Yes, and It Might Be the Best Hour of Your Event
You can absolutely hire a tequila tasting for a corporate event. At El Tasting Room in Puerto Vallarta, we run tequila tastings for corporate groups, either at your venue or at our bar.
The more useful question is whether a tequila tasting suits your group, and how it actually works. Here is what we've learned from hosting them, including one of our biggest events: 150 top sellers at the Marriott.
Why Tequila Works So Well for a Work Group
Most people arrive at a tequila tasting with a story about a bad night. They shot it, winced, and grabbed a lime. So in any group of colleagues there's a split, with a few people who already love tequila and a lot who are sure they hate it.
That split is exactly why it makes a great team activity. Everyone starts in a different place and ends up at the same surprise. When the person who swore off tequila years ago picks out a sweet note of cinnamon in their glass, the whole table reacts. People compare what they're tasting, disagree, laugh and ask questions. Colleagues talk to each other in a way that a dinner reservation rarely gets them to.
We always find people who leave genuinely surprised at how much depth and flavor tequila has. For a lot of them, it's the part of the trip they talk about afterwards.
A Real Example: 150 Top Sellers at the Marriott
One of our larger corporate events was for a US company that flew its top sellers down to Puerto Vallarta, 150 people staying at the Marriott. The planners had built a program of mini events, and the group rotated through them. We were one of those stations, running our tequila masterclass for 25 people at a time.
Plenty of guests sat down expecting to take a shot and move on. Once we showed them how to slow down and actually taste a tequila, many of them were shocked, in a good way. The most hesitant people at the start of a rotation were often the ones asking the most questions by the end.
That event also shows how we work alongside a planner. We came to the hotel, fit into a schedule someone else had designed, and handled a large group in rotations without anyone needing to manage us.
What Happens During a Corporate Tequila Tasting
The Setup
We set a long table, usually for around 20 guests, with three glasses at each place. These are glasses made specifically for tequila. The shape helps the aromas come through, so you notice the flavor instead of just the alcohol.
Learning How to Taste Tequila
Before anyone takes a sip, we show the group how to drink tequila properly. There's a technique that brings out the notes in the spirit instead of the harsh alcohol taste most people expect. This is the moment the room changes. Once people stop bracing for a shot, they start paying attention to what's in the glass.
Blanco, Reposado and Añejo
We pour three high-quality artisanal tequilas:
- ✦Blanco, which we use to explain the basics of how tequila is made and some of its fun history
- ✦Reposado, where guests start to taste what time in the barrel adds
- ✦Añejo, the oldest of the three, where people are often most surprised by the sweeter notes
Ask the Expert Anything
Our head tequila expert leads every tasting, and guests can ask anything at any point. Along the way they share stories and anecdotes that make the history stick far better than a lecture would.
Taking a Favorite Home
We're also a licensed liquor store, so at the end guests can buy a bottle of the one they liked best. It's always personal. We teach people what makes a good tequila, but in the end the best tequila is the one you enjoy most, and a table of 20 colleagues rarely agrees on which one that is.
The Two Rules We Always Teach
If your team remembers only two things from the tasting, we want it to be these:
- ✦Don't shoot it. Good tequila is meant to be sipped slowly, so you can taste what the maker put into it.
- ✦Skip the lime. A well-made tequila has nothing to hide, and the lime just covers up the flavors you're there to find.
What About Guests Who Don't Drink?
Almost every corporate group has a few. We can get alcohol-free tequila so they can taste along with everyone else. The tasting is also about much more than the alcohol. Tequila's culture and history run deep in Mexico, and the stories behind it are just as interesting whether or not there's alcohol in your glass.
Practical Details for Event Planners
Where We Host
We can come to your hotel or event venue, or your group can come to us at our bar in Puerto Vallarta.
How Far Ahead to Book
We recommend booking about a month in advance. If you're planning last minute, still get in touch. Because we're a liquor store and carry our own stock, we can often put a tasting together quickly.
Budget and Group Size
Every event is quoted for your group. We've done this many times and can work with most budgets and group sizes. Large groups can be split into rotations, the way we ran the Marriott event.
Taking the Stress off Your Plate
Planners have enough to juggle. We're self-sufficient and adaptable, so once the date and venue are set, we take care of the tasting itself and fit around the rest of your program.
How to Book a Corporate Tequila Tasting
Fill in the private events form on our website with your date, group size and venue, and we'll get back to you with options that fit your event and your budget. Whether your group already loves tequila or thinks it hates it, we'll give them something to talk about.