#60. Andre’s Research Notes → Jose Cuervo® Express
Listen.
You’ve probably heard of Jose Cuervo, a tequila producer founded in Mexico in 1795.
Listen to André Brathwaite, podcast host of Inside Spaces by Forms of Recreation, share his notes on a space for tequila enthusiasts to step into and go beyond the products Jose Cuervo makes.
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.
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Episode #60
Andre’s Notes → Jose Cuervo® Express
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Think about the last time you had a drink in your hand. Not just what was in the glass, but where you were, who poured it and the story that came with it.
Most of us have a bottle at home that we drink without a second thought. Pour, sip, done. Life goes on. But for others, it triggers a memory that makes the whole thing taste different. Same spirit. Completely different drink.
So Here's my question for the week: how much of what we taste... is really about the memories that we've been a part of?
Because Jose Cuervo can put a bottle of tequila on a shelf, or it can put you on a train, hand you a glass, and let you watch the fields where the whole thing started, rolling by the window.
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Welcome back to Inside Spaces — a podcast by Forms of Recreation — where I search for "wait, this exists?" spaces, built by brands that extend beyond the products they make, for people who take their hobbies seriously.
I don't hop on a plane and walk into any of these spaces. I do exactly what you'd do — I go digging online, through photos, articles, videos, and brand pages — and I share what I find as voice notes, so you can decide whether it's worth stepping into yourself.
This week: the Jose Cuervo Express, running between Guadalajara and the town of Tequila, Mexico.
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You know the name. It's one of the most recognizable tequila brands in the world, and it's been in the same family for generations — back in 1995, the Cuervo family celebrated two hundred years as the world's leading tequila producer. Two centuries. Same family, same land, same agave fields.
[VOICE NOTE — lo-fi filter]
"Okay, this stopped me — La Rojeña, Jose Cuervo's tequila distillery, was officially founded in 1812, and remains active today as the oldest active distillery in Latin America. So of course, I had to find out which is the oldest active distillery in the Americas. A rum distillery founded in 1703 on an island called Barbados. But that's for another episode."
[END VOICE NOTE]But here's the thing about a brand this old — at some point, selling the bottle stopped being enough. So Jose Cuervo built a train. Yes, a train.
Okay. Time to use your mind's eye.
It's sunset and you are holding a train ticket. You're seated in a themed luxury railcar, with a traditional Mexican performance and live Mariachi music playing. You are then invited by a train attendant to experience a guided tasting of three different tequilas at a bar with class of course. Oh, you are then handed a menu, as you get ready to enjoy your four-course culinary experience. This isn't a double-decker tour bus with a recorded audio guide, and the fear that a passing bird may leave a gift on your shoulder. This is a moving train, with food, bars, a performance, mariachis and Mexican culture, all happening in the same two hours.
This is the Jose Cuervo Express, known as having the most Mexican railcar. It runs between Guadalajara and the town of Tequila, Jalisco, and there are two ways to experience the train depending on which departure you book — you either ride the train there and take the bus back to Guadalajara, or bus there and ride the train back to Guadalajara.
[VOICE NOTE]
"After watching a video, I need to remember to mention the jima demonstration. There's a stop in the agave fields where they show you the actual harvest — a jimador cutting the spiky leaves off a blue agave plant by hand, using a tool that's basically a big round blade on a stick. By the looks of it, it's a guy doing the same job people have done there for centuries, right in front of you."
[END VOICE NOTE]You're a tequila enthusiast. A person who actually reads the label and knows the difference between blanco, reposado, and añejo. So, what’s there for you?
Once you arrive in Tequila, there's a visit to the Juan Beckmann Gallardo Cultural Center, followed by a full tour of La Rojeña — the oldest active distillery in Latin America. Let that sit for a second. You're not touring a replica. You're walking through the actual building where this whole industry, arguably, started.
Inside, a guide walks you through the different types of tequila and the barrels where it's aged, and depending on which package you booked, you might get access to Cuervo's exclusive cellar, home to Reserva de la Familia — which is about as close as a non-family-member gets to their barrels.
After the distillery, you get free time in the town of Tequila itself — an official "Pueblo Mágico," one of Mexico's designated magical towns — to wander, eat, shop, whatever you want, before heading back.
[VOICE NOTE]
"Small detail I loved — depending on your railcar, you get lounge-style seating with a table in the middle, basically built for a group to sit around and gather as they enjoy those beverages with percentages. It sounds so welcoming, I'm sure there is a point you forget you are on a moving train. Well, that could also be because of the Cuervo."
[END VOICE NOTE]And here's where it gets interesting, because Jose Cuervo didn't just build a train experience. They built tequila experiences within the train experience.
The base tier gets you a tasting of Jose Cuervo Tradicional, cocktails on board, and the distillery tour — a great entry point if you're tequila-curious rather than tequila-obsessed. Step up, and you get a guided tasting of three tequilas on board plus that exclusive cellar tour. Go further still, and you're tasting their most highly regarded tequila while on board: Reserva de la Familia, with access to the family's private cellar. And at the very top, there's a full luxury tier — international mixology, food, the works.
It's basically built the same way a good hobby is built — casual on one end, deep-end obsession on the other, and a clear path between them.
And that's really the thread of this whole episode. Jose Cuervo didn't need to build a train. They've been the biggest name in tequila for over two centuries — the bottle alone would've kept selling itself.
Instead, they took the actual origin of the product — the fields, the fermentation, the family history — and built a two-hour experience around it, so the people who actually care about tequila can taste the difference between "I bought a bottle" and "I watched a jimador cut this agave by hand this evening."
That's the whole reason behind Inside Spaces, honestly. Brands that build something worth stepping into — even if, for now, the closest you get is a voice note about it.
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Alright — if you've ridden the Jose Cuervo Express yourself, or you've got a tequila ritual of your own worth sharing, I want to hear about it.
No need to go as detailed as I did. Just tell me what you see, through a voice note. It's easy.
There's a WhatsApp link in the show notes, or visit formsofrecreation.com. Just send me a voice note describing what it was actually like for a hobbyist like you. It might make it into a future episode.
Tune in next week on Inside Spaces by Forms of Recreation, for a new space that inspires you to step in.
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