Tequila Sipping → Bertha’s backstory | Casa Dragones®

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You’ve probably heard of Casa Dragones, the renowned sipping tequila brand founded in Mexico in 2009. Listen to host André Brathwaite share the backstory of its co-founder, Bertha González Nieves, who turned her passion into a lasting brand—so that you could enjoy the appreciation of tequila as a hobby.

Listening to this backstory is just one of the many ways we at Forms of Recreation help you find or reconnect with the hobbies you love.

The opinions expressed are solely those of Forms of Recreation and do not necessarily reflect the views of any brand mentioned. We encourage you to check their corresponding websites for further information.

• Transcript

  Episode 29

  Tequila → Bertha’s backstory | Casa Dragones®

  Picture yourself enjoying an evening
  with close friends.

  Not in a loud bar.

  
  A laid-back setting.
  Out on a terrace.

  Each of you with an empty glass,
  waiting to be served.

  You pick up a bottle of tequila.

  Not the one to shoot.
  Not the one to chase.
  Not the one to drink fast.

  The one to sip.

  You serve it the only way it should: Neat.

  You take a seat.
  You take the first sip.

  It’s smooth.
  It’s intentional.

  Tequila, when treated this way,
  makes preconceived notions disappear.

  It asks you to pay attention.
  To moments instead of minutes.
  To the space you’re in while drinking it.

  Like any meaningful hobby,
  it’s not about consumption.

  It’s about presence.

  The practice of sipping tequila,
  choosing intention over excess,
  became the foundation of a brand
  built not on volume,

  but on intention.

  Casa Dragones.

  2) How the Brand Was Built on a Founder’s Discipline

  Bertha González Nieves
  was raised in an entrepreneurial family
  in Mexico City.

  Her father co-owned a cosmetics company.
  Her mother ran a catering business.

  Business wasn’t abstract.
  It was lived.

  She studied business administration.
  Worked in marketing.
  Learned how global brands
  position, persuade, and scale.

  She understood systems.

  In her twenties,
  Bertha was selected by the Japanese government
  to represent Mexico as a young ambassador.

  As part of her training,
  she was asked to deepen her understanding
  of her own culture.

  That path led her to Jalisco,
  the heart of tequila production.

  As she toured distilleries, something shifted.

  When Bertha was a little girl, she had grown up with tequila—
  present at Sunday gatherings,
  her grandmother made meals for the family at her home,

  And every meal started with a sip of tequila.

  Bertha grew up around it, and when she was old enough, she started to sip it.

  But this was different.

  What captivated her was the process.

  Timing.
  Discipline.
  And the way every decision
  leaves a trace.

  Tequila called.
  She answered.

  A calling that led her to spend
  more than a decade
  inside Grupo Cuervo,
  Mexico’s oldest tequila producer.

  And became the first woman to be named Maestra Tequilera in the Tequila Industry.

  She learned where quality is protected.
  And where it’s traded away.

  Eventually, Bertha wanted to build
  something of her own.

  When Bob Pittman,
  known for founding MTV, an American television channel,
  shared the desire to create a tequila brand,

  Bertha saw an opening.

  Not for a product.

  But for a correction.

  Casa Dragones emerged.

  She wasn’t interested in loud marketing
  or fast growth.

  She wanted to elevate tequila
  into a practice of sipping,
  not a culture of drinking,
  shooting, or chasing.

  To treat it with the same respect
  afforded to cognac or wine.

  That philosophy shaped everything.

  From the small-batch production
  of Tequila Joven,
  the only expression they sold
  for the first five years,

  to how the tequila is experienced
  in any space it appears.

  No line extensions.
  No shortcuts.
  Just focus.

  Even the bottle carries intention.

  The signature blue isn’t decoration.
  It nods to the Dragones cavalry
  of San Miguel de Allende,
  leaders in Mexico’s War of Independence.

  Bertha spent four months
  studying with a historian,
  embedding cultural memory
  into the design.

  The number sixteen appears
  not as a logo,
  but as a reminder.

  September 16th,
  the start of the war.

  And the address
  of the cavalry’s stables.

  Casa Dragones wasn’t built
  to shout Mexican heritage.

  It was built
  to carry it.

  Bertha set out to change
  how people pay attention,
  to taste,
  to context,
  to craft.

  And that disciplined focus,
  earned through business,
  sharpened through process,
  and expressed through intention,

  is what makes Casa Dragones
  feel less like buying a product…

  …and more like
  an invitation to an experience.

  3) Closing Reflection: The Founder Laid the Groundwork

  Think about it.

  Because Bertha chose restraint
  over volume,

  and attention
  over amplification,

  you’re invited into
  a different relationship with tequila.

  One that doesn’t reward excess.
  One that values presence.
  One that respects the moment
  it’s consumed in.

  A reminder that some pleasures
  are meant to be appreciated,

  responsibly,
  not excessively.

  So the next time you pour a glass,
  pause.

  Notice the quiet.
  The weight of the glass.
  The intention behind the sip.

  Have the courage
  to keep returning to your hobby.

  And make a small promise to yourself,
  one that involves play.

  Because someone loved
  the appreciation of tequila enough
  to build a brand around it,

  so that you
  could get to love it too.

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