From selling what was popular to studying what was real.
I didn't start KestoSips as a tequila expert. I started behind the counter at my family's liquor store in Downtown Detroit, surrounded by bottles I was expected to understand long before I actually did.
The account wasn't even supposed to be KestoSips. It started as a store page for Athens Liquor. I was posting about what sold, and I judged tequila the way most people do: by popularity. Then a tier list I made hit millions of views and the tequila community corrected me publicly and fast. That embarrassment changed everything.
I was already a whiskey drinker, so I understood the value of slowing down and actually studying a glass. I applied that same curiosity to agave, and quickly realized this category was on a different level entirely. Agave spirits are some of the most complex in the world, shaped by more variables than almost anything else behind a bar. The region the agave grows in, how long it matured, how it was cooked, fermented, distilled, aged, what water they used and whether additives were used to mask or manipulate the final product. Every one of those elements can make two bottles taste completely different, even when they share the same label. What started as research to better serve my customers turned into a passion I couldn't walk away from.
Athens Liquor gave me the foundation, but the passion I found in agave spirits demanded its own space. I rebranded, built KestoSips as a standalone platform, and separated it from the store entirely — all for one clear purpose: to help people discover their next favorite before they waste money on the wrong one.
The biggest thing I learned is that no single term defines great tequila. Not even additive-free. What matters is much deeper than that, and that's exactly what KestoSips is here to help you understand.
That's what this is built on. I taste, study, visit, and translate everything I learn into content that's visual and easy to understand, connecting the story of a bottle to what ends up in the glass.
Whether you're new here or have been following since the beginning, thank you for sharing this passion with me. Salud to discovering more amazing bottles together!
