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Porfidio Tequila, used here in a margarita, is a premium brand carried at Border Grill. It is made with 100 percent blue agave. Photo by John Gurzinski. A drought in Mexico that hurt the blue agave plant has caused the price of tequila to rise. Photo by John Gurzinski. DISTINCTIVE FLAVORS Tequilas are all the same; only the price and bottle are different, right? Nope, says Paolo Paiva, beverage manager at Mandalay Bay's Border Grill restaurant. There is a wide range of tequilas and each has its own distinctive flavor. There are three basic types of tequila: anejo is Spanish for aged, and is stored in a barrel for at least a year. It has a golden-amber color to it. Respado or rested, is aged two months to one year and is a light gold color. Blanco, Spanish for white, is not aged at all and is clear. Tequila picks up its color from the barrels it is stored in, Paiva said, and the aging time does affect the taste. One other thing, if you're ordering tequila for the first time, don't go looking for a worm. Those are usually found in mescal, a spirit made of other types of agave. While tequila is technically a type of mescal, mescal is not tequila, if that makes sense. -- SONYA PADGETT

Wednesday, December 27, 2000
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

BEVERAGES: Adios, Cheap Tequila

Shortage of key ingredient places city's famed 99-cent margaritas in jeopardy

If it's a holiday tradition to ring in the new year with an ice cold margarita at your favorite bar or restaurant, you'd better prepare to pay a little more for the tangy Mexican drink this year.

That's because a drought in Mexico and poor planning have led to a shortage of blue agave, the plant used to make tequila, the main ingredient in margaritas.

Las Vegas restaurants and casinos are beginning to feel the effects of the blue agave shortage in the form of higher prices for what was one of the most inexpensive spirits.

"We are really aware of the agave blight and what it's doing to the price of tequila," said Carollynn Bartosh, spokeswoman for the Border Grill at Mandalay Bay, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South.

What it's done is increase the Mexican restaurant's cost for a high-quality bottle of tequila by about $10 during the last six months, said Border Grill's beverage manager Paolo Paiva.

"Tequila is an interesting spirit," Paiva said. "It was very much a blue collar spirit but in the last couple of years it's become very hip, which has created quite a demand. The growers didn't foresee that demand."

Tequila makers could have withstood the blue agave damage caused by drought and insects with little to no effect on wholesale prices, Paiva said. But those problems combined with the increase in popularity of tequila was too much for the distilleries to overcome. The bad news is the shortage won't be alleviated for several years as it can take blue agave up to 12 years to mature.

While the shortage has affected all types of tequila, premium brands are taking the biggest hit.

There are two basic categories of tequila: premium tequilas, which are 100 percent blue agave, and the rest, which are 41 percent blue agave and 59 percent simple sugar. These are often used by bars and restaurants as a house tequila.

Though margaritas have long been a popular mixed drink, Paiva said, people are drinking more premium tequilas.

Last year, 35 percent of the tequila produced was premium. In an effort to stretch the meager supply of blue agave, 10 percent of tequilas will be premium this year, Paiva said. Border Grill now pays up to $75 for a bottle of premium tequila.

"Premium tequilas have a smoother finish," Paiva said. "They're usually a little creamier, comparable to (the texture of) wine."

Blue agave -- a succulent, not a cactus as most people believe -- is grown in Tequila, Mexico. And by Mexican law, tequila can be made only with blue agave. There are other types of agave that are used for mescal (the stuff with the worm in it), a spirit often mistaken for tequila.

Border Grill was known for featuring daily margarita specials; those specials have now been replaced by rum-based drinks.

"It's tough for us because margaritas are our staple here," Paiva said. "There are days we sell a thousand margaritas. As a beverage manager I'm always looking at my liquor costs. Your staple drink should be your best cost."

Border Grill charges $6.75 for its house margarita and may have to increase the price to make a profit, Paiva said. Some tequilas have gone up $2 a shot from a low of $5.50 to a high of $12. The restaurant goes through about 12 cases of tequila each week, seven of which are the house tequila, Puerto Vallarta, at $11.50 a bottle.

The story is much the same at other restaurants and even casinos, which have made Las Vegas famous for the 99-cent margarita.

"We're just biting the bullet on it right now," said Lloyd Wentzell, director of food and beverage at the Riviera, 2901 Las Vegas Blvd. South. "At the moment it's the most costly spirit for us."

The Riviera, which uses 8,000 liters of tequila a year, is one of only a handful of places that still offers a 99-cent margarita. The Fremont and Fiesta also offer the cheapie drink, but obviously take a loss by doing so.

"It's a loss leader, meant to bring people in," Wentzell said.

The Fiesta, 2400 N. Rancho Drive, saw its tequila prices go up 5 percent to 10 percent a couple of months ago but the increase has leveled off a bit, said Andre Portal, director of food and beverage at the Fiesta.

But Portal says the casino has not had to increase the retail prices as of yet, although that might change if wholesale prices increase even more early next year, as he expects.

Annually, the Fiesta uses more than 1,000 cases of house tequila and 300 cases of the other 299 types of tequila offered.

The Pink Taco restaurant at the Hard Rock Hotel, 4455 Paradise Road, offers more than 80 different kinds of tequila, said Tex Dike, restaurant manager.

He hasn't raised the price of the Pink Taco's house margarita, but he did raise prices of individual shots.

"We were expecting prices to go up so we prepared for it by raising our prices a bit," Dike said.

He also had to remove two premium tequilas from the menu as they're no longer sold in the United States.

"We're going to wait and see what happens in the next six months," Dike said. "We're trying to keep prices down as long as possible."

The house margarita is made with Two Finger Gold tequila and costs $5.95.

Tequila makers are looking for ways to alleviate the shortage, at least until the blue agave growers can catch up, Paiva said.

"Distilleries are pushing to get the content of (nonpremium) tequilas down to 35 percent blue agave instead of 41 percent to stretch the ingredient," Paiva said.

But no matter what solutions are used, tequila drinkers should just get used to paying higher prices for the libation, as its popularity alone will most likely keep prices up.

"Tequila was a cheaper product for us but the demand for tequila is so high now I don't expect the (price) to come down," Wentzell said. "A few years ago we had a tremendous increase in the price of produce. A $10 box of lettuce went up to $50. What are you going to do, not offer lettuce? Unfortunately it happens."