Meet Ottawa’s world class tequila importer Cada Dia

Over a period of 15 years local IT strategist and entrepreneur, Riti Gupta and her husband Sandeep had traveled extensively through Mexico and had developed a deep love of its people and food and drink culture. Eventually it made sense to bring some of that love back to Ottawa.

I had the pleasure of meeting Riti earlier this year at the launch of Joe Thottungal’s latest cookbook. It was here that she talked of Cada Dia, the tequila brand that she and her husband created.

After many trips to Tequila, Mexico they found a distillery with which they wanted to work and in January 2020 they launched Cada Dia.

In Spanish Cada Dia means “Everyday” which goes to their philosophy that everyday is meant to be enjoyed with the best that is available to you.

For Riti part of the impetus for this tequila came as a result of beginning to understand her palate and that she was wanting more sophisticated experiences. She felt that the industry was catering to what they perceived of as the female palate but that she and her friends were wanting tequilas that could be enjoyed neat or on the rocks.

So they sought out methods that would ensure a high level of quality.

For the reposado only eight-year-old Blue Weber Agave is used which is then cooked in stone ovens for two days. Only naturally occurring yeasts are used for the fermentation.

As with other alcoholic beverages, tequila has its classifications and categories and there’s a lot to uncover. For our purposes however we’ll stick with the category of Reposado.

Reposado means “rested” and was a category introduced in 1968. Under law, reposado tequila qualifies to be labeled as an aged tequila. This means it must be aged for at least 60 days in oak or Holm oak (an evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean of all things) vats of an unspecified size.

The Cada Dia reposado has been aged for eight months in second-use charred American oak whiskey barrels. This gives it a serious advantage over other reposados. It’s a pale yellow, having picked up its colour from the barrel rather than added caramel as in “gold” tequilas.

In a further gesture to sisterly solidarity, the spent (pressed) agave fibres are donated to female artisans in Tequila who produce a variety of goods from fabrics to rugs and paper.

I’ve enjoyed this reposado both neat and as my version of a famous cocktail (see below) and I was impressed by its soft palate and depth of character. It was as if I was getting much more than just a reposado level tequila moving into quality Anejo (aged for one year) territory.Then again, at $89 a bottle we are in the super premium space.

Tasting it neat, you’ll detect notes of oak and caramel along with pepper and interestingly some banana esters. It’s entirely smooth and I understand why some prefer to drink this as they would a good whisky or cognac.

At the moment Riti and Sandeep are awaiting a new shipment of reposado including the release of Cada Dia Plata (silver) sometime this summer. Unfortunately the reposado is sold out in the Ottawa LCBO stores but it is available in notable local restaurants like: Riviera, North and Navy, Supply and Demand and Union 613 amongst many others. You can check LCBO quantities at this link.

The recipe

Tobacco Road is a favourite cocktail but it is intensely brooding and does remind you of cigar leaf extract. It’s made with the smoky Mexican spirit mezcal and can be a little much for some palates.

Here I’ve replaced the mezcal with Cada Dia reposado which softens the profile. I’ve also replaced regular bitters with Angostura Orange bitters to add a touch of fruit. The result, I think, is rather delicious and has a surprising note of toasted marshmallow.

Tobacco Road Revisited

• 1 ½ ounce Cada Dia Reposado

• 1 ounce Cynar (Italian bitter)

• ½ ounce fino (dry) sherry

• 2 dashes Angostura Orange bitters

• Add a pinch of sea salt and stir

• Add one ice cube

• Garnish with an orange slice