One of the best parts of building Volans has been meeting people who genuinely care about tequila, where it comes from, how it is made and the people behind it. Lui Fernandes is one of those people.
Lui is a bartender, content creator and co-owner of Ember & Alma Cocktail Bar in Marlborough, Massachusetts. He spends a lot of time tasting, learning and talking about spirits, and we really appreciate the way he approaches tequila. He recently featured Volans, and it was great to hear his perspective on what we are making at El Pandillo.
Why his perspective matters to us
We have never wanted Volans to be a tequila that relies on a big marketing story to explain why it is good. The liquid has to do that work first.
At the same time, there are a lot of small decisions behind every bottle. When someone like Lui notices those details, it means something to us because those are the same things we care about every day.
Volans is family-owned and traditionally made at El Pandillo, NOM 1579, in Jesús María, Jalisco, under the direction of Felipe Camarena. Our agave is cooked in masonry ovens, crushed with El Pandillo’s 100% mechanical tahona, fermented in open stainless-steel tanks and twice distilled in copper pot stills.
Nothing about that is there simply because it sounds good on a sell sheet. It is how Felipe makes tequila, and it is a big part of why we fell in love with El Pandillo in the first place.
Water is an ingredient, not just dilution
One of the biggest things Felipe taught me was to stop thinking about water as something you add at the end just to lower the proof. At El Pandillo, water is an ingredient.
We have access to three different sources there: deep well water from an aquifer more than 450 feet underground, natural spring water and collected rainwater. Each has its own mineral character, and we use those waters intentionally in the different tequilas that make up Volans.
Our Blanco is a blend of tequila made with all three water sources. The result, for us, is a tequila that is bright, clean and complex, while still tasting very clearly of cooked agave.
What Lui picks up in Volans Blanco
Lui has talked about Volans Blanco in terms of roasted agave, minerality, savory character, spice and citrus. I like that description because it gets at what we want Volans to be without overcomplicating it.
We want you to taste the agave. We want the tequila to have texture and character. We want the production process to still be there in the glass instead of covering it up or trying to make everything taste sweet and easy.
That does not mean you need to be a tequila expert to enjoy it. Quite the opposite. Volans was made to be shared with friends and family. Drink it neat, drink it with food, put it in a great cocktail, or simply open a bottle around the table.
Tequila is better when people share what they know
People like Lui are important to tequila because they make the category easier to understand without taking the fun out of it. A good bartender can tell you why something is interesting, pour it for you and then let you decide for yourself.
That is a lot closer to how we think about tequila than trying to tell people what they are supposed to taste.
For us, Volans has always been about sharing a little bit of Jalisco with people. The agave, the distillery, the people, the food, the music and the hospitality are all connected. The bottle is part of that, but it is not the whole story.
So thank you to Lui for taking the time to taste Volans, talk about it and share it with his audience. We appreciate it.
If you are in Massachusetts, go see Lui at Ember & Alma
And if you are anywhere near Marlborough, Massachusetts, make a point to stop by Ember & Alma and see Lui and his team.
Ember & Alma is a craft cocktail bar and restaurant built around Latin American flavors, Brazilian influence, contemporary American cooking and drinks meant to be enjoyed together. That idea of sitting down, sharing food and drinks and spending some time together feels pretty familiar to us.
They are located at 500 Boston Post Road East in Marlborough, west of Boston.
Learn more or make a reservation at emberandalma.com.
And if you stop in, tell Lui that Volans sent you.
Salud,
Chad