Happy Friday Morning! This week has been one crazy week to say the least… but were not here to talk about any of that. Were here to talk about things that bring us together, great cocktails, great spirits and good times with friends.

Any hoo, lets talk about some divisive drama with the CRT & Tequila Matchmaker instead!

CRT Forcing Tequila brands to remove ANY AND ALL Labeling that doesn’t align with their views.

Apparently the CRT is making tequila brands remove ANY certification or mention of any certification from their labels. Below is a photo from a bottle of Mijenta that I have where the Additive Free Logo and their Certified B Corp & Carbon Neutral Project logo have all been covered up. It seems they aren’t just forcing tequila brands to remove mention of just the Additive Free logos, but apparently anything that can make a tequila brand stand out from the biggest brands.

So I’m assuming the reason those two bottles are different is because the Reposado was probably bottled more recently and the brand had the ability to print new labels to comply with the CRTs requirements. Whereas the Blanco was a slightly older bottle that was already labeled, and for it to leave Mexico they probably had to put a sticker on top of it to hide those logos.

I have always been very fond of Mijenta not only for their great products but because of their focus on sustainability and for the fact that they are a certified B-Corp. Their commitment to the environment and making sure they are working in a productive and sustainable way has always been a huge factor for me. In my opinion, this makes them completely unique in the spirits landscape because truly there are only a tiny handful of companies that are given B-Corp status.

So this tracks and is in line with what I have been hearing rumors and rumblings of from the CRT. The CRT isn’t happy to just force the brands to hide any link to Tequila Matchmaker, apparently they now aren’t allowed to talk about sustainability or anything that could set them apart. So while I won’t say this is shocking, because it definitely tracks with the CRT, it is disappointing.

After I spoke with a brand a few weeks ago about this insanity, I started hearing more rumors from other folks about what the CRT has been doing with some brands, such as threatening to hold up their shipments at the border if they don’t comply and some other power tactics.

Anyway, I found this to be quite interesting and a physical representation of how far things have been taken.

I have heard a lot more that I am not willing to share at this time, but what I can say is this drama probably won’t stop anytime soon.

Massachusetts Votes to Save Tipped Workers Jobs & Local Independent Restaurants

Some good news came out of the election this week, at least in Massachusetts. Voters voted No on the controversial question #5 on the ballot which could’ve spelt the end of the restaurant landscape in MA as we knew it.

Weeks ago I wrote about a very important question on the Ballot in Massachusetts that could’ve put at risk the livelihood of tens of thousands of servers, bartenders and restaurants owners in MA by removing tipped minimum wage which would’ve effectively raised prices in restaurants and forced many independent restaurants to close their doors for good.

I wont go through all of the details of it here as i have covered it in the past but the Mass Restaurants Association did an incredible job covering it on their instagram as well.

So why does this matter? We have seen measures like this keep coming up across the country with Maine, California and Washington DC being the big ones where its passed. In Maine it was so catastrophic that they reversed course in 8 months after outcry from Servers.

And look, I’m not sitting here saying tips are perfect. I actually made a whole podcast episode with Leandro from the Educated Barfly about tipping and the many problems with it but the entire restaurant industry in the U.S is a giant house of cards, with tiny margins and insane difficulty to succeed so removing tips from Servers & Bartenders in one fell swoop would send the whole house of cards crumbling down.

I think there does need to be a reform and changes to this system but not at the expense of the best servers, and bartenders in the industry.

I’m Hosting a Tequila Dinner with El Tesoro Tequila on Dec 4th!

Mark your calendars if you’re in Massachusetts / New England! Wednesday December 4th from 6 PM - 9 PM we’ll be hosting an incredible night with one of my favorite tequila brands of all time El Tesoro, at my bar, Ember & Alma Cocktail Bar!

There will be a 3 Course Dinner, an exclusive original cocktail that we will only be serving that evening, a tasting some El Tesoro’s expressions and giveaways of some awesome prizes and exclusive Merch & goodies.

This will be a ticketed and limited evening with only about 50-60 Seats available and these tickets are expected to go soon! So keep a look out on my Instagram and socials for the official announcement of when those tickets go on sale, they’ll most likely be about $65 a person for this exclusive dinner but i should be officially putting them on sale in the next week or so!

You won’t want to miss out!

Best Video We Saw on Social Media This Week

To be fair this week was slim pickings for positivity on Social media but nonetheless this was my favorite cocktail / spirits video i saw posted on the internet this week.

Thirsty Whale created this incredible video comparing Super Juice recipes! And I thought it was absolutely incredible. Ive made videos about Super Juice in the past and I am always fascinated with people testing out different variations and finding ways to make it better!

I had recently posted a video Steve the bartender did but this one by Thirsty Whale was a very fun watch!