A Dangerously Fun Spirit with Superior Taste and a Huge Market Opportunity

PaQuí was created by alcoholic beverage veteran John Chappell who sensed a business opportunity in the luxury tequila segment when he found that the dominant brands were lacking the things he enjoys most: pleasant aromas, fruit, complexity and smooth finish. 

"PaQuí Tequila is hand-crafted to be the most enjoyable drinking experience in luxury tequila"

When Chappell asked Master Distiller Gilberto Jasso why these billion-dollar brands had such a harsh burning taste, Jasso believed that he could create a more enjoyable liquid.  He invented a process that goes a further step in distillation by separating the heart of the agave to remove harsh impurities allowing the drinker to smell and taste the complex and delicious flavors of the blue agave.

We believe that almost no other brands at the $45 - $55 retail range do this step as yields can fall by up to 20%. This is the crucial step behind our grassy, floral aromas, sweet agave fruit, complex flavors and soft finish.

PaQui only picks Blue Weber Agave that reaches maturity of 25 - 26 brix sugar level, and is produced in highly sterile conditions with Stainless Steel baking, fermentation and distillation. We also use fresh wine yeast for each fermentation to achieve consistent results. 

The ultimate result is a luxury tequila that is delicious, smooth and enjoyable enough to sip and enhances any cocktail.

* These testimonials may not be representative of the experience of other customers and are not a guarantee of future performance or success.

The tequilas that dominate the luxury segment seem to focus almost exclusively on marketing and not on liquid quality, allowing a challenger brand like PaQuí with a fraction of their resources to outscore them in reviews by Wine Enthusiast. Most are taken as shots to avoid the bite and unpleasant burn. Because of this, most Americans are scared of tasting the tequila and have never experienced how flavorful and smooth artisan tequila can taste. We believe that many drinkers like the fun drinking experience offered by tequila, but are turned off by the taste profile.

Cliche Identities

According to our research, the marketing and branding of tequila pays little to no attention to the emotional and psychological reasons why drinkers choose tequila: the cultural heritage of Mexico, the elevated sociability that tequila promises to offer, and the appealing sense of dangerous fun, especially when you enjoy it with friends.

A refined, smoother flavor

We believe PaQuí Tequila’s taste profile is highly differentiated and we believe unlike any offered by the dominant brands. Industry reviews and the drinkers agree that the liquid has attractive floral hints, sweet agave fruit aromas, and a soft smooth finish that is enjoyable to taste.  

"I have not been a Tequila fan since 1984, PaQui just changed my view that I had on Tequila for over 33 years."

- Joe L.

* These testimonials may not be representative of the experience of other customers and are not a guarantee of future performance or success.

When we do tasting events. drinkers are often shocked when they taste PaQuí for the first time. Many respond by saying they usually avoid tequila or never liked tequila, but PaQuí is completely different from what they have ever tasted. They express how much they like PaQui and often convince their more skeptical friends and family to taste it; confirming our belief that there is a significant niche for a brand with PaQui’s refined taste profile. 

* These testimonials may not be representative of the experience of other customers and are not a guarantee of future performance or success.

Branding that Appeals to the Authentic Mexico & Aztec Culture

The PaQuí brand aims to reflect and capture the emotion behind tequila: Mexican cultural authenticity,  a sense of old world craftsmanship and quality, a sense of enjoyment, sociability and fun. The brand is loaded with depth and can communicate its profile and its ties to the unique tequila drinking experience..

* Source, Source

** Sources from left to right: Source, Source

PaQuí has enormous geographic expansion opportunities ahead as we now only compete in five states. 

Incredible 85% Resale Rate and Rapid E-Commerce Expansion

For our initial proof of concept and product market viability, we launched PaQuí first in Manhattan, one of the hardest spirits markets to enter. For the first 1.5 years, the owner and his one NY market sales director singlehandedly opened 180+ doors in the hardest, most competitive spirits market. They achieved sky-high repurchase rates with an 85% resale rate.

DESPITE COVID; 2020 EXPANSION INTO TEQUILA’S BIGGEST STATES

PaQuí has experienced 84% growth in revenue despite the negative impact from Covid shutdowns and successfully expanded into tequila’s biggest states: CA, FL, and GA. 

OUR DIGITAL ADVERTISING ACCOMPLISHMENT

KILLER DIGITAL MARKETING PROGRAM

On the marketing front, we made major advances in digital advertising that initially drove the oversubscribed 2020 StartEngine campaign to its maximum level and have since brought on industry-leading specialists to help us drive our digital marketing and other key marketing programs such as SEO-optimized content, email funnel marketing, trade PR, social media marketing.

E-COMMERCE ACCOMPLISHMENT

We also launched our own online store and expanded our e-commerce capabilities to allow us to reach customers in 40 states plus Washington D.C. (in 2019, we were only available mostly in New York City!)

HIGHLY REGARDED BY MEDIA & INFLUENCERS

We have been getting the attention of leading publications in the spirits & food industry, as well as luxury media outlets and influencers alike and getting a lot of great reviews.

*Source, Source, Source, Source

*Sources

Lastly, we introduced a new mezcal brand Lejana Y Sola that continues to get a strong response in NY, FL, and CA. More on this below.

How we make tequila taste so delicious

The Master Distiller and Founder’s mission was to create an enjoyable, premium tequila that is smooth, flavorful and celebrated the rich agave aromas. PaQuí prioritizes quality, taste and the drinking experience. We go one step further in the distillation process by separating the heart of the agave plant that holds the harsh tasting impurities. We sacrifice up to 20% of our yield so the drinker can enjoy a unique experience that captures the best of the blue agave: floral aromas, sweet agave fruit, complexity, minerality and softness. 

100% BLUE WEBER AGAVE FROM THE HIGHLANDS OF JALISCO

Our Master Distiller hand-selects the finest Blue Weber Agave from the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico.  PaQuí Tequila is always 100% Blue Weber Agave, 100% of the time.

MATURED TO 26 BRIX LEVEL

The key to achieving the characteristic complex flavors of sweet agave fruit that’s in every sip of PaQuí lies in the BRIX level, or sugar level. Our agave is picked at 7 to 10 years maturity when they reach the ideal 26 BRIX. This ensures a delicious tequila that is abundant in flavor and aromas.

OUR PROPRIETARY SELECTIVE DISTILLATION METHOD

The smooth, soft finish of our Tequila comes from our proprietary selective distillation process that goes one step further to separate the heart of the agave plant that holds the harsh tasting impurities that we believe you taste in many other mass-market brands. In the vast majority of brands these impurities are not removed resulting in the harshness and burning finish that many associate with Tequila. 

STERILE PROCESS WITH STAINLESS STEEL

Finally, we use fresh wine yeast instead of the typical airborne ones in every fermentation for consistency and control. PaQui also uses stainless steel autoclaves and pot stills for fermentation because the clean conditions are vital to achieving the PaQui profile.

Our aged styles are unique in that the light touch of oak is in delicious balance with the sweet agave fruit that is so apparent in the Silvera.

Reposado

Aged for four months in former whisky barrels of American oak to yield a light touch of wood. This allows the full range of agave aromas and flavors to be delicately balanced with the oak.

* These testimonials may not be representative of the experience of other customers and are not a guarantee of future performance or success.

Añejo

Aged 14 months in American oak barrels, our Añejo has a significant oak presence in balance with the agave fruit, deeper notes of vanilla, nuts and caramel. Unlike competitive reposados and añejos which we find to be dominated by oak, our añejo has a complex balance of oak and agave and a silky finish, the 40% norm that many consider a success in the spirits industry.

A Mezcal to Launch Us into a Booming Spirits Category

We introduced a new Mezcal brand, Lejana y Sola, in the winter of 2020 and have been getting amazing feedback from our account partners, customers, media and influencers. While Tequila has seen tremendous growth as the #1 spirits export from Mexico, Mezcal exports to the USA have also exploded, growing fivefold from 2015 through 2019. Globally, mezcal exports reached 827,000 cases in 2019, adding 170,000 cases over 2018. *Impact Databank

Putting the drinking experience and taste profile above all else, we crafted an ensemble mezcal that strikes a beautiful balance of light smoke and sweet agave fruit -- and is at once earthy, spicy and subtly musky with a lingering, smooth finish. Lejana y Sola is an ensemble of Espadin and the rare, wild Cuishe Agave that grows in the mountainside hills of Oaxaca. Lejana Y Sola translates to Afar and Alone. The name is in tribute to the famous poem by Federico Lorca, Il Cancion Del Jinete, The Horsemen’s Song.

THE WILD AGAVES

The wild agaves of Mexico like Cuishe are from a different world and the flavors are unlike anything: amazing, organic, earthy, deep and surprising. They give mezcal a mystique that is well-deserved. There are more than 50 wild agaves used in mezcals and we chose Cuishe for its indescribable aromas and flavors. Blending the untamed Cuishe with the more mild mannered Espadin makes Lejana Y Sola a pleasure to sip and savor.

THE ANCIENT ARTISANAL METHOD

Lejana y Sola is distilled in the small family owned palenque Tierra de Tradiciones located in a rustic, beautiful mountainous area, two hours from Oaxaca City called Lachilá. Crafted using the ancient artisanal method with no electricity, the Espadin and Cuishe agaves are roasted over oak in a stone-lined fire pit, crushed by a horse drawn tahona, fermented in wooden tanks and double distilled in a copper alambique - a truly medieval technology.

Make the best tequila. Get the word out.

Our business model is simple but our process is hands on, diligent, fueled by creativity and relies on highly skilled team members and enthusiastic partners to get the word out. 

For sales, it’s simple. We believe we make the best tequila and pass it onto our wholesale partners and sales reps. We made sure our product has a gross margin of over 50%.

We learned a lot from this period of growth in New York, as well as during the challenging Covid-months, and had the opportunity to perfect our messaging, solidify our partnerships, and educate our new sales reps and distribution partners on what works for us and what we have learned. We believe in a cohesive message that we can control to ensure consistent brand messaging and presence. 

We have no doubt that we can rapidly grow our on-the ground sales accounts and are anticipating a strong second half of 2021 as the major markets steadily reopen. We already have a key distribution partner lined up for this year, assuming all goes well on the COVID-front.

OUR E-COMMERCE EXPANSION & PLAN

Since our first raise, we have put a lot of emphasis on digital marketing, advertising, social marketing and our new e-commerce channels especially as Covid shut down most of the restaurant & bar business nationwide. We quickly pivoted to focusing on opening and supporting sales channels that did not rely on the F&B industry to continue growing our business.

We launched our online store in September 2020 and with the support of our enhanced digital marketing & ads programming, we have been able to make our e-commerce channel our biggest “state” in less than 3 months. 

With alcohol sales being one of the biggest areas of global e-commerce growth, we are continuing to put emphasis on our e-commerce plan that will go well beyond our own online store. 

The cost to compete in the heavily branded, luxury spirits category is very high. The brands that dominate the luxury segment are each worth billions and are marketed by multi-billion dollar corporations. *

While we have confidence in carving out a solid share of this market for PaQuí, it is still a long term brand-building effort that necessitates increased spending on digital media and sales programs to build drinker awareness and trial.

* Source, Source, Source

Big growth through loyal customers

In five to six years we hope to achieve top seven brand volume in the high-end segment with a volume level of 150k 9L cases. The roadmap involves expansion to 30 or more states and significant marketing spend to build drinker awareness and trial. We believe that the brand’s uniquely attractive taste profile will be recognized and attract drinkers from the dominant brands. 

There appears to be an absence of artistry in the tequila market and we believe that by providing delicious tequila to American bars and liquor stores we will attract loyal customers and establish our tequila as a household name. We offer high-end sipping tequilas at an affordable price, making PaQuí an ideal option for any tequila drinkers wanting to explore the possibilities of the beverage. 

Ultimately, our goal may be to attract large, significant and fitting spirit companies to purchase PaQui. 

Trust, commitment and a love of fine tequila

Our core team is built on comradery and partnership that crosses national lines with the Founder, Sales Director and Marketing Director based in New York, and the Master Distiller and an advisor deeply tied to the tequila community in both Mexico and the U.S. based in their homeland, Mexico. Our Master Distiller and our advisor bring deep knowledge of tequila to our team and the U.S. team who are veterans in areas of alcohol- and beverage sales and marketing, work hard to ensure that the marketing is doing justice to the delicious liquid in our bottles.

The team is deeply experienced and full of the grit and determination needed to excel in this challenging category. We work as a team, communicate directly, defer to each other’s wisdom, argue our views, respect decisions and move forward. We trust each other, knowing that we all want to succeed while growing as a team and as individuals.

We have tried and true products set to grow in a flourishing market

Just as the beer industry 25 years ago was controlled by a few mammoth players such as Anheuser-Busch and Miller, the luxury tequila category is now dominated by a few brands.* We believe these companies are marketing machines with huge power, but they neglect taste and quality. This rampant lack of quality in the tequila market has left a gaping hole to be filled by a company that we believe is able to provide a distinguished tequila at an affordable price.

PaQuí offers a much more enjoyable drinking experience that can surprise and delight the drinker. PaQuí’s branding does a great job in being authentic and fun, and we are already airing ads and educational content that we hope will reach over 50 million households. Most importantly we believe we have a product that is consistently enjoyed and repurchased.

* Source, Source, Source

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