The origins of tequila dates back to the Aztecs who used fermented sap of the agave plant for religious ceremonies. In the 16th century Spanish conquistadors arrived and introduced the distillation technique and the national spirit of Mexico was born. Tequila is divided into three different categories: Blanco, Reposado and Añejo. The blue agave is only allowed to be grown, and the tequila has to be distilled, in five designated regions in Mexico. Guanajuato, Michoacan, Nayarit, Tamaulipas and Jalisco. On World Tequila Day, July 24 this very Mexican spirit, on the rise all over the world, is celebrated.

EL DIABLO
El Diablo was first mentioned in Bergeron’s “Trader Vic’s Book of Food and Drink” from 1946 and started out as The Mexican El Diablo. It was marked with a TV in his book, to show that it is a Trader Vic original. Bergeron added a little warning to the recipe remarking that “I hate like hell to bring up unpleasant things at a time like this but go easy on this one because it’s tough on your running board”. The drink was taken off the Trader Vic’s menu in the 1950s but reappeared some years later in Bergeron’s next venture. In the early 1960s Bergeron was asked by a friend to open a restaurant in Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco. Wanting to open something Mexican he traveled all over Mexico for inspiration and was surprised he couldn’t find many drinks made with tequila, apart from the occasional Margarita or Tequila Sunrise (the original version created made with tequila, crème de cassis, lime and soda water). When opening his new Mexican restaurant, Señor Pico, in 1964, Bergeron added the drink to the menu and simplified the name of the drink to El Diablo, a name has been used since.

THE DESIGNER
The glass called Ginette was designed by Kenji Matsuura for Sugahara in 2010.