KENNY Everett brought so much laughter and chaos to our TV screens but it was his beautiful sidekick, Cleo Rocos, who left a lasting impression on me.
I once heard her speak about drinking and the pub industry and her book
The Power of Positive Drinking was inspirational. She is, quite simply, an amazing woman.
Her passion made me fall in love with tequila and her company makes a wonderfully approachable range called Aqua Riva.
In this country, tequila is taboo, as we can’t get past the image from the bad old days of yellow poison and licking salt, which is used to mask low-quality tequilas. Look out for a 100% blue agave only, which is reassurance that time has been taken to create a wonderfully natural spirit.
When we opened the Duchess of Argyle, in Finnieston, we wanted to make tequila the companion to our Mexican street food. Tequila is a perfect base for cocktails and frozen margaritas, using only fresh fruit and agave syrup, and they are simple to make at home, too. In fact, blenders are better used for frozen margaritas than smoothies. Just add tequila, fruit, agave and ice and off you go.
As the aftermath of the election unfolds, take your mind off to a far flung beach in Mexico with a good tequila or two and I’ll leave you with the words which got Cleo’s pal Kenny fired by the BBC. “When England was a kingdom, we had a King. When we were an Empire, we had an Emperor. Now we’re a country, and we have Margaret Thatcher.”
Graham Suttle is the managing director of Kained Holdings which has nine venues including The Finnieston and Porter & Rye in Glasgow
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