinkled with cinnamon after dinner. But I'm a little bit of a cocktail girl every now and then.

Jonathan:
Yeah, great. Yeah. Well, this is lovely. Thank you so much for, you know, bringing this to the general public and making everyone aware of your story and your message. And I love it. You know, sharing is caring. Yes. And tequila is life and love.

Debbie:
It's our pleasure. Thank you again. Cheers. Alrighty. Cheers.

Jeffrey:
Tipple Time is brought to you in part by Monin and Mozart.

Jonathan:
Guess where I am, folks. I am in Las Vegas. That's right. I am at Libertine Social at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. This is an amazing spot. And I'm so thankful that my good friend, Tony Abhuganam, allowed me to come behind the bar. But let's go ahead and make our first cocktail here. This is kind of like a chocolate-covered raspberry type of drink. I have Reika vodka over here. Uh, this is from Iceland. It is actually, they use the water from the, um, fields of volcanic rock. It is quite amazing, quite a sight to see in Iceland. I have Mozart chocolate cream liqueur. This is kind of a variation on the Mozart, um, martini, which is delicious. I call this cocktail the composer. Ooh, yes. Now I'm, now I'm going to add a little bit of my raspberry syrup, about half of an ounce. There we go. And you know what? I want to add a little, I want a little extra Mozart chocolate cream liqueur in there. There we go. Now I will add some ice and we'll give it a nice shake. Okay. You ready? There we go. Shake it up. All right. And we'll strain it into our martini glass over here. There we are. Ooh, nice and decadent. Look at that. And let me take a little sip. Hold on. Absolutely delicious. And we'll see you next time.

Jeffrey:
Cheers. Tipple Time is brought to you in part by Mozart and Monin. I'm the next cocktail guru podcast. So let's get this party started.

announcer:
There was a song. There was a whole song about the Smirnoff Moscow Mule. I know you'll be excited to learn that it also glows in the dark.

Jonathan:
The party's already started.

Jeffrey:
On the next Cocktail Guru podcast.

Jonathan:
That does it for today's show.

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announcer:
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