I have lived in Nashville for twenty five years, and in my first career as a recipe developer, I created forty different cake flavor combinations, which led me to opening my own bakery, IveyCake, almost seventeen years ago. During those years of running a busy bakery, I would come home from work and create cocktail recipes as a way to unwind. My spirit of choice was always tequila.

 

I was experimenting with a new tequila brand almost every week, but never found a brand of tequila that I truly loved and felt loyal to. I also noticed, as an avid tequila shopper, that there wasn’t a brand of tequila that was marketing directly to me. With less than 5% of the spirits industry led by women and 70% of tequila consumers being female, I knew there was plenty of room to offer a tequila brand with a female point of view. So, after I sold my bakery to new ownership in 2019, I started a tequila journey that led me to Tequila, Jalisco, Mexico, to find a distillery that would create that unique profile for premium mixing and stand-alone sipping, and that’s how Southbound Tequila was created.

 

Southbound is proud to be a female-founded brand that also partnered with a female-founded distillery in Mexico with deep family roots in authentic, high-quality tequila production. Our distillery partner is committed to using only fully mature agaves at harvest, a well-respected slow cooking method, a slow fermentation process, and high-quality cuts in distillation. Absolutely no corners are cut in any part of the Southbound Tequila-making process.

Southbound offers three distinct expressions: Blanco, Reposado and Añejo. There’s a saying in the tequila world that you should judge a brand by its Blanco, as that is the purest, truest form of tequila and where all of the high quality production decisions show off. Our Blanco is an excellent sipping tequila with earthy, herbaceous and complex pepper notes and a juicy citrus finish with zero burn. Our Reposado and Añejo expressions are aged in Tennessee whiskey barrels to create further complexity with incredible elegance and well-thought-out oak maturation. I am so thrilled that a piece of my Tennessee roots plays a part in the making of Southbound Tequila.

 

As CEO and resident recipe developer, it was important to me to support consumers who may feel intimidated to make their own cocktails. I realized that cocktails are a lot like baking: It doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does need to be exact. The Southbound brand comes with endless cocktail recipes to support everyone from the home entertainer to professional mixologists. As the bounty of summer produce ripens here in middle Tennessee, please take a moment to craft and savor our Garden Party Martini. Our Reposado expression mingles beautifully with fresh herbs and vegetables for a delicious and unexpected alternative to your typical Bloody Mary. Cheers!

Juice one fresh bell pepper. Add all ingredients to the shaker with ice. Shake and serve with bell pepper garnish and Tajin rimmed glass.

 

For cilantro water: Steep one bunch of fresh cilantro in hot water (or simply throw fresh cilantro in your cocktail shaker and strain before serving).