Ray McBride

00:01At What Chefs Want, they deliver the seven most needed product lines to meet the unique needs of chefs and restaurateurs. From local to global and from staple items to gourmet rarities, they have the variety of products to cover all of your needs. Produce, seafood, meats, gourmet, staples, to-go and dairy. At What Chefs Want, they're transforming food service by eliminating minimum orders, offering split cases, and providing daily deliveries with 24-7 customer support. This means chefs have the flexibility to order what they need when they need it. Experiment with new ingredients and keep their kitchens consistently stocked with fresh supplies. It's all about empowering culinary creativity while streamlining operations. Check them out at whatchefswant.com or give them a call at 800-600-8510. Sharp Yeas Bakery is a locally-owned and family-operated wholesale bakery providing bread to Nashville's best eateries.

01:04They've been operating in Nashville since 1986, providing high-quality, fresh bread daily for restaurants, catering companies, hospitals, and universities. Their bread is free from preservatives and artificial additives. Learn more at sharpyeas.com. That's C-H-A-R-P-I-E-R-S.com. Or you can give Erin Mosso a call directly. Her number is 615-319-6453. That's Sharp Yeas Bakery. Welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio, the tastiest hour of talk in Music City. Now here's your host, Brandon Styll. Hello, Music City. And welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio. My name is Brandon Styll and I am your host.

02:05We are powered by Gordon Food Service. Man, I feel like it's a while since we played an episode out. This has been, it's been a crazy month. I am, I am just not gonna lie. This episode today, we are talking with the CEO of Black Sheep Tequila. His name is Ray McBride and we've been carrying their tequila Verchagos and it's good. I, you know, we serve it in our Cadillac margarita. And the guy came into the restaurant and I met him and he had a lot, he's a very interesting gentleman and I really enjoyed talking to him. I said, hey, my studio's around the corner. Let's go have a conversation. So today what you get is this conversation that we had. And I think you're gonna learn a lot about Black Sheep Tequila and what it is and you're gonna want it on your menu because it is really good. And it's local to a degree. Their headquarters is here in Nashville. They're one of 40 tequila brands that owns their own fields as well as their own distillery.

03:06So they are making the tequila and they grow their own agave. So that's really, really cool. I really enjoyed the conversation with him and I'm sorry it's taken so long to get out. This has been live. We did the episode live. I put it out on YouTube and Facebook. So if you wanna watch the video, you can go to YouTube right now and you can watch just the unedited, straight up video of me and Ray talking. You can see what the guy looks like. Really enjoyed the tequila. If you come in studio and you're a guest on the show, you can try the tequila. He's left me some tequila and I'm not drinking it. So from everything I understand, it's delicious. I want to say that it has been a while since we put an episode out. That is because I moved. I bought a new house and we moved into a new house. And let me tell you, I feel like moving is a form of torture because it is never easy. It is so long. This process has lasted us for several months. We had like 21 showings on our house and then you have to have the house completely clean, model ready for people to come look at it and get the dogs out and the kids out and everybody out of the house for an hour and drive around and wait.

04:15And then finally, we're able to sell the house and we found a new house so fast. The new house came about and we had to close in 13 days and we just, whoa, it was a whirlwind and I just have been crazy. We are also gonna be moving the studio. Yes, the famed studio here in Hillsboro Village is moving to our new house. And so we're excited about that. I'll have the studio in home so I can probably get out episodes a lot faster and better internet and we can do some cooler things there. So that is all the changes that are happening with us. Obviously the restaurants right now during the holiday season, Maryville is a hotbed for holiday parties and that's been a lot of fun. Just been super busy. Chagos has been busy. Green Hills Grill has been busy. I have been busy. So you have not seen an episode. I know Crystal's been busy with her restaurants as well. So this episode today is just me. But I wanna talk today real quick about gratitude and thankfulness because you don't do an episode in a little while and you kind of lose touch.

05:17I've felt distant, like missing something, just getting into normal routine and I miss doing this, talking right now into a microphone. But I have been doing a lot of work towards this stuff and I wanna say thank you to a lot of the sponsors. The last episode with the Chandler James team with Leanne James and Miller Chandler was excellent. Got lots of great feedback. Hopefully you learned something because these guys can help you find your next place and they are really, really amazing. And hopefully you learned a little bit more about how brokers work because this is not something that I'm really used to and I think this is information I think everybody likes to have. So hopefully the Chandler James interview was something that you enjoyed. If you have not listened to it yet, please go back and listen. But today I wanna talk to you about a new sponsor, somebody who is really cool. It's called C&B Linens. Let me tell you the vibe I get here, okay? So everybody knows that we have SuperSource as a sponsor, long time sponsor, Jason Ellis. And when I first met Jason Ellis, this was a newer company in town and I was tired of dealing with this same old crap when it came to dish, machine and chemicals.

06:28This overcharging, I didn't really know how it worked. It just was a line item on the P&L and Jason came in and said, let me tell you what I can do. And he cared. He was one of those people that cared about my business and he cared about educating the people around me and saving me money. There was no contracts. It was just different. It's kinda like what chefs want, you know? In the beginning, it was a, we're not gonna do no minimum, seven day deliveries. There's some companies out there that are smaller that actually care about what you're doing. They're not some gigantic conglomerate that just cares about a bottom line. They care about your restaurant succeeding. Super Source is that company. GFS is that company. Although they're a gigantic company, they really feel small. And that's what I love about them is that they do what they say they're gonna do. What Chefs wants, another company that really wants you to succeed. In the second that I met Krista and Alan from C&B Linen, they came into the studio, we had a conversation. This is a different kind of company.

07:30They're out of Waynesboro. They're just south of us. And they genuinely care, you know? They don't do minimums. You can do PARs or you can just place an order for linens. You can say, hey, look, I need a thousand this week and they'll bring you a thousand. And then when you need more, you can call them and they'll bring you more. It's not a, oh, we're gonna set your PAR at 4,000. A few episodes ago, I outlined what a linen company does and how you can manage that. They don't do any of that. They seem to genuinely care. Here's the big clincher, they don't do contracts. So you don't have to sign a five-year contract. Well, the investment's very high for us and we have to make sure that we purchase these linens and we're gonna charge you. The other thing they don't do is they don't get creative with how they charge you, right? So most linen companies have a replacement fee, they'll do a service fee, they'll do a gas fee. If you go look at your linen invoice right now and if you can decipher it without like a special degree, I'll be really impressed.

08:31And that is what this company does. They're like the super source coming into town. They're new to town, quality linens, they have 24 different colors of linens, they have all the bistro napkins, they do chef coats, they do table linens, they do mops, they do all of the things that you would need through a linen company, but they're gonna charge you a flat rate for your individual linens, their tablecloths, their chef coats, whatever it is that you need. And they're not gonna charge you a replacement fee, they're not gonna charge you a service fee, they're not gonna charge you a gas fee. What's on the invoice is what's on the invoice and they have to earn your business every single week. I'm gonna pause for them, I can do a full one because that's just, it's unheard of in the linen world. That's how they make their money. They have to figure out creative ways to charge you extra. These guys are coming in, they're saying, nope, we're not gonna do that. And so when I met with them and I had these conversations and I pushed back on them and they were legit, they said, no, this is our business model, this is what the owner wants to do.

09:39The owner also has like a boy's home here in town and he helps rehabilitate young people and he cares about the community, he's amazing. And I'm gonna bring them, he's gonna be on the show here soon. I'm gonna go down to CNBLen and we're gonna do a full tour facility tour, we're gonna interview him, we're gonna interview Krista and you can make up your mind for yourself but I really was impressed with these people. And this is the main thing that I do. I love working with people that care about restaurants. I love talking to people that genuinely get, hey, look, we're all really busy and I don't need somebody figuring out in a boardroom how they're gonna get extra dollars out of my pocket. I need somebody who says, this is what we're gonna do, I want you to be successful. If I do this really, really well, will you continue to buy from me? Yes, that's what we do in restaurants. You come in, we're gonna give you a great experience, we're gonna give you consistent food at a fair price and if you love it, come back, we'd love to have you back. And that's what they're doing.

10:39And I just, I've never seen anything like that linen company so I'm really excited to partner with them and bring you a brand new linen service in C&B Linens. Now, I know what you're thinking right now, this is too good to be true. I will call them and I will find out what the real story is. Great, do it. I'm gonna give you the phone number. It's 931-676-7153. That is the phone number to a gentleman named Andrew Kelly. His email address is akelly, that's A-K-E-L-L-Y at cblinnen.com. Send me an email, ask to get a quote, look at it. I've done quotes, I've compared quotes of three different companies because I'm currently working with another restaurant group and I'm helping them negotiate this deal. And you know, without all of the ancillary fees, their pricing is still right at what everybody else is charging but you're not paying $175, $250 of delivery for all the creative ways in which they need to profit from you.

11:41It's truly amazing. So I implore you, give them a call and then I wanna know from you what you think about them. If your contract is not up or if it is up, figure it out and give them a call. I'm working on a new program right now. I said I'm working with a restaurant group right now and this is something that I'm gonna detail in an episode in the next month, how that can work and how I can help you because I have devised a plan as to how we can all band together and everybody out there, if you're a local restaurant listening to this, stay tuned to the next couple of episodes because I'm gonna outline exactly how we're gonna do it and what we're gonna do and I think I can help build relationships in this city as well as help you save a bunch of money. So all of these things are coming up but I'm really excited to share the story with CMB Lennon. You may need to hear a little bit more about Black Sheep Tequila and if you are a small business out there that's not a restaurant, you work with restaurants and you wanna partner with us, give me a, send me an email, Brandon at NewLightHospitality.com, that's NewLightHospitality.com, Brandon at New Light Hospitality, send me an email, I'd love to partner with you.

12:50If you are awesome and you're doing the things I just described that CMB Lennon is doing then I'd love to learn more about you because I am trying to put a roster together of some really amazing companies that are willing to help restaurants and I wanna pass those along to you. So not just a sponsorship for the show but a partnership that we can pass along to many restaurants and I can help saving a bunch of restaurants. Like I said, I'll outline this after the new year but for now we are gonna focus on finishing the year. I hope that you guys have a wonderful Christmas. I should have an episode out, one more episode before the end of the new year and then we're going to jump into all of the new things. We're changing a little bit of the way we do things here at the podcast but my goal and my wish to you is that I can really start serving this community better in the new year and I can help a lot of restaurants versus just communicating what we're all going through and how this is happening. I really wanna start actively getting involved to help you succeed.

13:55So there's a lot involved here and I'm gonna do it slowly but if you're a restaurant out there and you're in need and you're like, hey man, I'm dying, I need some help. Send me that email too because there's things I can do immediately that can help you with some of the partnerships that I have and just general knowledge. I'm here to help as many restaurants as I possibly can. So that's Brandon at New Light Hospitality. I'd love to hear from you. Just shoot me an email and let me know in the inbox. Just put, hey, need help or reaching out or something along those lines and I'll make sure I get it and we can start a dialogue. But I'm here to help you and hopefully this interview with Ray McBride from Black Sheep Tequila is something that will help you put this tequila on your menu because it's the best tequila in the world. I mean, you didn't know that but you're about to find out in just a moment as we talk with Ray McBride. Hope you guys have a wonderful Christmas and happy new year. Super excited today to bring in Ray McBride.

14:57Ray is the CEO of Black Sheep Tequila. What's up, Ray? Hey, man. I'm doing great, man. How are you doing today? If I was any better, I'd be twins. I said that to somebody and they go, that's funny, I've never heard that before. And I was like, you've never heard that before? No, I tell if I was doing any better, I'd be you. Oh, I like that. Yeah, that's a good one to give them. So we've brought you in today because it is, we're approaching the famous talk show we're approaching the famous taco week. The Nashville scene does something called taco week. And it's gonna be December 2nd through the December the 8th. And us at Chagos, we are doing a taco. And last year at taco week, Black Sheep Tequila was the main tequila sponsor. Correct. We brought in Black Sheep Tequila for that. As you had a special, we brought it in and our guests have been loving it. And then last night, you're only in town for a couple days.

16:00And you came into the restaurant and I met you and I was like, man, this guy's got a lot of energy. He's a lot of fun. You should come on the show. Let's talk about Black Sheep Tequila because we have been loving it in our restaurant. And I just, I wanted to share it. So there we are. That's why we're here today doing a impromptu live interview. I love talking about Black Sheep. So I'm very happy to be here and thank you so much for having me. Well, tell me, give me the cliff notes. Black Sheep Tequila, you're the CEO. How did this happen? Well, that's a big story in itself, but let's take it all the way back. So Jason Charles and his childhood friend, Rodolfo, who's a fifth generation agave farmer back when they were 14, 15 years old, talked about having their own tequila. So as they got into their early twenties, they actually put it into practice. They formed the corporation. Rodolfo was growing agave. So he was growing the agave for the tequila and they started experimenting, if you will, with the different yeast to make the blanco.

17:09So they spent about five years formulating their blanco. And once they got that, they wanted to make the best tequila in the world. So to do that, they wanted to have this really extra aged product. So they started aging tequila, just buying Jack Daniel's barrels because Jason played baseball at MTSU. So the only damn barrel he knew was Jack Daniel's. And so they were buying those, putting them away and letting it age. And so they got to where they had some 15 year old tequila. There was pretty amazing. And in about 2020, they wanted to start rolling out the product. And unfortunately, this is the exact time that COVID hit. So they had formed the blanco Repo and Yeho right before that launch. So they would have the main products, but they were gonna be selling their 15 year old tequila for $7,500 a bottle was the goal.

18:13Wow. And so they got things going and launched on, this is Jason's humor, April 20th, 420. Oh, I'm familiar, yeah. And so they launched the product then and they were primarily in Nashville and the pen handle of Florida. So that's where they were selling. And so they started selling that and they reached out to me just a little later in the year to talk about coming on board. I think it was around July, maybe somewhere in there. And I talked to them and I said, look, you don't have any street credit. Everybody knows who you are. You're a young brand. You've not been tried and tested. There's, it's just like you write a beautiful essay. If it's not peer approved, everybody's just gonna throw it in the bird cage and let the bird have his day. So he goes, okay, I'm gonna do that.

19:18So I didn't hear from him. I took a consulting gig with a bourbon company up in New York and was growing their brand and helping them expand. So all of a sudden I get a call in July of 2022 and it's Jason and he's calling and you can hear something in his voice. And I'm like, so what's going on? And he says, well, that competition in San Francisco you asked me to join was, we entered. And I go, well, how'd you do? Do you at least get a gold medal in one of the four SKUs? And he goes, well, we won the whole damn thing. And I'm like, wait a minute, you won the whole damn thing? He goes, yeah, we're the best tequila in the world. They hadn't even sold a thousand cases up against 550 of the top tequilas in the world. And they won unanimously the best tequila in the world for their Inejo.

20:23And we give it that. That's it. So that, and I'm like, holy cow. And I said, all right. And I said, how did the others place? And they go, well, gold. And I'm like, okay, that's pretty damn good. Cause you know, the difference, a lot of people don't know the difference between double gold and gold. Gold means that you had enough preponderance of the judges that thought it was a gold medal to win a gold medal. Double gold means that every judge gave it a gold medal. So that's the difference between, you know, double gold and gold. And there's a number of judges. So there can literally be one judge that destroys your double gold, you know, right away. So that Inejo has won double gold now 11 times back to back to back in New York, San Francisco, Singapore.

21:24And now San Francisco, 22, 23, and 24. Right. And then Latin America. So we just, we just got the 90s. You said, yes, I'll come on. Yeah, I'll do it. Last, it was, well, it was two nights ago. They had the competition and gave the judges the medals out. And we got a 96 on the Inejo and a 96 and double gold on the extra Inejo. So, yep. So the extra Inejo, that is the fan, that is the super fancy bottle too. I've got, hold on. I will show this. I happen to have a bottle sitting right here. This is what it looks like. It's very fancy. What is the extra Inejo? What does that mean? Anything three years and older is an extra Inejo. So it's typically, you know, most of the extra Inejos are in the three to five year old range. But we went seven just simply because our Inejo is a day under three years, just a day under extra Inejo.

22:30So we, we, we pushed the max on that. And then our Reposado is a day under a year. So when most people are looking at our products, they, you know, the, the Repo is really going to be comparable to a Inejo and the Inejo is going to be comparable to a extra Inejo. Extra Inejo. Yep. And then our Blanco, we, since we ferment in a wood vat, open air, we get a lot of character in our, in our Blanco that most Blancos, over 90% of them don't have. Even some of the best Blancos out there, their profiles are very linear in nature. They start and finish on the same note. There's not any variance while you're, you know, enjoying that swallow, so to speak. So our Blanco starts very softly and clean and then crescendos up and you get a lot of flavor all of a sudden, and then she just finishes with this beautiful white pepper. And it's a very strong pepper because we let, since we are only one of 40 in the world with our own agave and own distillery, we, we age, we age our agave to the last minute.

23:41We don't pull young. We want them, we want all our pups older and have that higher sugar content. With 2.8 million plants in the ground, we've got plenty of agave, so we're- Let's talk about that. You just said something that's pretty, you kind of glossed over it, like it was just a regular thing. You said we're one of 40 tequilas that actually owns its own farm and distillery. Correct. Right, so it's kind of like wine. It's like an estate grown wine that is grown by the estate and bottled on the estate and made on the estate. That is, it's only 40 of those? Yes, dirt to lips. Dirt to lips, 40. Yep. And you have how many agave plants? 2.8 million. Yes, we do sell agave to our competitors. Sure. We have contracts with the top, some of the top three tequilas out there because they're, they're blowing through so much. They don't, they don't have access to enough agave to fulfill their, you know, their demand for their production.

24:49But it's amazing what, you know, we, we win these metals and then these, like one of the tequilas is a very high end tequila. I mean, they're extra new hose sells for thousands of dollars, but yet they've never won a single metal because they take our beautiful agave and just obliterate it with their process and their. How do you do that? How does somebody screw up a tequila? If you say obliterate, they take your beautiful agave, what do they do to it that makes it, how do they, how do they obliterate it? Like what caramel color or like, what do they do? Well, in this case, it's, it's probably, it's, it's likely the, you know, agave and then the sweetness of the, you know, caramel coloring it. But the main thing is they add vanilla glycerin. You know, if you take, if you took the tequila. Vanilla is a real popular additive in tequila, right? That's what a lot of people feel like that's smooth. It's also what a lot of strippers in Mexico wear as a cologne or a perfume is vanilla extract.

25:53Oh, I swear to God. How do you know this? Well, I've been a lot of time in Mexico. And strip clubs sell your tequila and you got a call on them. Exactly right. You know, I mean, you get strippers selling your tequila. Hey, they're, you know, that, I know you're going to help us move a little product, but I'm telling you, a naked girl with a bottle of tequila can move some product. That's, it's, I mean, they say sex sells, right? Hey, it does, it does in Mexico for about 29.95. Oh my God. Oh my God. Okay, so you have these tequila plants when you're making, when you're making. Now, one of the questions I think in just for general tequila education, right? So one of the things shamelessly I'll talk about at Chago's is that we want to have 100% blue agave tequilas. I think that's important. What's the difference between a blue agave versus something that isn't blue agave? Well, there's two, there's two classifications.

26:53There's tequila, 100% agave, and then tequila. And to have, and this is really great because a week ago, I took the CRT course, two-day course, and I'm really disappointed in myself because I missed two questions. I think one of them, I changed the answer with my cheek when I answered the phone. And the other one, I just missed, I just missed it. Because it was a, it was, the question was about something in Spanish and I couldn't remember the Spanish name for it and I guessed. So I still got a 94, but anyhow. So there's two classifications, 100% and then tequila. To be called tequila, it has to be 51% blue agave. It can be 49% other liquor and predominantly it's corn, corn liquor. So they take 51% actual agave, then they make corn liquor and they blend it together. And that's what you get when you get Cuervo. Correct. Right, I'm just, because Cuervo is not 100% blue agave. Not at all. Do you get Cuervo or you get another tequila?

27:55There's a lot that aren't, and they just say tequila. So that kind of gives you a hint that there's, you know, that there's other stuff in there. So if you get 100% agave, what is blue agave? Is that the same thing? Is there a difference? Is there a green agave and an orange agave? No, it's, it is blue though. Beautiful. On the heels, you can see the blue hint on all the agaves. Yes, absolutely. So there's now, there's 250 varieties of agave. This was a question on the test by the way. And, but that you can, so there's all those different varieties because you know, it's just a cross pollination and everything that happens over time. But the blue agave is the only one that they use for tequila manufacture. So, you know, Mascala can use other agaves, Rachel, Soto.

28:56But for it to be tequila, it has to be blue agave. It has to be blue agave. And you look out, when you're driving through the fields, you look out and you see these hills of blue, hewn rolling down there. And what's really funny is you'll see on the hillside, it is the agave and then down here is all the corn. Right next to it. Well, yeah. So the farmers grow the corn, not predominantly for the tequilas per se, but they also grow the corn for ethanol because ethanol is a big product for Mexico. And if you look, their gas has a lot of ethanol in it. Where are your fields? What part of Mexico? Arandas is where we say, Arandas is our Mexican headquarters and where our distillery, it's at St. Augustine, but nobody, that's like saying, I'm down here. Brentwood versus Nashville. Well, yeah, I'm down by that Elm tree down there.

29:57You know, that's what, so it's, people are like, what, you're down south of Jacksonville? No, not there. Where, I don't even know where Arandas is. It's north of Total Nicolau Alto. It's in Jalisco, about an hour east of Guadalajara. Our agave field is next to the, like the mother load of fields. And the essence of what makes a great agave is, you know, they, mostly agaves just grow off of the availability of what's there. You don't water the agave and all that. You keep the pest out and stuff like that, but most part, just let them sit there and run. And, but the water in that area is the best in all of Mexico. And water is the key to putting those little teardrops on there and that beautiful.

30:59What makes the water better there? The purified, when the water goes through the substructure of the ground, it's got all the different minerals and stuff that help filter through. So the soil. Yeah, exactly. So those minerals in there help facilitate those molecules having a much better taste and stronger bonds. And then when you go through your filtration process, you end up with some, some seriously clean tequila. So we have the distinct pleasure of being the purest tequila ever tested by the CRT out of 5,000. So that's. How come everybody in the world doesn't know about black? How come black sheep tequila isn't like the top shelf tequila in every bar. If it's the best tequila in the world. Well, you haven't been on this podcast yet. Sorry to say, I was, I was going to say that, you know, because they, I, you know, I haven't been on this my first time on this podcast, number one, but number two would be that, you know, most tequila sold today is sold based upon who's drinking it, who's got it.

32:09How much does it cost? Am I looking cool when I'm drinking it? And it's going through that early party stage, if you will. And until people start, you know, which is now starting to occur, they're starting to really drill down and do, you know, you'll see people posting stuff where they've got four or five bottles open and they're doing a tasting with their neighbors and friends and picking their own and picking their favorites. So until people start really honing their palates and figuring out what it is they really enjoy. And it's, it's kind of funny. People have tried something like try out, say they try our Blanco goes, oh, well, you know, that's really good, but it's just not for me. And I'm like, well, that's why we have the other three skews, you know? Sure. We, we go through, we age our repo a day under a year for in a Jack Daniel select single barrel. Aaron Yeho's a day under three years, Jack Daniel single barrel. And then our extra Yeho is seven years old and it's heaven in a glass at the same barrel, the Jack Daniel single barrel.

33:12So in each of those have completely different personalities, flavors, hints, notes. I mean, there's a lot of similarity in the fact that this is the same barrel. And, but as time goes on, that barrel expands and contracts. So you get a lot of different, you know, add additions to that profile from where you started. It's like, for instance, the, the, the, the Reposado is heavily barreled and the front, finishing with the sweetness of the agave. At about 18 months, that barrel starts to slide to the back of the profile. And so by the time you pull it a day under three years for that in Yeho, that barrel is completely to the back of the profile. You get all the sweetness of the beautiful agave that we've grown with that great, great soil and water source. And then you get the hints of the honeysuckle, the cinnamon, the butterscotch, and then it just finishes like just, just crisp with that wood.

34:16I call it a spank. And so, you know, that really goes over well in strip clubs, by the way. And so, but that alone is, that's what the judges said. It's the perfect balance of wood and agave. And that's why they love it so much. It has, it has, nothing's overpowering. It's all so well balanced. And it just, it has, it's kind of like you hear a symphony, you know, and you could hear all the different horns and the woodwinds and the violins and everything. So this, that, that's what that product does. It gives you all those different notes and it carries you through. And then it just goes, ta-da, you know. So how do I drink this? So the tequila, that good and that pure, I think, I don't know what the percentage of tequila that is drank inside of a margarita, it's gotta be high. 18% of every cocktail in the United States is a margarita. We are gonna take a quick break, not just to hear a word from our sponsors, but I want to say thank you to some people.

35:20We're at the end of the year and we've had some amazing sponsors this year. And I wanna say thank you to Cali Sober. You guys have been absolutely amazing. And I'm so glad at your success out there and you're crushing it. Campo Bravo Tequila and Ian, everybody over there. You guys have been absolutely an amazing partner with us. What Chefs Want. What Chefs Want was our first sponsor on the podcast. They, as we got started, they were doing trade with me, feeding me food, getting me food during the pandemic because it was hard to get food. And they have been a part of this podcast since kind of day one. And I just wanna say thank you to What Chefs Want and everything that they've done for us. Matthew Clements over at Robin's Insurance. This is somebody who has been absolutely supportive, will continue to be supportive for us. And if you need insurance needs, definitely call Matthew Clements. Charpied's Bakery.

36:22You wanna talk about Aaron Mosso over there at Charpied's Bakery, somebody who's been helping local restaurants for a really long time, provide fresh baked bread delivered daily. If you're looking for a fresh baked bread option, definitely look up Charpied's Bakery. I wanna thank Josh and everybody over at the Nation's Brewing Company, which is Fat Bottom Brewery, Music City Brewers, Bravazzi. Those guys are amazing. Thank you for sponsoring the show. Thank you for everything you're doing. You guys, they give back so much in the community and they're just amazing. Josh was on our fantasy team this year. Sorry, I didn't make the playoffs, Josh. Love you, dude. Volunteer Welding. They've done an amazing job for us, just being, their CO2, what they're doing, their telemetry, letting us know. Green Hills Grill, Chagos, they're just doing an amazing, amazing job. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. And I really gotta say for Gordon Food Service, you guys have been so amazing.

37:28Going to the food show, all of the time and energy you spend, they are always here, any time I have. My favorite things was at the food show, all of the different restaurants that walked up while we were doing the live episode, saying, man, we're only here because of you. We're here because of you and thank you because we really love our experience with Gordon. And they came to Louisville for the show. Andrea Cherez and all the different, the Bad Luck Burger Club, these guys were like, we didn't even know, we were just buying from Restaurant Depot until you turned us on to Gordon Food Service and we love them. And so now, I've got all these amazing restaurants that are partnering with a company that genuinely cares about them. And that's the one common theme again, like the intro to the show. I turn people down to sponsor that I don't believe in. You notice I don't have any major, major companies in here because I'm trying to find people that genuinely care about you. And these companies genuinely care about the restaurants that they work with and it's been an honor working with you in 2024. I cannot wait to see what 2025 encounters, but thank you to the listeners for every restaurant who has called one of these people, for working with them, the Chandler James team, all these people, if you've put your trust in me and hopefully it has been wonderfully fruitful for you.

38:43I tell you, everybody who walks in this door that sees the SuperSource stuff and says, man, we love Jason Ellis, to think this was a small company and a guy moved his family here and started this dream. And now he's got nine employees and they're crushing it. And I'm just so proud of everybody that we've been working with. And it's just the beginning, guys. We've got so many more coming in 2025 and hopefully we can help you out a lot. But this is not an ad, this is a thank you to every single vendor out there who's trusted us and we've trusted you and you've performed in an amazing way. Let's get back to this episode. So percentage of tequila that is made, that is put into a margarita is probably high, 80% or 70% because all of you will shoot tequila as well. But just how do you drink either the Repo, the Inejo or even the Blanco? I imagine the Blanco is great in a margarita. It is. So the profile with it being a highland agave, it's got more of a floral bouquet.

39:43So it blends very well with the agave and I use agave nectar to help, you know, to sweeten it instead of using a simple syrup. That's what we do at Chagos. Fresh squeeze lime juice and agave syrup. I know, MJ really enjoyed his margarita last night. He was going to town on that. For reference, he was sitting next to a gentleman at the bar and the guy said, I wanna try this stuff. And he goes, I'll buy you one. So I actually made the margarita. Hey, you know. And I made it with the black sheep and our Cadillac margarita is gonna start having the black sheep tequila in there. So that's something you can come try it there. Cadillac, the Cadillac of margaritas. The best you can make. Yeah, we'll have to check that P&L out after the black sheep's been in there and see how much more you sold of the Cadillac since you changed it up. Well, that's, hopefully it's a thing. Well, you like that. I have seen in other places, the sales go up by two to 300%. Wow. Just cause of the tequila.

40:45Yes, sir. Why black sheep? Why the name black sheep? Is it like the outcast as all the other tequilas just like the, is Patrone like the golden child tequila and you're the black sheep, but really the black sheep is the one who avoids all the family drama and is the smart one and the one who gets through everything. And is that it? I don't know what's going on. I'm like, there's a story I'm telling myself right now. Well, the kids, the kids, you know, the kids were 14 when they were coming up with this stuff. So they were problematic. You know, Jason's dad was an attorney and he did business with Rodolfo's dad. So they were in Mexico. And so there was a lot going on. So the kids, you know, they had access and they were fun and they were problematic. But at the end of the day, That's a nice way. Yeah, I'm just saying, look, you know, I mean, you know, I tell people all the time, if you don't have a police record, you don't even need to be a black sheep. You know, you're just like, you're not, you're not ready. You're not ready yet. There's a bunch of people who just went, holy shit, I'm applying for this job right now.

41:47I got a police record. Let's go. I get a job there. So, you know, the bait thing was is that they, when they were in their twenties and naming the company, they went through all the names and most of the good Spanish names were already taken. And so it, you know, they had the, you know, insight to say, hey, look, if we're going to stand out on a shelf, and back then it was a couple of hundred tequilas, right? It's not, it's not the almost 2000 that's out there today. So, That's a lot of tequilas. I know. The number one growing segment in the liquor industry right now is tequila, I believe. Yeah, it's still, still averaging 5% growth and everything else is dropping, you know, anywhere from five to, you know, some of the wines are down 15%. So, but yeah, so they're, you know, they're looking at that and they want to stand out in the name. And then the main thing was, is that anybody can be a black sheep.

42:50You can run a hedge fund and be a black sheep. You can be the school, you know, custodian that goes out and make sure the kids have, you know, clean classrooms and everything. You can be a black sheep. It doesn't, you don't have to be- The badge of honor. Yeah, you don't have to be a certain, you know, ethnicity, income level, you know, from a part, from different part of the neighborhood, you can be a black sheep and everybody relates to it. And what's funny is when people are talking to me, they go, well, I'm the black sheep of my family. And, you know, and so they feel like it's made for them and it's exactly the case. That's exactly what they were thinking. They make it for everybody that's had that, you know, oh shit moment where you got to go in and say, hey, look, yeah, you're, you know- She's really dead. Yeah, you remember that car you gave me? Well, it's now swimming in the back of the pond down there. So anyway, but that's how they came up with it.

43:53And it's stuck and we've been very fortunate to, you know, grow slowly and be able to still put all the love and care into the brand. But we have, you know, we have plenty of production available that we've got plenty of room to grow without changing anything still all gonna be the great, you know, the great- Quality? Yeah, great quality, great. I was trying to say the, you know, the great product, you know, the great ingredients and, you know, the final products is not gonna change. I mean, we could grow, you know, by a million cases and still be fine. I already have a second distillery that's 30% complete just down the street from the main distillery. So we have that in place to, you know, come in and do another million cases if we need it. Wow. So- You're nationwide now? When you first started, it was Nashville and Panhandle of Florida.

44:53I guess Nashville and when he vacationed in Destin, he wanted to be able to drink his own stuff. In a sense, there was, there was a reason, there was a group that came in and the guy lived in Destin that ran that group. And so he was, you know, that's where, you know, that's where- That makes sense. If you got the sales, do it. Well, and they, you know, they had a nice distributor down there that was only in the Panhandle, so they didn't have any spirits. So they were basically selling a lot of beer, but they, you know, had black sheep and they're not, you know, everywhere in the Panhandle had black sheep because that's the only spirit they had to sell. And so they did an excellent job of getting it out there and kind of spoiled everybody because unfortunately, that's not the way distributors work in the big markets. But- What are you trying to say? I'm just saying- I'm just saying- Who are you distributed by here in Nashville? Ajax. Ajax Turner. Yes, sir. All right, so Ajax Turner, if you want to buy this, you can, if you have an Ajax rep, you call Ajax Turner and they will, they will do that.

45:57Well, I'm pretty sure they have an Ajax rep, you know. That's what I'm saying, everybody does. Yeah, so, you know, that's one good thing. You know, we've got a good distributor here in Nashville that believes in the brand, supports us. And, you know, as part of that, they've rolled out the case deal on the Blanco for the Taco Week this year. Oh, I didn't talk about that. So Taco Week is coming up again. We are participating at Chagos. I'm gonna announce what our taco is gonna be right now. We have not announced it yet. It's been a big secret. And I'm gonna announce it. We are doing a pimento cheese smash burger taco. Okay. It is phenomenal. I tried it, I had one right before I came here. I've been, I've tried it. I've had to do- Is it available now? No, it is available December the 2nd. Okay. And it's only $5. So $5 taco, there's a bunch of brands. Go to Nashvillescene.com. You can see every other restaurant's doing. I think last year, Poncho and Lefty's won.

47:00We came in high up there, I'm pretty sure with our birria taco. But this year we are going outside the box. Something that is not on our menu. It may land on the menu because it is that good. Every single person has tried it so far. It's like, holy shit, that is a great taco. Pimento cheese smash burger taco. I wanted something that was like really just amazing If you look down, you'd circle and go, I gotta try that. All week, you can come in and get that taco at Chago's. You can come see me, cause I'll be there for 90% of the week. You can come see me and I would love to meet you as well. If you want to come in and say hi and meet me. We picked this up last year for Taco Week. If you are, you see you're coming in town, you're doing a special on it. Typically, how much does this stuff cost? Do you have a range? Like the Blanco, right? So the margarita one that you want to put in a margarita. You can put all these in a margarita, I guess. But the Blanco is what we're gonna be putting in the margarita. What is our bottle cost on that, typically? $40 by the bottle, 39 by the case, six pack.

48:01All right, so you get a six pack case, it's 39 by the case. But, but this is for all of my listeners right now. This is for you. If you call Ajax Turner before, what's the cutoff date on this? You know, it's, there's not, it's for November and December right now is what they're doing. So November and December. It's a five case deal and you get, you get the price, the price is $30 a bottle. But for this time being, this time period, they're going to do that for case one. So on a single case, you get. So $10, so you get $60, $60 off a case. Yeah, right. 54. 54, okay, well yeah. So you're going $30 a bottle. Correct. For the Blanco. Are you doing specials on the Repo and the Inejo as well? Not really because no, nobody was looking to put those in the cocktails. So, you know, those are just, those are the normal pricing, but still, still great pricing comparable to other tequilas that, you know, haven't even come close to being as awarded as us.

49:06I mean, you can, you know, for, you can pick it, pick up the Repo in the high 40s and the Inejo in the low 60s. And if we're talking this extra Inejo right here in the special bottle that's aged seven plus years. 209.14. 209.14. Or if you come on this show, if you're a guest on this show, are you leaving this with me? Yes, sir. I will have this in studio and you can try it in studio. Anybody who comes over to the studio wants to try it. I will be happy to pour you a taste because I've got it here. And I sure as hell ain't drinking it. And I would, this is the time where it's in my heart. I'm like, I would love to know what that tastes like. I smelled it earlier, but I told you, I would not be able to just have one taste. That is my affliction. Hey, you know, I should have, we should have named it Lays instead of Black Sheep. So for those of you wondering like, hey, Brandon, you don't drink. You just celebrated five years of no alcohol.

50:07How do you talk about this stuff? Are you promoting it? I thought you were anti-alcohol. I'm not anti-alcohol. And if you're a listener of the show, you know I have had lots of brand sponsors that come in and we talk about their brands. I am, and I just, I have the allergy. I can't have just one. For business reasons, which you're serving your guests, people that can, that don't have that allergy like I do, that can enjoy a drink or two drinks and enjoy that. This seems like my guests have absolutely loved it. They've been very, very impressed with the quality, the flavor. It's a hit. It's a hit in my restaurants. And I just wanted to say thank you. It was fun to meet you yesterday. It's fun. And you were talking about this deal. And I went, man, we've got to talk about this. Let's get this out there. Because if other people can know, the best part about this is you're one of 40 who own your own land and your distillery. Where's your headquarters? And here in Franklin, Tennessee. Franklin, Tennessee. So we're a Nashville based U.S. company. Nashville based tequila brand. That's the part that I love.

51:09You're a Nashville based, Jason, who's the founder. He went to MTSU. He's a former, I went to MTSU. We're Blue Raider friends together. Oh my goodness. And so- Well, see, I didn't know that. This is problematic now, damn. Yes, I am a former Blue Raider. I guess you're always a Blue Raider. Once a Blue Raider, you're an Auburn Tiger, right? Yes, sir. Yes. Yeah. It is, you know- Is it tough going to Vandy accounts this week? Not at all. Not at all at all. I mean, I love Vanderbilt, you know. It's, you know, one of my best friends, I went to Vanderbilt, 4.0 Vanderbilt guy. The smart dude. So, you know, he's Richard. This is to you, brother. But yeah, he is brilliant. But I just, I got, I went to Auburn simply because I got to work on the space shuttle. I was the late seventies. I'm a chemical engineer and nuclear physicist. So I, they made me that offer and that was pretty cool. And so- I feel like we have a whole nother show in us right now. Yeah. We've talked about your tequila long enough.

52:11Yeah. Nope. Nope. That doesn't, that doesn't go beyond that. Ray, let's talk about your childhood. Let's get it. Well, I also did the ethylene vinyl acetate carpet tile for Shaw. So when you're walking on those little carpet squares and all the airports and stuff did that too. So enjoy. Really? Yeah. Did you, you're like an onion, man. There's so many layers. Hmm. My girlfriend would agree. The thing, huh? Yeah. I'm the most hated man that's loved. Well, you keep talking about all of the strip clubs you go to. I don't understand why. Hey, look, I've, I've, I've never left with a stripper in my life. Well, there you go. That's a good thing. Yes, sir. But I had a lot of, she really liked me, man. She really liked me. I'm telling you, she really liked me. You know, the back end of that joke is why I got to leave them. They know where I fucking live. That's the way the joke goes anyway. So, well, this is a lot of fun. And thank you for the impromptu conversation.

53:12No, man. I feel like we should do more to talk more about a lot of this stuff, because I think it's cool when you can have the best tequila in the world. It's right here in Nashville is the headquarters. You're one of 40 that owns their own fields, owns their own distillery, double world gold at San Francisco. Look, there's a lot of, there's a lot of, I'm looking at your little pamphlet here. Right. And I'm going to put your pamphlet to the screen. There's a bunch of medals. These guys have won like just tons of medals. And I don't know if this is like from some dude in his closet who's like, I have the tequila podcast and I'm giving you a medal. A lot of these brands have a lot of medals on there, but not from there. And that's from the San Francisco world. Monterey two weeks ago. And, you know, Ocho is there. Here's, you know, these, this is the real deal. All those guys were there. And everybody came over and said, hands down, you guys rock. Wow. So it's got to feel good.

54:12Hey, you know, it's amazing. We're the smallest tequila company in the world to ever win the best in the world. We're very rare, very rare, very unique. I mean, that the opportunity to have us is like, you know, the opportunity to drive a Rolls Royce. There's only so many of them made each year. And it is really, truly a unique experience. Have you driven a Rolls Royce? Yes, sir. You have a Rolls Royce? You do, don't you? No, you own one, don't you? No, I have a Mercedes convertible. It's it's just so you know, it's it's 14 years old and has thirty seven thousand miles on it. Why are people ashamed about like, well, I mean, I don't want you to think that I make money. I don't want you to think that I am. What did I drive into the parking lot, brother? What did you walk up to me as Ford truck F 250? That's what that's what that was like. Big tires and jacked up. It was like a farm truck. Yeah, that's right. We we drive trucks, man. Yeah, it's like a farm truck. I was like in Tennessee straight off the field.

55:14Big trucks, man. Yeah, Georgia tags. I was like, look at this guy. Big black sheep. Just got the black sheep like logos on the side. I was like, that's a beast of a truck. Why not get this gas mileage in that thing? No, well, it's a diesel. It gets fourteen point one. There you go. That's what it says on the thing right now. I mean, that's like your truck you drive to go to do the work. You go to have a fun car, too. I mean, it's loaded with tequila. If you've been successful. And I've got a full bar in the back of that truck that I can put together in 15 minutes. It's pretty bad ass, right? That is pretty bad ass. That's the tailgate aspect. If you want you, that's an all that's in the war. What is it? Auburn? Is that War Eagle? War Eagle. War Eagle. Yeah, that's the battle cry. Yeah, OK. I love it. Well, thank you, Ray McBride. We do something on our show that I'm going to throw at you right now that you're not ready for. You get to do the Gordon Food Service final thought. You get to say whatever you want to say, long as you want to say it to the audience, whatever that might be.

56:22You get to take us out with whatever thought you want to say. Wow. See, I put you on the spot. You're like, I could say a lot of profound things right now. Whatever comes to your mind, whatever you want to do. Well, I'll start with my science side. You know, we're in this little obscure solar system stuck out in the far distance of this little galaxy. There's a billion galaxies. There's 400 billion suns in our current galaxy. And we're sitting here going around at almost a million miles an hour through space. And yet we can stop and have one of the best experiences in life by taking just a little sip of one of the purest, most loveliest tequilas that has ever adorned this planet. So in your simplest point, you can enjoy a little piece of heaven.

57:29That might be the best final thought I've ever had. I've never had somebody break it down by how many moons and suns are in the galaxy. They're all stars. They're all stars. How many stars are we? So we have other episodes involved here. We don't talk about tequila. We could do some fun things. Ray McBride, thank you for joining us on Nashville Restaurant Radio. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. I'm very glad we did this. Me too.