Publicity Spotlight 

It’s summer (finally!) and bars, sidewalk patios and boat decks are filled with people drinking America’s #1 cocktail—the margarita. How the Gringos Stole Tequila takes readers on a colorful tour of Mexico's Tequila Trail and shares insight on the growth of the US tequila industry. 

There’s far more to the tequila story than an upmarket trend shift. Spirits writer Chantal Martineau spent several years immersed in the world of tequila––traveling to visit distillers and farmers in Mexico, meeting and tasting with leading experts and mixologists around the United States, and interviewing academics on either side of the border who have studied the spirit and its limited raw material: agave. How the Gringos Stole Tequila explores issues surrounding the sustainability of agave, the preservation of traditional production methods, the legal constructs designed to protect tequila from counterfeiting, and the agave advocacy movement––made up of agave growers, distillers, bartenders, importers, and scholars––that has grown up alongside the spirit’s swelling popularity.

 Chantal Martineau & How the Gringos Stole Tequila in the media:

• "A phenomenal book--probably one of the smartest books about a spirit I've ever read." (The Toronto Star)
• Love tequila? Bet you haven’t had the real thing (NBCnews.com)
• The startling evolution of tequila from frathouse firewater to luxury good (The Leonard Lopate Show)
• "My first experience with tequila was a typical one, involving shots, lime, and salt and a very bad hangover followed by years of abstinence." (Biographile)  

How the Gringos Stole Tequila: The Modern Age of Mexico's Most Traditional Spirit