{"id":355,"date":"2009-12-08T16:14:34","date_gmt":"2009-12-08T23:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tequilawhisperer.wordpress.com\/?p=355"},"modified":"2010-04-07T00:49:26","modified_gmt":"2010-04-07T07:49:26","slug":"treasure-hunt_east-bay_01","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tequilawhisperer.com\/?p=355","title":{"rendered":"Treasure Hunt: A Dusty Cuervo Afternoon in the SF East Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Yesterday I received a cryptic email from a tequila buddy.\u00a0 He doesn’t write me often, but when he DOES it’s ALWAYS good news.\u00a0 This email was no exception.<\/p>\n

Seems he’d been in my area over the past weekend and had found some fertile treasure stores.\u00a0 You know the kind I like:\u00a0 bored clerk who’ll let you stand and stare at the shelves behind him for HOURS, crowded dusty shelves with one-off bottles of many different brands, TV set going in corner so he leaves you alone even LONGER.\u00a0 These stores had all of that!\u00a0 I jumped in the car and hurried over to the first \u201cTreasure\u201d shop searching desperately for what I’d been told was laying in wait: multiple wooden collector\u2019s boxes filled with individual bottles of Cuervo\u2019s famed \u201cReserva de la Familia\u201d anejo.\u00a0 This juice is extremely limited in production and distribution, and even when new it retailed for $100.\u00a0 On the collector\u2019s market some vintages go for as much as 15 times that or more!
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\nI strode into the corner shop and was immediately drawn to the topmost shelf \u2013 way above the clerk\u2019s head.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>-Note: How do these guys EVER hope to retrieve super-high treasure bottles when all they have behind the counter is a rickety stool?\u00a0 All of this tequila drinking has made me just a bit less nimble on a shaky stool so I always defer to the \u201chelp\u201d when attempting to locate some top shelf treasure.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sure enough there were 14 wooden collector boxes of the rare and esteemed Cuervo \u201cReserva\u201d from the \u201901 bottling year!\u00a0 I asked the indifferent clerk to hustle up to the top shelf and pull me down a box \u2013 HEARTBREAK!\u00a0 All 14 of the boxes were EMPTY!\u00a0 They were being used for display only.\u00a0 Damn!\u00a0 I did a quick scan though the other tequilas in the shop and I saw nothing of interest.\u00a0 I backed away a few steps to give one last scan before heading out, when I saw ONE unboxed BOTTLE of the \u201cReserva\u201d sitting in a crowded grouping of cheap tequilas!\u00a0 Score!\u00a0 I nabbed the bottle with gusto and lovingly turned it over and over in my hands.\u00a0 Then I had him pull me down one of the empty boxes to house my treasure.\u00a0 I negotiated a good price on the devious premise that the juice had been sitting on the shelf unboxed so long, \u201cI\u2019m sure it\u2019s gone sour\u201d I told him.\u00a0 \u201cBut I\u2019ll take it off your hands because I\u2019ve never tried it\u201d, I lied.<\/p>\n

I hustled out of the shop with a great feeling of success.\u00a0 But this hunt promised OTHER treasure as well!\u00a0 I checked my map and turned the car around.\u00a0 I had to shut off the radio.\u00a0 I needed complete silence to contemplate the \u201cbooty\u201d I had just procured, and to mentally anticipate the possibility that I may yet find another treasure in the next store.\u00a0 I pulled into the next parking lot and locked the car.<\/p>\n

At this stop I was looking for a different Cuervo product, this time I hunted their elusive \u201canejo\u201d hand-blown bottle featuring a reusable cork \u201cdongle\u201d that hangs from the neck of the bottle.\u00a0 I scanned the shelves in sweaty anticipation, but I found nothing.\u00a0 I looked again and still nothing.\u00a0 Then I spied the bottle tucked away at the end of a shelf just as it made its way to a tight angle at the wall corner.\u00a0 Score!\u00a0 But wait, there was ANOTHER bottle behind that one — and the promise of something still farther behind.\u00a0 I played it ‘cool” asking the clerk to show me the bottle.\u00a0 He took it down and started to blow the 1\/4 inch thick dust from it.\u00a0 “NO”, I pleaded.\u00a0 “Leave that dust on there, it’s a great conversation piece”.\u00a0 Hahahha.\u00a0 He looked at me with a broad smile, but I could tell he thought I was from another planet.\u00a0 And I am — when it comes to dusty treasure bottles, friends!<\/p>\n

I asked how many other bottles of the Cuervo anejo he had.\u00a0 “Lots”, was his reply.\u00a0 I started to kind of quiver, and my eyesight went jangly.\u00a0 This happens to me regularly on a hunt when I can sense I\u2019m about to \u201cbag\u201d some big game. I worked through the adrenaline rush and asked again exactly how many bottles we were talking about.\u00a0 This is rare juice for sure, but could my wallet handle the girth of this treasure?\u00a0 He looked at me and smiled even wider, \u201cWe have about 15 or 20 bottles in the back!\u201d<\/p>\n

Now my mind was racing; what would I pay for 10 of these?\u00a0 Could I afford all 20?\u00a0 I\u2019ll never see this juice again \u2013 and yet I\u2019d recently found 1 in a dusty shop not far from my home.\u00a0 OHHHHHHHHHHHHwwwww\u2026 I wish I were a Billionaire.. I need a better job.\u00a0 What will my wife say?\u00a0 Can I sneak these bottles into the garage without her knowing?\u00a0 Is my teen daughter getting suspicious of Daddy\u2019s drinking?\u00a0 Am I a good role model?\u00a0 Hey, it\u2019s my Hobby! Back off, conscience \u2013 I\u2019m a good guy.\u00a0 I DESERVE this treasure.\u00a0 It\u2019s a treat for all the nice things I do for my friends and family.\u00a0 I\u2019m getting fat.\u00a0 I have to start dieting if I\u2019m going to drink this much.\u00a0 I wonder what\u2019s for dinner at home, it\u2019s getting late..<\/p>\n

My brain was cluttered with a THOUSAND fleeting thoughts as I stammered out, \u201cI\u2019ll take 10 of \u2018em!\u201d\u00a0 Suddenly three more clerk\/friends appeared from the back room and started speaking quickly in their native Yemenese language.\u00a0 They LOVED me.\u00a0 They started climbing all over the shelves searching for errant bottles of Cuervo anejo \u2013 but also ANY old bottle that had a peeling label.\u00a0 \u201cIs dis a tequila?\u201d they asked as I was brought all manner of liquors ranging from Greek MEXTACA to Midori liqueur.\u00a0 I chuckled to see them all up on ladders at various heights working their way through the stacks of forgotten bottles looking for the elusive 10!\u00a0 They looked like worker bees buzzing around the Hive King\u2014the TEQUILA WHISPERER!<\/p>\n

They finally corralled all of the remaining bottles from the shelves and the back room.\u00a0 A total of 11 bottles in all.\u00a0 \u201cSo, you want all eleven?\u201d, they asked with great pride in their discovery process.\u00a0 I thought hard for a minute, and then answered with a calm that was a bit surprising to me, \u201cNo, I\u2019ll just take 10.\u00a0 Let\u2019s leave the last one for some other lucky hunter\u201d.<\/p>\n

What I Was Listening To On The Hunt:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“Seminole Bingo” – David Lindley<\/p>\n[audio:https:\/\/tequilawhisperer.com.php5-11.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/09-Seminole-Bingo.mp3|titles=Seminole Bingo]\n

“One Cup Of Coffee” – Glen Glenn<\/p>\n[audio:https:\/\/tequilawhisperer.com.php5-11.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/09-One-Cup-Of-Coffee.mp3|titles=One Cup Of Coffee]\n

(click photos to enlarge)<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday I received a cryptic email from a tequila buddy.\u00a0 He doesn’t write me often, but when he DOES it’s ALWAYS good news.\u00a0 This email was no exception. Seems he’d been in my area over the past weekend and had found some fertile treasure stores.\u00a0 You know the kind I like:\u00a0 bored clerk who’ll let … Continue reading Treasure Hunt: A Dusty Cuervo Afternoon in the SF East Bay<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[22,59,73,82,84,127,128,169,171,179,193,197,204,206],"class_list":["post-355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-anejo","tag-cuervo","tag-dongle","tag-dusty-bottle","tag-east-bay","tag-lippy","tag-liquor-store","tag-reserva-de-la-familia","tag-review","tag-sf","tag-tequila","tag-tequila-whisperer","tag-treasure","tag-treasure-hunt"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tequilawhisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tequilawhisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tequilawhisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tequilawhisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tequilawhisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=355"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/tequilawhisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":581,"href":"https:\/\/tequilawhisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355\/revisions\/581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tequilawhisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tequilawhisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tequilawhisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}