Crazy for Tequila in San Miguel de Allende
As stated in yesterday’s blog, I was invited by my friends, Bob and Veronique Pittman, to the quaint Mexican town of San Miguel de Allende, to celebrate the successful launch of Casa Dragones, their fabulous artisanal tequila. Casa Dragones is unlike any other tequila.  Their Maestro Tequilero begins with the centuries-old art of tequila making using blue agave and modernizes it through an innovative process. The result is an extremely smooth tequila with a refined character and a soft finish – a true sipping tequila.
Casa Dragones not only tastes great, but it looks great, too. In fact, they are the first Mexican brand to win the most prestigious product design award in France! The lovely and historic hacienda, La Casa Dragones, is home to this fantastic tequila and we went there for a tequila tasting and a glass engraving demonstration. Please enjoy more photos of my fun trip to Mexico.
1 Tequila industry expert, Bertha Gonzalez, runs the tequila business with Bob Pittman - she is the co-founder and CEO of Casa Dragones. La Casa Dragones is a very beautiful house where they have tequila tastings and pairings.
2 The wall behind the bar in the interior courtyard of Casa Dragones has a lovely display of the sky blue packaging and the handcrafted, pure, lead-free crystal bottles.
3 This is Jose Cruz Guillen, a master glass engraver with his handmade, portable, engraving wheels. He takes the craft very, very seriously.
4 We were treated to a tequila tasting and a demonstration of the pepita engraving process.
5 This sharply angled stone makes very fine cuts in the hand-crafted crystal bottles.
6 The wheels run through water to keep them moist and cool.
7 Each bottle is crafted by hand in Mexico City, using pure, lead-free crystal. Skilled artisans place the red-hot crystal in molds, one by one, until the shape takes hold.
8 Holding the bottle on an angle, the engraver begins the process. A fine black ink line marks the position for the engraving.
9 Steady hands are imperative.
10 The Pepita, so named because the engravings look seed-like - literally translated, Pepita means 'small seed.'
11 Adding another detail
12 This tradition first began in Spain and was brought to Mexico in the 1500s when Rodrigo de Espinoza opened Mexico's first glass factory in Puebla.
13 The bottom of the carafe is engraved with a star-like shape, representing the agave plant from which tequila is made.
14 What a wonderful carafe with clear identification. The bottle by the way, comes with a glass stopper so it can be reused as a wine carafe or water bottle.
15 This wheel can do a lot of magic.
16 Jose Cruz Guillen can even decorate a very thin glass light bulb.
17 Simply amazing!
18 A closeup of the fine detail
19 This is the 'art display' in a new modern hotel in San Miguel de Allende called Hotel Matilda.
20 Very, very chic and striking
21 This is the symbol for the tequila which appears in all the literature and on the packaging.
22 The wonderful sky blue box
23 The flap on the box is secured with invisible magnets.
24 Each limited edition bottle is signed and numbered by hand, hallmarking the characteristics of a particular batch.
25 This entire approach takes time and expertise, making it possible to produce only a small amount of Casa Dragones each year.
26 The Casa Dragones philosophy is part of the packaging.
27 The glass stopper completes the package.
28 Casa Dragones is the first Mexican brand to win the most prestigious product design award in France.
Martha, I envy you getting a chance to see all of the engraving. I saw fine crystal being "cut" in Germany and Austria, and it was facinating. I also saw glass being blown in both countries, and...it was jaw-dropping amazing!!
As I don't drink, it is the glass engraving that impresses me.
Thanks for bringing back some bitter-sweet memories for me...sweet becasue my son was alive at the time, and bitter becasue he isn't now and he shared those trips with me while he served in the Army of the United States of America.
Gloria G!!
Posted by: Gloria | November 30th, 2010 at 1:54 am
Absolutely amazing crafting the bottle for casa Dragones. Would love to learn more about crystal glass and the wonderful agave plant and making of this tequila.
Posted by: ann | November 30th, 2010 at 7:34 am
Loved the engraving photos and info on the new tequila. Would love to know when and where it is available as my husband is a tequila fan and I would love to get him some for the holidays. Thanks,Lynn
Posted by: Lynn | November 30th, 2010 at 9:48 am
Hi Martha,
I’m glad you enjoyed your trip to Mexico. It is very interesting to see in part how they make those crystal bottles for their tequila, and lead-free too. It’s too bad that most of the old crystal has lead in it. I’m going to turn my crystal cups into candle holders to make sure no one drinks out of them in the future. Anyway, I’m thinking a bottle of Casa Dragones must cost a pretty penny considering the limited supply. I’m glad I don’t drink or I might want a bottle, but it would be nice to have one of the pretty empty ones or even an etched light bulb. Neat! Trish
Posted by: Trish | November 30th, 2010 at 10:00 am
Martha, thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | November 30th, 2010 at 10:20 am
Hi Martha, This sure is a beautiful fascinating blog post. I have never tasted teguila or seen a bottle of it for that matter, but after seeing the type made by your friends in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico I think it would be fun to try it. These lead-free crystal bottles engraved by the master glass engraver are very stunning and the sky blue boxes are stunning, also. Why does the original crystal have lead in it while these bottles are lead-free? Curious. Seeing the master glass engraver engraving a thin glass light bulb was also fascinating. I'm surprised that it didn't break that thin light bulb. Thanks so much for sharing this fantastic blog post! Have another great day! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | November 30th, 2010 at 11:45 am
Love the packaging...i'd purchase it in a heartbeat just for how beautiful it looks!
Posted by: sherey | November 30th, 2010 at 11:45 am
Hello Martha, Thank you for visiting my country... You visited one of my favorites places! full of culture, art and great food. I invite you to visit Mexico more often and enjoy other magical places such as: CHIAPAS, MERIDA, CUERNAVACA, GUANAJUATO, AGUASCALIENTES, PLAYA DEL CARMEN and others. Mexico if full of talented artisans and warm people. I'm so proud of my country MEXICO that I really enjoy the news that you visited.
Posted by: KARLA MEDINA | November 30th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Great post.
Great show today.
Loved it all, especially the decorating segment. We can all use help in that department to help us keep our homes from getting stale. Especially me on a regular basis
Posted by: Becky Kuchefski | November 30th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Hi Martha,
I want to share that we made a post on our blog about your visit to Hotel Matilda and Casa Dragones.
You look really good in the pictures.
Please see it at:
http://anochemientrasdormias.com/2010/11/hotelmatilda/
I hope you like it!!
Posted by: Helena | November 30th, 2010 at 12:57 pm
Martha,
I'm so happy to read you came to Mexico and enjoyed some of my culture!
You're great and I've always admired you.
Love from Mexico
Paulina
Posted by: Paulina O | November 30th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
My little liquor store will not have Casa Dragones but boy will they have the good stuff.
We have fun just with a weekly tres tequila test.
Posted by: Margie | November 30th, 2010 at 4:23 pm
It was a great honor to meet you at San Miguel, specially at that great place as Casa Dragones, after tasting their delicious tequila.
Posted by: bertha Nieves | November 30th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
We were all so elated to see that you made this visit to our amazing gem San Miguel de Allende supporting Casa Dragones tequila and all of the lovely business and stores that you visited. You are our latest representative that all is vibrant and well in sunny San Miguel de Allende. We await your prompt return and welcome your readers to come and visit and drink some Dragones!
Posted by: Susan Cordelli | December 2nd, 2010 at 4:13 pm
HI MARTHA:
Fabulous that you visited San Miguel de Allende. Further proof that all is well in MEXICO if YOU came to see us.
WE serve Casa Dragones tequila to celebrate a new face....ooops sometimes they dont want us to tell at our cosmetic surgery spa retreat in San Miguel de Allende.
Hope you will come back soon to this magical place !
Posted by: Pat Marino | December 2nd, 2010 at 5:26 pm
We were all so elated to see that you made this visit to our amazing gem San Miguel de Allende supporting Casa Dragones tequila and all of the lovely business and stores that you visited. You are our latest representative that all is vibrant and well in sunny San Miguel de Allende. We await your prompt return and welcome your readers to come and visit and drinksome Dragones!
Posted by: Susan Cordelli | December 3rd, 2010 at 1:20 am
We are glad that you enjoyed your trip to our beautiful town. My husband's new book "San Miguel de Allende, a Place in the Heart" tells the stories of expats who have made this magical colonial city home. Available on amazon.com. Kristine
Posted by: John Scherber | December 3rd, 2010 at 6:57 pm
i heard the town was all abuzz when you visited. it is a beautiful, cultured town and offers an incredible way of life for we expats. looks like europe, feels very foreign, with extraordinary people, wonderful sscents and color. really a paradise in a country so beseiged by bad press and negative journalisim. thank you for putting a positive spin ion a place which is so special. visit again. there is much more to see. incredble haciendas, magical churches, museums, first class music and dining.
Posted by: clayre haft | December 6th, 2010 at 1:22 am
What an incredible process! This tequila must be a real treat. I love the label and packaging design. It reflects the high quality, artisanal nature of the product. Very refined and classy. Has anybody ever tried any tequila infusions? Here is a habañero infusion I did to make a cantaloupe margarita. It turned out to be amazing.http://thechefrepublic.com/?p=544
Posted by: Arielle | December 16th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
The best Tequilas in facebook!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tequila-Antigua-Cruz/161255643921905
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tequila-Hacienda-de-Tepa/190154171010829?ref=ts
Posted by: Tequila | April 26th, 2011 at 10:25 am