While Filipino and raised in the US, siblings Aljor and Sante Perreras (fondly called 'The Tequila Brothers') of A'Toda Madre (ATM) have long connected with Mexican culture. Sante has worked for a Mexican food company for about 18 years; their other business partner, Carlos, has family business handling Mexican food brands. A big fan of Mexican cuisine, Aljor noticed that there was a shortage in Mexican restaurants in the country. "And every time I go back to the US, they always take me to a good Mexican place. So it was always at the back of our minds that, you know, we should have a really good Mexican place in the Philippines."
The casual talks of opening up a Mexican place became serious planning. "It then evolved to not just being a restaurant, but being a restaurant with a bar." says Sante. And so, a tequila bar it is, and it now stands at the ground floor of Sunette Tower in the inner streets of Makati Avenue.
Stepping inside this colorful bar is like entering a tequila mecca: everything displayed on the wall is tequila, in all shapes, sizes, and expressions. Thirsty for rum cola? Sorry, not in this bar. Tequila reigns supreme at ATM, and with it, their excellent authentic Mexican dishes. The brothers Perreras would like to think of A'Toda Madre as the country's very first showroom for tequila, where you can appreciate the drink and pair it with great Mexican food.
"We knew it was going to be a real challenge, with everyone's perception of the tequila," shares Sante. Oh yes, those golden shots of death and amnesia and memories of college parties will most likely come to mind when speaking about this alcoholic beverage. "What we're gonna do is create awareness, we're gonna educate
people." Sante adds that in Mexico, taking in tequila is more of a formal thing. "They really do sippings. I used to travel there for work and they would serve us bottles for sipping. Of course you'll have your share of shots and Yaaaay! types of tequila, but we want to show people that you can learn tequila, and experience it in other ways."
In the weeks that it has been open for dry run, A'Toda Madre has altered so many people's perception of tequila, and even on authentic Mexican food. Fancy yourself a quick lesson on tequila? Listed below are 7 interesting facts about the drink, as told by the Tequila Brothers themselves, knowledge they've gained through the years and through their tequila travels in Mexico. Discover why you can compare it to the delicate art of appreciating wine and whisky. It'll most likely make you rethink what you intially assumed about the distilled Mexican drink. And after your Tequila 101, read up on the great Mexican eats you can try at ATM should you arrive at the bar hungry.
7 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Tequila
1. Bought some cheap local tequila at the nearest 24/7 store? It's probably fake tequila.
"You can't call it tequila unless it is really from Mexico," shares Sante. Quick tip: Look for the labels 'Tequila' or '100% Agave Tequila,' and 'Made in Mexico' on the bottle.
2. There are two basic categories of tequila.
There's a strict regulatory body in Mexico that lays down all the rules on tequila, their number one product. 100% Agave tequila, is, well, made out entirely of agave only. 'Mixto has to have at least 51% agave, while the remaining percentage could be any other alcoholic sugar or juices,' Aljor explains. ATM prides itself to offer all 100% agave tequila to its customers. The best-selling tequila in the world is a mixto.
3. There are many types of agave plants, but only one type of agave that is used to make tequila.
"There are over 200 kinds of agave, but for it to be called tequila, it could only be from one variety, Blue Agave." Agave tequilana is the scientific name for blue agave (or agave azul). To give you an idea of how an agave plant looks like, Sante says it's a bulb that looks similar to pineapple, only much bigger and heavier, and has spines.
4. Blue agave takes eight years to mature.
There's a lot of time involved for plant to be harvested, matured, and distilled to
what will later on be tequila, and the entire process is still done manually. "And once you harvest it, it's dead and done, you need to plant another," Aljor adds.
5. Tequila, unlike wine, does not necessarily taste better when aged longer.
Tequila only changes in flavor profile. "The prices do go up as it ages, but flavor wise or as far as ranking it, it's just a different tier, " says Sante. Alcohol percentage is usually 38 to 40% across all types of tequila expressions. "But there are some that are 50% alcohol, 100 proof. We won't tell you which one it is," Aljor teased.
The best way to understand the nuances in flavor among various kinds of tequila is through A'Toda Madre's Vertical Flights. Similar to wine and beer flights, for one price, customers get to sample three 'expressions' and educate your palate with the different characteristics of tequila. You experience the expressions by sipping, not shots. And speaking of expressions…
6. Tequila comes in four different expressions (and it's not happy, sad, excited, and angry).
Tequila is catergorized into four classes called Expressions, and is categorized by the timeline of when it is bottled in relation to its age and casing. Here's a quick rundown of the 4 expressions of tequila:
- After distillation, if liquid is stored and bottled within 2 months, it is called Blanco or Silver (unaged). The liquid is stored in steel or stainless steel vats before being bottled at this stage, and is clear in color. This is tequila at its rawest, the way tequila purists drink it. (Blanco that is colored with and flavored with caramel is called Joven)
- From the metal casing, the liquid is transfered into a wooden cask. From two months up to one day less than a year, the tequila is now on to the next expression, the Reposado (at rest). The liquid starts to take in the color of the wood, now more golden.
- On its first year, the liquid is transfered to a smaller wooden cask, left to age between one year to three years. If it get bottled within this period, the tequila expression iscalled Añejo (aged)
- If the liquid is left to age beyond three years, the tequila is then called Extra Añejo (extra/ultra aged)
Personal picks of the Tequila Brothers? Sante likes the Reposado, while Aljor likes Blanco.
7. The most common cocktail with tequila in U.S. is the Margarita.
"The key to any cocktail is the ingredients," Aljor points out. For the tequila brothers, authentic Margarita is made out of real tequila, freshly squeezed lime juice, and agave nectar. At ATM they use 1800 Tequila for their margaritas. "If we run out of the 1800, we use the Milagro. We're challenging the perception of people of what a true margarita tastes like — no pre mixes, no fake stuff, just all fresh and pure ingredients."
Great Mexican Eats To Try at A'Toda Madre
The main challenge for their food offerings at ATM was getting the right ingredients to keep it authentic. "We import most of it," explains Aljor, "All our chillies are imported. We import tomatillo–it's something basic, like a tomato with a husk, and it's a lot more acidic than regular tomatoes, and tangier, and that's what we use for our salsa." He also says the tomatillo they use is canned because its a lot more difficult to bring in fresh ones, but it's still a lot closer than anything that's available locally.
"We really know the taste that we grew up with. We won't serve you food here that we personally don't like. It's great to see customers like Fil-Ams and these foreigners and people who travel who try it out then just go wow and then say it tastes like home." Sante shares.
Craving Mexican? Try these items out:
Elotes Callejeros (P120): Street corn the Mexican way. One cob is grilled and split into two, and smothered with butter, house chipotle mayo, feta cheese and spices.
Soft Tacos: an order has 3 pieces per serving, made with homemade corn tortrillas. It comes with salsa verde, salsa roja, fresh cilantro, onions and lime. You get to choose your protein: they currently have chicken, pork, steak, chorizo, fish, and lengua available.
Mexican Flan (P165): Currently, their one and only dessert, but fret not. The lack in option absolutely doesn't mean the lack in flavor. While not 100% traditional Mexican fare, this luscious item was added to the menu because, well, the brothers love their chocolate. This dessert is a deep brown flan of rich dark chocolate topped with shaved white chocolate, and sprinkled with the restaurant's special chili.
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Menu is currently on special limited time introductory price. A'Toda Madre is currently on cash basis for their soft opening period, and will soon roll out their final menu. Visit ATM at GF Sunette Tower, Duban St. corner Makai Avenue, Makati City. Like ATM on Facebook (atodamadretequila).
