Melly Barajas Cárdenas
Melly Barajas Cárdenas is a Mexican master distiller of tequila.[1] As of 2018 she was one of only 12 female master distillers in Mexico.[1] According to La Opinión she is known in Mexico as the Queen of Tequila.[2]
Early life
[edit]Barajas Cárdenas is from Guadalajara.[1] Sometime in the 1990s, while working there as a teacher and clothing designer, she vacationed with her father in Mazamitla, where the family owned a home, and they discussed the fact Europe had recently granted appellation of origin of tequila to Mexico and his own desire to have a tequila with his name on it.[1][3][2] Barajas Cárdenas interpreted this as something she could make happen and started looking for a distillery that would produce a few bottles, but as she investigated the industry she became interested.[1][2] In 2019 she recalled, "I thought it was going to be like a little gift of a few thousand pesos to make his bottles and that he could drink them with his friends, but it turned into something more."[2]
Barajas Cárdenas left her two jobs and began to work on formally entering the industry as a producer.[2] In 1999, when she was about 22,[2] Barajas Cárdenas opened the distillery Raza Azteca in Valle de Guadalupe, Jalisco, operated by her umbrella company Vinos y Licores Azteca.[1][4] Eventually Barajas Cárdenas was also able to buy her own agave fields.
Barajas Cárdenas' distillery famously produces the tequila brand La Gritona, owned by Andy Coronado.[5]
Company
[edit]The company produces three house brands of tequila and several for other tequila brands.[1] The company employs mostly women and produces tequila using traditional methods which extend the process from the hours in commercial production to a week.[1] Agave, tequila's main ingredients, is roasted in masonry ovens, and fermentation is allowed to happen naturally.[1] According to Barajas Cárdenas, as of 2019 the distillery produced 3000 liters per day.[2]
Reception
[edit]According to tequila writer M.A. Morales, Barajas Cárdenas is one of only a few Master Distillers importing to the United States four award-winning tequila labels simultaneously.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i Safronova, Valeriya (25 May 2018). "Her Father Loved Tequila. Now She Runs a Company That Makes It". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Melly Barajas, "la reina del tequila" que empezó de cero una exitosa destilería sin saber cómo hacer licores". La Opinión (in Spanish). 16 January 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- ^ "The 'tequila queen' who started her business". Mexicanist. 3 January 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- ^ "Making Tequila With Others Like Herself". WRAL-TV. 25 May 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- ^ Ma, Tracy; Migliozzi, Blacki; Wertheim, Bonnie (11 December 2018). "What Happened in 2018? Shake to Remember". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
- ^ "'From Babes to Boss Ladies' Book From Tequila Aficionado's M.A. 'Mike' Morales Available May 10". AP News. 19 December 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
Further reading
[edit]- Morales, M. A. (5 May 2019). From Babes to Boss Ladies: The Women Who Contribute to and Create Tequila, Mezcal, Sotol, Bacanora and Other Mexican Spirits. Independently Published. ISBN 978-1-0960-9472-2.