Reporter ISSAQUAH | SAMMAMISH
Friday, August 16, 2013
www.issaquahreporter.com
SPECIAL BLEND
Shining moment World Series berth a gift to Sammamish community
Issaquah Highland’s Agave introduces own tequila BY LINDA BALL
BY JOSH SUMAN
LBALL@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
JSUMAN@SOUNDPUBLISHING.COM
ederico Ramos wants to introduce his patrons at Agave Cocina and Tequilas to tequila that will make them broaden their experience and turn them into connoisseurs. To that end, the restaurant is introducing its own, limited edition Double Barrel Reposado, from the State of Jalisco in Mexico.
Blake Hawksworth remembers when the game was pure. Before he ever signed his first professional contract, or stepped on the mound with the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers, Hawksworth fostered a passion for the game at a time when the ballpark was never more than a bike ride away. “I lived a football field away from the park,” he said. “It was an exciting time for me and my friends. It is baseball at its purest form.” Now, as another generation of Sammamish Little Leaguers makes history as Eastlake’s first regional champions and World Series participants, Hawksworth can’t help but look on and smile. The current group, composed of the top 13 players from the league’s Major level teams, has already left its own mark. After storming through the District 9 and state tournament, Eastlake found itself in rarified air at the Northwest Regional tournament. With a pair of comebacks, the second with its tournament life on the line in the semifinals against Oregon, and a decisive win in the championship game over Montana, Eastlake secured the first regional championship for any baseball or softball team in the program and punched its ticket to Little League’s biggest stage at the
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Federico, along with his brother, Julian, and sister, Faviola Ramos, own two Agave restaurants – one in Redmond and one in the Issaquah Highlands. The three siblings have been in the restaurant business for 12 years. It was Federico’s dream to have his own restaurant and eventually his own tequila one day. That dream has been realized. The Ramos family grew up in Jalisco, which includes Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara. Jalisco is the region where the agave plant is grown and harvested for tequila, not unlike the Champagne wine region in northeast France – the exclusive region for real champagne. The agave plant is the basis for genuine tequila, but with cheap tequilas, Federico said, other alcohol – and sugar – is often added, which produces that horrible queasy feeling if you overdo it. This tequila is made for sipping, from a snifter. The experience, he said, will be similar to tasting fine wine. “You look at the legs, color, sniff, swirl,” he said. “We’ve turned so many people into tequila connoisseurs.” That’s because Agave already carries 150 other tequilas ranging in price from $7 to $230 a glass. He likes to encourage his patrons to try new things. “It’s all a matter of how you drink it and the quality,” he said. “You don’t shoot it, you sip it.” The family traveled to Jalisco to find just the right tequila for the restaurants. They decided to go with Casa Herradura, a distillery that
Federico Ramos, one of the owners of Agave Cocina and Tequilas, shows off the actual barrel the restaurant’s very own private blend tequila was aged in. On top of the barrel is one of the limited edition bottles. LINDA BALL, Issaquah & Sammamish Reporter has been in business since 1870. They tasted three different candidates, reposado tequilas still in their original barrels. Reposado means “rested.” A reposado has to be aged at least two months up to 11 months. Agave’s Double Barrel Reposado was aged 11 months in an old whiskey barrel, then transferred into a brand new French oak barrel for a month. Technically, Federico said, it’s an anejo since it was aged for a year, but since it was switched from one barrel to another it has to be called a reposado. The name, double barrel, is due to this process. He said they tasted three different tequilas aged in this manner. A silver tequila is not aged. Federico said silvers have crisp, floral aromas and
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PPY HOUER BEST HAE TSID ! ON THE AS WEEKEND BRUNCH: $4 Mimosas $5 Marys.
tend to be a favorite among women who have a more sensitive palate than men. The Double Barrel Reposado is a limited edition. The Ramos’ got 240 bottles from the 2012 harvest, and when it’s gone, it’s gone. It is in Herradura bottles, but it is printed on the label that it is Agave Cocina’s own custom tequila. It can’t be sold by the bottle, but a glass is $12. Federico said they wanted to keep it affordable so as many patrons as possible can try it. On Tuesday, Aug. 20 Federico will host a cocktail party from 4-6 p.m. at the Issaquah location to formally introduce the Double Barrel Reposado. Representatives from Casa Herradura will be there for the festivities.
• Our Very Own Hand • Large Private Party Picked Tequila Barrel! Room in Our Redmond • Live Music Mondays! Location!! (Thru the Summer)
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