Whittier is a neighborhood known for its quiet suburban streets and Quaker roots, located east of East Los Angeles. It’s also the improbable birthplace of a tequila revolutionary: Tomas Estes, the co-founder of Tequila Ocho, the first sipping tequila to prove to the world that, like grapes, agave also develops different flavor profiles according to the region and soil in which agaves are grown in.
“I first met Tomas in 1987, in Brussels, at the signing to recognize the denomination of origin adopted by Europe,” recalls Carlos Camarena, the master distiller behind Tequila Ocho, which he co-founded with Estes in 2008.
“Estes changed tequila in Europe forever with his Cafe Pacifico, so I went over to him and thanked him for everything he’s done for my family’s industry,” Camarena tells L.A. TACO, while driving to one of his agave estates at harvest time.