Interview with Judy Rivera of Cino Tequila

about the traffic in Los Angeles, it says something that local officials warned motorists about a temporary roadwork closure on the 405 last year by calling it Carmageddon. Angelenos took the hint, and this weekend, they're expected to steer clear of the latest 405 closure, named, of course, Carmageddon 2. That's how it is in L.A., a snarl of overstuffed freeways and commuters who keep their cool, except when they don't. KPCC's Stephen Cuevas has this profile of a punk rocker whose music expresses the insanity of L.A. traffic while extolling the virtues of public transit. Couple of things you need to know about Eddie Solis. He lives in L.A., loves the band Kiss, and does not own a car. Being someone who's from L.A., born and raised, and, you know, having a few cars in my past, I saw the city much differently, through a different perspective, through the eyes of a bus rider. One just all the way to the back. Line 18. Just steps from the front door of his home, across the street from a tortilla factory in L.A.'s Boyle Heights neighborhood, Solis catches a bus that connects him with the city's subway, and the commuter train he catches to his day job at an indie record label in Hollywood. It just opened me up to, like, little neighborhoods, galleries, clubs, bars, just everything. Just seeing what's out there, little pockets of the city. Solis's journeys aboard L.A. bus, buses, and subway cars, informs a lot of the material on The New Los Angeles Part 1, Through the Eyes of a Bus Rider, the latest release by the singer-guitarist band It's Casual. The New Los Angeles No one has been wet In Solis's vision of a new Los Angeles, people abandon their cars, climb aboard public transit, and rediscover their communities. One song, stoles the virtues of the L.A. County Metropolitan Transit Agency's E-ZPass, and the urban underbelly it introduces to the rider. And that's, like, a nod and homage to, you know, the people who know what you can even go cheaper, and really beat the system, and really steer away from spending money on gas and oil profits and all that. It's all it takes for me to witness racial tension, for me to witness illegal aliens, and to see what's going on in the world. It's not to paint a negative picture, it's just my perspective of what is seen. E-ZPass! E-ZPass! E-ZPass! E-ZPass! E-ZPass! Off the bus and back on the street, we make our way past a jazz saxophonist playing for pocket change, and down a long escalator to catch a train. So, where are we now? We're at the Red Line Station, the Pershing Square Station in downtown L.A. And what's our train stop? And what's our train stop? We're going to go downstairs another tier, and in about five minutes we're going to get on the Red Line going northbound. Okay, let's go. The Metro Red Line snakes from North Hollywood to downtown Los Angeles. It's the train that inspired its casuals signature tune, and spawned a viral internet video. It was partly filmed late at night on a moving train, as it hurtles from station to station. Solis thrashes away on his guitar and barks the lyrics, which celebrate the Red Line and call out the congested freeways that coil around Los Angeles. This is a Metro Red Line train to North Hollywood. The 210, the 605, the freeways are not so nice. The I-5, the 210, the freeways are not so nice. The thread that comes out of the record that ties everyone together is just like, be alive, don't be a victim of having a car. The 210, the red line, the Metro Red Line, the 210, the 605, the freeways are not so nice. The I-5, the I-10, the freeways are not so nice. The red line, the red line. An MTA spokesman said he couldn't comment on Eddie Solis' furious pro-Metro message, but the red line video was a hit at the offices of Move LA. Eddie's done a good job. Thank you, Eddie. It's the public transportation network. It's the public transportation advocacy group headed by former Santa Monica mayor Denny Zane. He liked the juxtaposition of Solis blissfully riding LA public transit in one scene with scenes of the band raging against those notorious freeway jams. Eddie is all frantic when he talks about highways and so mellow when he's like grooving on a skateboard and on the bus and on the red line. There's a metaphor for the transformation, you know, from the, oh my God, I just got to get out of the traffic to, hey, this is cool. I can mellow out. Or you can blast the tune like too many people as you claw your way across Los Angeles by car, bus or skateboard. Los Angeles There's too many people I want them to go away Even though it may take some time Too many people could also be a motto for its casual. Over the years, the band whittled itself down to a power duo of Solis and a rotating cast of drummers. So you may think the burly bearded punk rocker just can't get along with freeways, with people or his native LA. Not true. I love it. I love everything about it. I've traveled throughout the US many times and I could never look forward enough to coming back. The weather, the different cultures, the landscape. I was just so excited. You know what? Now I know why everyone moves to LA. Solis will bring the love and the volume. During a Red Line mini tour next month, its casual will play a different venue within walking distance of several Red Line metro stops from Union Station to West Hollywood. For the California Report, I'm Stephen Cuevas. And that's the California Report, a production of KQED Public Radio in San Francisco. Our director this week is Nina Thorsen. Ciel Muller is our technical producer. We had additional engineering from Danny Bringer and Howard Gelman. Thanks to Hank Hadley at KCBX. Our online team includes Lisa Pickoff-White, David Marks, and Donna Cullinan. Our interns are Katherine Borgeson and Rachel Johnson. Taiki Hendrix is our elections editor with production help from Tina Lauerberg. We had editing support from Paul Rogers. Victoria Malione is our associate senior producer. Ingrid Becker is our senior producer. The news director is Bruce Kuhn. I'm Rachel Miro. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend. This is the California Report. We're live from the California Broadcasting System. We're live from the California Broadcasting System. We're live from the California Broadcasting System. We're live from the California Broadcasting System. We're live from the California Broadcasting System. This is the California Report. Funds for the California Report are provided by the James Irvine Foundation. Expanding opportunity for the people of California and supporting the California Report since its premier in 1995. And the California Endowment. Health happens in schools. At Calendow.org. And Chevron. Investing in renewables, strengthening communities and creating jobs. More information at chevron.com. The freeways are not so nice. The ID. The freeways are not so nice. The 101 the 401 the freeways are not so nice. The 605 the 101 the 101 the 101 the ID the 210 the 605 the 101 the 405 the ID the freeways are not so nice. The red light. The red light. The red light. The Red Light Hey, good evening. Welcome to the Los Angeles Nista episode 119. I am the show creator, producer, and host. Eddie Solis. And tonight, it is a Long Beach episode with emphasis on the Metro Los Angeles blue line. My in-studio guest is a woman that owns a tequila company called Cino Tequila. And her name is Judy Rivera. Judy Rivera, how are you? I'm doing good, thank you. Good, thank you for coming. Thank you for having me. Awesome. You know, the first time I heard about Cino Tequila, I had my hands on a set of a seven-inch vinyl 45 record. And it was like a split release with bands. And I was like, oh, this is cool. You know, I'm a huge fan of music. I play music. I'm a huge fan. I'm very enthusiastic. I collect records, go to a lot of shows, and have my own record label. So I'm very immersed in music and different perspectives. And I, you know, I was looking at the record and I saw Cino Tequila. Wow. An alcohol company, a tequila company, putting records out. Wow. Wow. This is cool. So I did a little more research and I was blown away by the fact that Cino is female-owned and operated. Yeah. Even the distillery in Mexico. Mm-hmm. It's all women. Hola. Yeah. Tell me, Judy Rivera, where are you from? Tell us where you're from and where you grew up and where do you call home now? Well, I was born in East LA. Mm-hmm. And then I grew up in East of LA, like Montebello, Pico River, and Whittier. Okay. And then I lived in Chicago for a couple years. And then when I moved back, I wanted to live by the beach. So what better beach than Long Beach? When did you move to Chicago? Um. Um. My. More or less. Maybe early 2000s. 2000, I mean. And what was the catalyst to make you move to Chicago from LA? School and a boy. Oh, okay. Both? Yeah. And tell me about school. Tell me about your education in Chicago. What was it? Well, I got my degree in actually respiratory therapy. So that's what I went to school for. So kind of like a lung nurse. Okay. Yeah. So that's what I did. And then on the side, I was a tequila broker out in Chicago. Oh, wow. So that's how I got. I mean, of course, I was always in the bar industry before that. But then I was selling tequila out there. And that's how I got to meet Melly Barajas. She's who's the distiller now for Sino Tequila. And I had a couple friends who worked in bigger corporations. And I used to see how different. And I used to see how difficult it was for them to carry out marketing ideas. There's a lot of red tape at the huge corporations that you have to go through. Yeah. And so I thought, wouldn't it be cool if I had some of these ideas I could just do if I had my own company? So I especially love tequila. And so I talked to Melly about me doing my own thing. And, you know, instead of her saying, you know, screw you. Because I was basically working for her at the time. She said, come to Mexico. Let me stop you really quick. So just so I'm clear, while you were in Chicago working for Melly, you were a broker, meaning you would broker a sales rep or you would broker? Yeah, like a sales rep selling her tequila out there. Oh, okay. For north of Chicago territory. Yeah, the metropolitan area. Okay. So you were the Chicago rep. Yeah, on and off premise. So it was bars, restaurants. And stores. Oh, wow. And stuff. So, but anyway, so when she was like, okay, come to Mexico and we'll talk. I was super stoked. Went to Mexico, got to meet everybody that worked there. And I love that she hired all women. Wow. And. That's the real girl power of that place, right? Yeah. I wish I, if we could post some pictures or something so you can see some of the girls that work there. It's super cool. And then I love the fact, I like the way she did things. You know, very artisanally. I know we can go into that too. Like the way she does, it's very artisanally made. It's, you know, slow process. Small batch. Right. And, and then I started working with her chemist coming up with these recipes. Wow. So, so when you, when you brought it to her attention that you want to do your own thing, instead of saying like screw off, she was very supportive. Yeah, she was super cool. She was like, cool, do your own brand and we'll work together. Yeah. It wasn't like, well, now you're a competitor. It wasn't like that at all. No, she's actually. She's a great person. She's a great person. She's a great person. She's super nice. And she's helped me a lot throughout the years already. And I, I love her. She's like a sister. So, so what's her backstory? I mean, so she owns a distillery. Yeah, she owns a distillery and she has her own tequila, which is El Condesul. So she has some things that come out of there, of the distillery. I want to say like maybe six to eight other tequilas. But Sino, she does also make Sino tequila for me. So these are my recipes. I own the company and the recipes. But she owns the distillery. Right. Right. Right. So, so that's, so it was actually conceived in Chicago when you visualized it. Well, it's, well, the idea. Yeah, the idea. But conceived in Mexico. I mean. Right. Yeah. Well, currently made. Yeah. Yeah. So, so, so tell me, when did you commit to the company and say, look, I'm going to, I'm going to do this. I'm going to make the recipe. I'm going to bottle it and sell it. And, and commit to it. Well, a year, it took about a year and a half to, to, to perfect the recipes and then the bottle design, the logo, all the legal, the legalities and. You registered the trademark. Yeah. And then. All that stuff. Right. Yeah. And then about a year and a half later, she said, okay, your first shipment of tequila is ready. What are you going to do? And I said, all right. I'm going to move back home. So send it to LA. So I quit my job in Chicago and cashed out my baby 401k, my baby savings. And then I moved back home. And at first, you know, I always tell people like at first I was like, oh my God, what did I do? You know? But it made me hit the ground running. You know, I just, uh, work hard. And it's crazy. And so my first year I was selling, selling, selling, and I was driving around my little Corolla delivering. That's awesome. Out of my Corolla. Total do it yourself, independent spirit. You, you would make the sales yourself and deliver yourself. I mean, you know, I mean a lot of big companies are set up because they have one guy just selling. Doesn't deal with deliveries or packaging. Right. Yeah. Tell me this. Tell me the feeling that you had when you first saw your first batch of bottled tequila with the label and ready to go. Retail ready. Oh, so funny. Because I would take pictures of everything. Like the boxes. The boxes. And then the label and the bottle. I mean, even the labels come around like different like, um, editions of the label. So, you know, of course I had like the first, the first edition of them and it was like kind of clear and they'd get lost if it was in a back bar, but you perfect it and you like, you just see things that you want to like, I don't know, you want to make stand out more. So every time I would take pictures of something different, like, oh, you know, I don't know, the boxes, the outer boxes, the, the labels. Um, I don't know the medallions, the tops. I don't know. So it was like, it was like, it was really like a baby. Like I felt like, right. I mean, it was like, like having two babies, right? Like you were silver and reposado. These were my first two. And, and, and you were taking pictures of the, the cartons that came in, the packaging and then took them out. And I mean, but, but your feeling, it was like, you probably felt very, uh, reborn when you saw that. Cause it was yours and you're offering your, your taste to the world. Yeah. It's exciting, but it was, um, scary too, you know, cause you're like, you know, I don't know. It's, this was just an idea. And then to see it actually in your trunk, a bunch of cases in your trunk and you're delivering, you're like, oh my gosh, I'm really, I'm really doing it. And then when I got signed with through Young's Market, which is the, you know, my distributor, you know, one of the largest distributors here in California, I was, I was like, it was exciting. Yeah. And you're, you're a, you're a, you're a California territory distributor, right? Yeah. So, so, so from that, from that point, when you, when you committed a partnership with Young's Market, you actually, um, were able to have a reach into the entire state of California. Yeah. That's when. And is that just markets and liquor stores? Yeah. Liquor stores, markets, and then, um, on premise, which is bars, restaurants. Yeah. As well? Yeah. Okay. So, so, so they handle all that. Yeah. And they're on sale. At least I don't have to deliver anymore. They got the big red, red trucks throughout California that you see and. I saw that. I saw that with the, with the Acino Tequila Wrap. Yeah. Very well done. Thank you. So, so, okay. Let's talk about the recipe. Okay. Okay. Now is this top secret or can you talk about it? Well, I can talk about it. I'm going to talk about the process and stuff. I mean. Let's talk about your silver. Okay. So. Acino Tequila Silver. That's how, how I usually, that's how I start when I taste people on it too. I will start with the silver. Just because it's like the base of, it's the base. So the way Melly does it, you know, like I said, it was artisanally made. It's cooked in clay ovens. Cooked in clay ovens. Yeah. Cause some companies use steel ovens or autoclave and they, and so it's a little bit different, but the autoclave ovens, it's very slow cooked in them with the doors closed for 24 hours. And then after. From 70. From 70 to 90 degrees. And then after 24 hours, the ovens are turned off with the doors closed and for another 24 and then another 24 with the doors open ovens off. So totally allowing the sugars to settle in the piñas. And then, and then from there it goes into the crushers and oh, so the, and then the silver is not aged. Some silvers, they are aged for certain amount of days. The Acino Tequila is not, it doesn't touch. Well, the silver is not. It doesn't touch any oak. And then, and then, then we go to the Reposado. Because you'll taste it when we get to taste that you'll notice on the silver it's, I loved the finish. It's because it's from Los Altos also, all the agave are from Los Altos, which is the highlands of tequila in the mountain region. So up there, the, the climate is a little bit different than the lowlands. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So the colder nights, they make the agave, it takes longer for the agave to mature. So eight to 10 years rather than six to eight. Wow. So it makes kind of like a, there are slightly sweeter notes in the, on the tequila, but then also in the nutrients in the soil up in the highlands is said to give it the slight, almost like a spiciness to it. it so you'll see when you taste it so so everything goes back to mother earth yeah really right yes i mean it's you mother earth i mean it's all you know i mean the soil the elevation everything everything is a component to the uh ingredients being what they are and that translating into sino tequila yeah so it's completely female yeah all the yeah all the um mother earth mother earth yes yeah female and the female distillery yes how many women work there at the distillery in mexico um probably like uh about 12 yes i'm coming going and some of them are really young so depending on school and stuff so like around 12 depending on what time of year that's interesting and and and and what part of mexico um and! yeah in el valle de guadalupe so um it's about like 40 45 minutes away from guadalajara okay it's a nice little drive now um was silver the first one you made yes okay and then so since i love since okay after we had the recipe for the silver i i loved the base of that and i wanted at that time i thought oh i want a young reposado so i thought four months ago i'm gonna do a little bit more like a four month one like a four month one like a four month one like a four months would be good well we tasted and then i thought the four months which is the reposado now the regular reposado um i thought that was perfect and you'll see that it's aged four months in american whiskey barrels so jack daniels barrels now that's the only tequila that's aged in whiskey barrels right no no so we'll go into that but so this is the the only one and a lot of people do use american whiskey barrels a lot of tequilas do you use it because their barrels are um used and then they're used once and then they get rid of them so the barrels that we use currently for the regular reposado are jack daniels and half of them are new and half of them are used okay and then there's tequila in them so after four months they mix it together so that's where the color comes from that's why it looks kind of woodish yeah and it's very light though it's very subtle compared to kind of like a blonde in a way like a blonde yeah since we're on the radio and then i mean it looks like it's like a blondish color you know yeah it's beautiful it is it is it is so so um and then tell me about the other two flavors you have here okay and then okay and the other two and so the first two are what i had for a couple years and then the last two were basically experiments at first so we have another reposado and so i know people were like they always think the sino irish we call it sino irish wow but sometimes they always think this is not an ananya and ananya but it's not it's another reposado but this one is aged in jameson barrels wonderful wow so the these barrels are used you know charred and then they're used and then jameson gets them and then they rechar them and then they use them then i get them from jameson and then i don't charm or anything i just use it because i don't know what to do with them so i don't know what to do with them so i love the flavor but but when i just got this i got it i had a got it i got in a barrel and um i was just playing with it and i put the silver in it and then i was i put it in the barrel and i had a couple friends were eating cocktails and stuff so they were giving me some tips and so i put in the barrel and i would taste it like every so often and i i had a two month tasting and a four month tasting and i personally i like them both the four month was very very very good and i like the two month was very smooth but it seemed like the two month was the bigger hit amongst friends and fans and family and and the two months i mean as you can see it's super dark yeah like a dark brown because of all that that charring sure and so this is more like a chocolate like a caramel color like yeah absolutely that's awesome that's cool is that is that is that your favorite is that one of your favorite like what's your favorite out of all four well you know it's i can't say you have a favorite you can have a favorite you can have a favorite smell this one it's it you you'll see when you taste it like it the whiskey is deaf or the jameson definitely influences the smell and the taste of the tequila i love that it's beautiful i just get excited about that one because that's one of the newer ones and but i do love the silver our regular silver reposado right right no that's very um that smells delicious um that one i love just on the rocks so good now is that your is that your personal way to serve this is on the rocks it depends i mean if i'm like excuse me if i'm not doing any if i don't feel like mixing like like i don't really uh i would just do it on the rocks but if i'm gonna mix it i would use it as a whiskey base in some cocktails like an old-fashioned and i was gonna bring stuff tonight to do that but i forgot so in old fashions or um like a negroni or manhattan's that's very well done and what's the fourth one you have there okay this one this one for a long time i was i was i had a personal struggle with this one because i'm a tequila purist but so okay we do a lot of events and and and if you know what i mean what we're we're very art culture affiliated we work with a lot of different artists you know from that that help us out with a lot of the like the web design and um the label is done by um an artist and then all our creative is done by local artists and like like the cover for the lp right um which we'll be getting into in a bit here so when we do some of the art shows like we do um we do the monthly opening at la luz de jesus yes over there in silver lake or yeah los filas whatever um anyway when i do the events for them i used to get a jalapeno and stick it in the silver and make spicy margaritas out of it wow yeah it's so good people loved it and they're like what how do i buy this or what do i i don't know they would always ask me what could i buy a bottle but of course you can't tell it to them like that and and um so i talked to melly and i i said what do you think about doing this you know what do you think how can can we do this with the distillery and she's like yeah so this is another one and at first you know i don't have the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the Any flavor margarita? Yeah. That's like for if you don't want spicy, you don't really like spicy. Right. Like a straightforward margarita. Yeah. Cadillac margarita. Palomas. Yeah. Actually, this would be good with paloma too. The spicy. Yeah. Yeah. That would be good. A spicy paloma. Have you tried the coconut margaritas? Where do you get a coconut margarita from? El Cholo. We need to go. It's good stuff. It's good stuff. It's not bad stuff. It's good stuff. We need to do it. Yeah. Field trip. Excursion. Skid row on the road. Los Angeles Nista on the road. Do you ever? Oh, yeah. Los Angeles. Yeah. Do you guys do radio shows from like places? Well, you know, we don't do it on remote, but since Los Angeles Nista is a show that brings its audience and immerses them in Los Angeles culture to visit, you know, highlighted destinations, car free. I'm going to be doing my first walking tour March 29th. So do you talk and work? Where I'm going to be taking everyone throughout Los Angeles car free on the subway. And we're going to be going to all these great restaurants, bars and galleries. And you're going to do a radio show while you're doing it? No. It's just going to be a walking tour. Cool. Yeah. It's going to be amazing. Yeah. The first one. When is it? The first one. The first Los Angeles Nista walking tour. Mm-hmm. Saturday, March 29th. I have to remember that one. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, you'll definitely get the press release on that. Okay. So tell me how you came up with the packaging because, you know, there's a lot of competition out there, right? There's shelf space. There's the human eye. There's colors. How did you come up with the size bottle and the side on the label and the medallion? Hmm. Hmm. Well, I would love to take, well, I mean, I did pick them, but I would love to take credit for the bottle shape and all that, but I just like something squatty. I like the bottleneck because it's easy to handle and, you know, in a bar situation. I bartended it before and so you definitely want something practical. Yeah. It fits in well. It does. But the label is designed by local artists, so we went back and forth on with different artists doing that. Yeah. And this was a final choice on the label. And then the medallion, love it. It's a nice little addition to it. And then synthetic core because it's better for the environment. So I don't know. But I don't own the mold. So this is not like a, you know, like a Don Julio or like Patron where they have their, that bottle is. Their bottle. You know, it's. Right. But the mold is like, I don't know, it's like 30, 40,000 for the mold. So. So, so the mold of the bottle, like for Jose Cuervo, just, just the shape of it is theirs. Well, Cuervo, I have to think about. I don't, I'm not positive on that. What was the other, the other company you said? Don Julio. Don Julio. Because he knows like the square bottle. So the mold, they own that. Yeah. And Patron. So it's very unique. Yeah. There's nobody, there's people that like can mimic that. I think mimic the Don Julio one. I think I've seen that copied, but not the Patron, which was, was originally, but, but nobody has that, that bottle. So they've got money to make the mold for that. And, and they have the mold also for the smaller bottles too, which is super, that's another mold, you know? Wow. Those little, usually it's 50 MLs, but the little bottles that you see. In hotel rooms, that too, super expensive. Wow. You know, by the time this bottle is packaged and on the shelf at Ramirez Liquor on Whittier and Soto or at a bar. Or Total Wine. Total Wine. You know, there's a lot of work. There's a lot of steps. There's, there's a lot of vision. There's a lot of motivation to get it done the way you want it. Quality control. Quality control. And then the final product shipped and on the shelf. It's a lot of steps. So let's talk about this now. Like do you do any of the selling yourself or does Young's Market have all of it exclusive? No, I, unfortunately I do. No I do. I do. I do the selling also. I help them. You still, you still go in there? Yeah, I work every day. Go, you still pick up the phone or drive in or email these customers and try to open new accounts? That's where I gotta go. Gotta go. You gotta leave, right? You gotta just sell. You gotta leave? No, no, no. I'm just kidding. Seriously though, I mean, it just seems like, you know, I mean it's very competitive, but. It is. It's a really competitive market. But the alcohol industry, the margin is big. It's bigger than selling, it's bigger than selling general merchandise, right? I don't know. I don't, I don't sell general merchandise. But. It is. It is. It's a fun. It's a really fun industry to be in. It's very competitive. So I definitely count my blessings that I've been alive or up and running now for almost so, four and a half years now of selling. So it's because I've seen companies come and go already, tequila companies, and it's kind of like, oh. How long have you guys existed for? Four and a half years. Four and a half years. Wow. Wow. Yeah. And, and, and tell me. Tell me some of the local bars in downtown Los Angeles that carry your product. Okay, let me see. I should have brought a whole list, huh? Well, I'm sure you know. I mean, you're, you're very, uh. Yeah. So where I closest. So Bodega Louie, which is close by here. On Grand. On Grand. Yeah. So, so I could go in there and get a shot of Cino Silver. Yeah. They have actually the Irish, the Cino, well we call it Cino Irish, but the Irish Reposado. Okay. That's what we call the Jameson one. And then, um, Masmallo. Um. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They have, um, um, Down and Out, Artisan House, Las Perlas, Ixta, um. They all carry Cino. Bar Ah Ma. Mm hmm. New favorite. That's your new favorite. Love, love, love. Yeah, have you been there? No. What? That's a definite field trip. You need to go there. So delicious. We went there for my birthday. Really? Yeah, they had these, uh, bodega soup. I'm not a big beef or pork person, but I had to taste the broth. It's delicious. And they serve it. masa cake like a sope and dipped inside of it and then the ceviche is that's my favorite the ceviche and the guacamole and they make guacamole with celery wow oh my god you need to try it so delicious and where's that located they're on fifth and fifth fourth right across from bar 107 right okay that's fourth i think okay yeah yeah four so you see that downtown la on lock yeah how about places in hollywood okay um bars i'm talking bars restaurants room now let me ask you a question when it comes to getting your tequila into viper room is that something that you do direct on your own i didn't do that one actually the guy who manages it now used to manage artisan house and he bought he was a fan of casino tequila so he you jumped ship and went to viper room oh and he took casino tequila with him which is kind of nice fantastic i love when that happens i know i love that well because you don't have to you know develop a new relationship yeah and then it's already there and the falls that's down the street too you ever go to the falls no gotta check that out where do you go i go to king taco i'm just kidding no um uh you know all the places i've been to i've been to the city of london i've been to the city of london i've been to the city of london the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the city the and if there's a lot of steps yeah and if there's no distribution in texas it's kind of it's just some it's like kind of it's kind of funky but um what other live music total wine i got total wine and that's kind of big that's a regional chain isn't it like all of california all of california and that's through young's market as well no oh well right i mean the sales the sales yeah but it's like a the newest it's like a new bevmo yeah exactly it's total awesome now yeah it's just in california right yeah and but but it's a regional chain there's like multiple locations but within california wow wow so tell me um single the miles coming up yeah it's gonna be here in three months oh my gosh two months two and a half months stressful part of the year do you ever do anything special for single the mile do i do i yes i work my butt off work your butt off now now i mean does the company you do anything special yeah we do sino de mayo that sounds great i know so we'll do different places like like last year we did the world's largest margarita at big bar that was kind of cool giant margarita and and so all day they're serving out of it it's kind of like it's just a bowl of punt you know margarita but it was cool it's a cool just giant looks like a giant right so you get to take pictures with it does east side love carrier stuff east side love no that's a beer and wine only huh now now what about what about um you're saying ramirez and boyle heights how about ramirez and pico no i know i need that one you need that one i need that was my home that's my hood that's your hood stomping you gotta plant that flag there and say look at me pico home of the ghetto bird yeah too bad there wasn't any good bars in pico huh well there is okay the wagon wheel the wagon wheel off durfee do you know that i do know that on beverly i used to live right next to the wagon beverly road that that place could be trouble it is trouble so you know i hated the wagon when i was growing up i hated that place right right now we laugh about it because it's so so silly right it's awesome remember remember the cholo bar in whittier called uh no one knows that was bad well okay we'll get to all the regional stuff later yeah yeah okay so yeah it's so fun um now tell me though um let's talk about your involvement with artists in los angeles because that sort of seems like a big component to uh cino tequila i mean you even put a section of that on your website how did that come to be are you a fan of fine art yes fine art our art more i don't know about our fine art i think it's fine art when that's what i'm saying i call latino art you know even street art graffiti our fine art it's my fine art i like okay see that that's a touchy subject with some people but like graffiti i like it if it's good not if it's like junk though well it's like music i like pop music if it's good yeah i like heavy metal it's good yeah there's good music and bad music you know yeah so we yeah i've done some yeah we did some stuff we've i've done a lot of art shows that's some of my favorite stuff because you know we i'll sponsor a lot of different artists like like um i don't know one we were supposed to do with street artists was with gallo i don't know if you know gallo but he's he's one of the street artists and he was putting together an art show once in anna that got closed down or got shut down because of i don't know i guess it was conflicting street artists or something like that let's talk about your uh the music that cino tequila releases i'm holding in my hand a seven inch record i'm holding in my hand a seven inch record i'm holding in my hand a seven inch record that says cino tequila presents barrio uprising number four and it's uh featuring music by echoes deluxe and cabro and the cobrones and triple t's and triple t's free donkey show oh that's just what it says so it's three bands yeah three bands it's a three-way split and there's beautiful beautiful beautiful red vinyl yeah there's there's different ones there's the red vinyl then there's a speckled black speckled with red believe and then the glow in the dark which is limited very limited edition so if you guys get your hands on a glow in the dark that one's that was super rad tell me tell me um what was the catalyst to get you to commit to putting out records well because we love art and i feel like music is the form art so we were at first we were doing bands that were very la-ish but then i thought well wouldn't i knew i had a lot of friends who were bartenders that were in bands so i thought wouldn't it be cool that we do just we do bands that are um with you know that have bartenders in the bands and the bartenders are from these bars that sell cino that's cool so there's that thread that connects everybody yeah so we're yeah so these bands consist of bartenders around town that also all support cino tequila so you support music yes love them that's great where do you get your vinyl pressed you know because it's like nice red vinyl erica erica and downey yeah nice they have oh my god have you been there yes very nice so fun to look at the walls and all the different vinyls i know i know i know i've had a lot of jobs go through there now now tell me um how often do the uh seven inches come out twice a year so every six months yeah so the next so we're gonna have a record release party at las perlas featuring some of these bands wow and on the 19th if you guys want to go down it's wednesday the 19th wednesday the 19th very cool and you guys are you're also very um very aggressive with your you know it looks it looks like you know these stickers that you uh you came you came with today it's just very like classic mexicano you know uh lady of guadalupe they had done day of the dead style yeah with some we have with the day of the dead twist no twist the cno twist you know it seems like day of the dead is a a bigger a bigger holiday more than ever it's grown it's more here in l.a than anywhere else it's weird last year was busy did you see how busy it was everywhere yeah you should have seen east that he said a big old party and everybody was dressed like that and it was crazy yeah i mean you know i went to um east i love the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the tequila flavors. We're going to chat about the ingredients a little more closely. We're going to chase them with some cold beer and we're going to come back and give you our professional opinion of all this. This is Ignacio Salcido from La Mascota Bakery in Boyle Heights. You're listening to LA Nista at Skid Row Studios. This episode of Los Angeles Nista is brought to you by La Mascota Bakery. A family owned business serving the community since 1952. Tamales and sweet bread made the old fashioned way daily. Too short to not hold a grudge. No concessions I have. We'll not budge. I won't forgive. There'll be no compromise. Eat your halfway. I'd rather die. Love for a tone or make amends. No surrender. We'll never be friends. Be no peace. There'll be no love. Life's too short to not hold a grudge. You fucks be over. You hung me out to dry. You swept me under. You said goodbye. Left for a tone or make amends. No surrender. We'll never be friends. There'll be no peace. There'll be no love. Life's too short to not hold a grudge. You fucks be over. You hung me out to dry. You swept me under. You said goodbye I feel no guilt I feel no shame If I killed you now It would be the same guitar solo guitar solo You kept my heart on Feel like I Hold my grudge Until the end of time I'll never atone Or make amends No surrender No surrender We'll never Be friends Be no peace There'll be no love Life's too short to not Hold a grudge You fucked me over You hung me out to dry You swept me under You said goodbye Never atone Or make amends No surrender We'll never be friends Be no peace There'll be no love Life's too short to not Hold a grudge You fucked me over You hung me out to dry You swept me under You said goodbye Life's too short to not Hold a grudge No concessions I will not budge I won't forgive There'll be no compromise No compromise No compromise Nothing in the way Nothing in the way I jumped off of a cruise ship Into water like some man Broken I have slipped to shore Hey man, what'd you do that for? Time collapses like a hit and run Bullets fired from your tongue When wild horse subdues The spirit is dead Death is their domain Get that in your head When wild horse subdues The spirit is dead Death is their domain Get that in your head I never had a plan B The only person I could trust was me I'll get by with the critics, hey Fuck them, who cares anyway? Time collapses like a hit and run Bullets fired from your tongue When wild horse subdues The spirit is dead Death is their domain Get that in your head When wild horse subdues The spirit is dead Death is their domain Get that in your head I jumped off of a cruise ship My life per server was a straight jacket I never had a plan B Hey man, what do you want from me? Time collapses like a hit and run Bullets fired from your tongue When wild horse subdues The spirit is dead Death is their domain Get that in your head When wild horse subdues The spirit is dead Death is their domain Get that in your head People have the right to change People have the right to change People have the right to change People have the right to change People have the right to change People have the right to change People have the right to change People have the right to change People have the right to change People have the right to change People have the right to change People have the right to change People have the right to change People have the right to change People have the right to change People have the right to change People have the right to change People have the right to change People have the right to change People have the right to change People have the right to change Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Here we go. Here we go. Here I am Here I am I'm free I'm free When they come home Nobody's around Keep them occupied At the score It's Dark Children Occupied Keep the children occupied At the score Gotta find something for them To do When they come home Nobody's around We gotta keep them occupied At the score Great Yeah Occupied I got used to making mistakes I got used to making mistakes I tolerated Phonies and fakes I opened myself up And let myself down I gave them the rope And now I'm hanging around Hanging around Like a fucking piñata Must be open And you'll find nothing Hanging around A puppet on a string Slice me open You'll find nothing Hanging around I'm just hanging around Hanging around I'm just hanging around Hanging around Like a fucking piñata Slice me open And you'll find nothing Hanging around A puppet on a string Slice me open You'll find nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Stupid is as stupid says Fool me once, water under the bridge Fool me twice and I'm the fool Fool me three times, man, fuck you Hanging around like a fucking piñata Must be open and you'll find nothing Hanging around a puppet on a string Slice me open, you'll find nothing Hanging around, I'm just hanging around Hanging around, I'm just hanging around Hanging around, I'm just hanging around Hanging around, I'm just hanging around Hanging around... California, California's not an energy machine California, California's not an energy machine California, California's not an energy machine California, California's not an energy machine California, California's not an energy machine California, California's not an energy machine California, California, California, California California, California, California, California It's not an empty F.I.G. I guess hope springs eternal in idiots like me I lowered my guard, I put my good self out to sea The head takes me nothing, and the best word is to slide I can't believe I went along for the ride I guess hope springs eternal in idiots like me Knife in the face When I was down and out Knife in the face It left no doubt Knife in the face This is reality Knife in the face That's what you think of me Friends are just roles We choose to occupy People we choose to have Splits on the radar Passing in the night And all of the good times They're only in bed And all of the laughter It always turns sad You lied Your head takes me nothing And a man's word is his life I can't believe I went along for the ride Life in the face When I was down and out Life in the face It left no doubt Life in the face This is reality Life in the face That's what you think of me This is the sound Of a broken heart I'm in the face That's what you think of me This is the sound Of a broken heart That's what you think of me This is the sound Of shattered dreams They flew too high And above their means And all of those knives That were buried in my back Not one of them Could stop me in my tracks Not one of them Could stop me in my tracks Not one of them Could stop the memories Nothing could change Nothing could change Nothing could change Nothing could change Nothing could change Nothing could change Nothing could change Nothing could change Nothing could change Nothing could change Nothing could change Nothing could change Nothing could change Nothing could change Nothing could change Nothing could change Nothing could change Nothing could change Nothing could change Nothing could change Nothing could change Nothing could change Nothing could change Nothing could change Knife in the face Your handshakes mean nothing And a man's word is just lie I can't believe I went along for the ride The ride Yeah, what a ride Just you and me, man We're gonna go down that highway together We're like a dynamic duo It's like Batman and Robin Or Superman and Superdog Which one were you? Which one am I? Oh, yeah Yeah Fucking fool You're a fucking liar Knife in the face Knife in the face Knife in the face Knife in the face Knife in the face Bridges are burning I just watched them burn Another one down, man When will I learn? When will I give up? When will I quit? Opening my life up To other people's shit Your handshakes mean nothing And a man's word is just lie I can't believe I went along for the ride Knife in the face When I was down and out Knife in the face It left no doubt Knife in the face This is reality See Knife in the face That's what you think of me That's what you think of me Knife in the face Knife in the face Knife in the face. Knife in the face. Welcome back to the 119th episode of Los Angeles Nista. I am the show creator, producer, and host, Eddie Solis. This is a Long Beach episode with emphasis on the Metro Los Angeles blue line. My in-studio guest is the owner of Cino Tequila, Judy Rivera. How are you? Good. How are you? I'm good. And tonight, the 119th episode of Los Angeles Nista is brought to you by Amoeba Music, Hollywood, Berkeley, San Francisco, Death Wish Skateboards, Baker's Skateboards, Volume 4, Soul Skating Los Angeles, La Mascota Bakery, El Cholo Restaurant, and a band called Courage, You Bastards, a great band from Los Angeles. And their record is on iTunes. You should check it out. Good punk rock. And I just think that after listening to them more than I have in the last couple of weeks, it's really grown on me. The new record's called Across the Fires and the Dark. That's available on iTunes. Courage, You Bastards. Check it out. Also, this episode is brought to you by Santa Cruz Skateboards. We have professional skateboarders. Jeff Grasso, Tom Knox, and Jason Jesse coming on. That's going to be great. And tomorrow, we have the 120th episode of Los Angeles Nista from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. And my in-studio guest will be the legendary Skatemaster Tate, who is not only a great musician, skateboarder, and enthusiast of skateboarding, but also a great human being who's super positive and, you know, a guy who's... Knows his way around a recording studio. So, that's great. So, Judy, let's talk about Long Beach. You live in Long Beach. From Pico Rivera, Whittier, Montebello to Chicago. You're back in Long Beach. Back to Long Beach. LBC. Okay. Let me tell you something. Let's give a curriculum to people. Alright? When I want fish and chips, when I want really, really, really good fish and chips, I go to the Pike. Yep. You know that place. Love it. Tell me what your favorite food is there. Well, it's whatever my favorite chef, Rachel, makes. Really? You have your own personal chef there. She works there when she... Actually, she makes really good fish and chips, but she makes really good soups. No. I never had soup there. Oh, my gosh. I've had the mahi-mahi plate. Yeah, no, no. No? You always get the... Whatever soup... Whatever we have, get the soup because she makes it. She's amazing. She's my favorite. Rachel. Yeah. So, she's the best chef there? Yeah. Hola. More girl power, right? Yeah. I'm going to tell her about this. She's going to laugh. Well, you know what? A lot of people don't know that the guy who owns the Pike is Chris, right? Mm-hmm. Chris Reese? Yeah. Yeah. And he was the original drummer in Social Distortion. Yeah. And... Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. we have the the it's weird but he's so awesome they play the first tuesday of every month he's i caught him one night and i was like what yeah he's great he's great and he's also a punk rock legend in his own right now now the pike you know um i started going there in 2003 when he first opened you were in chicago yeah i was in chicago at the time you were uh going to school yeah and you were there with the boyfriend and you had visions of cino tequila by by the way at the break i tried cino silver yum to me that's the direct uh it it's very linear to uh the patrone silver yeah but i gotta i this had a very very wicked kick to it i love it you love it is that is that your most popular one um it might be that yeah i think that's the number one that might be the number one seller i can't even yeah i think that one's because it's really good with mixing margaritas or margaritas yeah now tell me about uh the second one i tried that's the regular reposado that's the one that we're talking about that's the one that's just uh right in regular whiskey american whiskey barrels the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the beach and experience long beach and what's awesome is people don't know this that when you get to the blue line the very last stop in downtown long beach on pine right before ocean you could take a free shuttle to the aquarium the queen mary shoreline village you don't even have to walk it's free and it's a clean bus and it's awesome and hardly anyone rides it i don't even know that it's well that's why you're on los angeles nista because i know everything about public transportation i know you know i have some friends who might know but but you know that promotes being able to drink and not drive that's better sales for you that's better sales for the redwood is this is you know tequila at the redwood no we need to make that happen let's make it happen tomorrow let's do it yeah yeah yeah we'll talk after all right after yeah yeah and you know you know something else um i love that place do you really oh my gosh the pirate the pirate bar yeah last concert i went there was cottage beer room yeah really so good what's the last biggest concert you've been to like big like rock like like sticks i don't like big or like or like daryl hall and john oats or uh air supply or uh big culture club big for me is like alexis so let me see really you don't go you don't go to rock shows like do i guess like like that's like okay okay the last one uh go go bordello in pomona no i saw him in la oh the fonda go go bordello it was like them yeah love love gypsy punk i don't know it's fun fun it's like craziness and it just gets you yeah you just want to throw wine at people why that's what he does in the show Where you're like, yeah, I want to throw white at people. What's your favorite band of all time? Oh, come on. Come on, tell me. I want to hear it. You just can't do that. Yes, you could. No, there's... Ask me mine. What's yours? Kiss. Oh, come on. You couldn't do that. How do you have one favorite? Because that's the first band I ever saw live and it blew my mind. It was like seeing Jesus Christ rise from the ground. It's like asking a favorite tequila. I mean, of course it's going to be a tequila. I saw Christ come from the east, but I was sitting in the forum, but it was Kiss. Favorite band. And because I saw Kiss, it was Christian to me because it was life changing and it elevated me. And I said, wow, there's something called music and I want to be involved in this. Wow. Let me see. I don't know. Let me see. I'm torn between... Four. 79. Now, you know what's crazy was... No, it was at Anaheim Convention Center. Kiss was on the... It was a fantasy tour. And you were four? Yeah. And I would go to Kmart and these department stores with my mom. And instead of toys, I would buy Kiss records, but I wouldn't listen to them. I just accumulated a stack of records. Yeah. Just to have them? My dad was always so scared of us seeing him watch the live shows because they're very explicit. Yeah. He's like a... Like a dad like you about Kiss? He's like a demon. Oh, yeah. Oh, he likes them? Yeah, he loves them. So your dad likes Kiss? Yeah. And my dad loves buying these live concerts. So we just, during family gatherings, we'll sit around. And watch him. And Kiss was just one that he's like, wait, you guys can't watch this. And like... Well, you know what's funny? And it was just him and my mom watching it. For being sober guys, they cuss a lot. And talk dirty. Yeah, they're very explicit. Yeah. They're very open. That sounds like me. Yeah. Like you? For not drinking, you cuss a lot. Well, I do drink, but I do talk like... Dirty. A sailor. Sailor? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. I just went to Night Dive. I went to the Aquarium of the Pacific. I know. That's in Long Beach. Yeah. Did you see the scuba lights? Or what are they called? No, the scuba... Yeah, the guys in the monkey mask? They're called the scuba girls or scuba lights. I don't know. Some band. Anyway. Now, you know what's funny is that's the second one I went to. And it just blows me away that the Aquarium of the Pacific is having DJs in every little room and a live band in the main hall. And the backdrop... Yeah. And the backdrop is that gigantic 20-foot aquarium. It's beautiful. I know. You know? I mean, it doesn't... It doesn't... It just... I mean, Long Beach has that. Long Beach has the Queen Mary. Long Beach has, you know, all these great restaurants like Parker's Lighthouse and the Reef. And the Pike. And the Pike. We spoke about them. Yeah. And we spoke about Rachel. Can you get Rachel on the phone? Yeah. Is she calling right now? Can you call her? I don't have her number. No? Oh. Wait. I don't think I have her number. Okay. Okay. So, you know, you know what else is a great place? Um, in Long Beach that I really like is, um... What? Starbucks. I'm just kidding. No. Tequila Jack's in Shoreline Village. Good Mexican food. I still see no tequila there. They do? Yes. Yes, they do. That's good. I like it because the view and... Yeah. That's actually on the water. You know... You know that guy who... The guy that owns that? Yeah. Used to own... Japanese guy. Mike. Um... Him and his partner used to own that place in Montebello. Jesus. Quiet Cannon? No. Right across from Beverly Hospital. Oh, El Coyote. I was going to say Wild Coyote, but that's not what we were saying. Gotham's. Yeah. But after... Yeah. Yeah. Gotham's and El Coyote. That was like one of my first serving jobs. You used to work at Gotham's? No. Coyote. El Coyote. El Coyote. Across from Beverly Hospital. Yes. So, I knew them when I went in there to go sell them. I went to a place called El Coyote. El Coyote. El Coyote. El Coyote. El Coyote. Tequila. I ran into them. I was like, what? Every... And they have like a lot of the same stuff too. So, it was really cool to see. No way. Yeah. So, it comes full circle. Yeah. It's crazy when you walk into a place and you like work with them in the past. And I'm like, what? That's good stuff. I love that. All right. So, let's talk about you as a Long Beach local. Let's talk about if you have a friend that comes over, maybe hangs out the weekend with you or something. Where do you take them? The Pike. Every day? Well, no. I mean, okay. We... What do we do? We go to the Pike or we'll go to the V Room. That's another favorite spot. The V Room. Or what? Let's see the other place. The V Room is just like one of my favorites. Yes, sir. Raw. The Prospector. Prospector. Love it. But V Room is just fun. V Room is fun. Ferns is good. Ferns is the best jukebox in Long Beach. For sure. But I like Alex's Bar. Alex's Bar. Alex's Bar. Alex's Bar. They don't have a bar. They don't have a bar. They don't have a bar. They don't have a bar. They don't have CINO there, but I do like it. I go there. Have you worked on CINO at Alex's Bar? Yeah. How come they don't do it? Political? Yeah. Gotcha. I don't really know. I don't know. I really don't know. We'll figure it out. We'll figure it out. You know, I've had great experiences at Alex's Bar. I've had... Me too. I've been involved with Alex's Bar in different perspectives of music. When I was working for SST Records, I booked Black Flag at Alex's Bar. We did a surprise show there. They did... They did two nights at the Palladium. 4,500 people each night at the Palladium. And they want to do a surprise show at Alex's Bar the day after on a Sunday. And so I booked Black Flag at Alex's Bar September 20... 2003. So I've dealt with them from a direct, you know, booking agent to venue perspective. My band, it's casual. We played with negative approach there. We played with High on Fire. We played with Zeke. Huge shows. Done well. And I've gone there many times as a fan to see great bands. And as a fan, standing on the other side or being on that stage or dealing with them and booking major acts and working a deal, it's always a pleasant experience. And the record swap. I love the record swap. At Alex's? Yeah, they do it on the week, like I think on Sundays. Every Sunday? No, it's like every now and then. And it's so much fun. They have cheap beer and it's so much fun just to go look for records and it's like hunting, you know? I like Shoreline Village. That was random. I like the merry-go-round. Get out of here. Well, I used to go... When was the last time you rode the merry-go-round? When I was, you know, small enough. Seriously. What? Yeah. So, in addition to that, I would have to say besides the touristy stuff, like Queen Mary, Aquarium of the Pacific, and the Queen Mary has Dark Harbor and Chill, like those like pop-up amusement parks. I love the Reef. That restaurant, have you been there? No, I haven't. It's the best brunch in all of Los Angeles. Get out of here. Really? Absolutely. What do they have there? What's good? It's like 40 bucks a person. Uh-huh. And it's like all you can eat is sushi, sushi bar or Mexican bar. Like, they'll make like stuff for you. Like right in front of you. Or you could like say, oh, I want a Kobe burger. And then there's like huge like tiers of fruit and vegetables, like salads and fruit. Is it super spendy? Like, what is... Huh? Is it super spendy? Like... It's like 40 bucks a person. Oh, that's good. But it's like on top of the quality and how fresh it is, you're on the ocean. So, to me, it's not a big deal. And the Reef, huh? The Reef. R-E-E-F. Yeah, I've seen it. Like, we'll ride my bike. Like, I've rode my bike. I've never been there. Have you ever ridden the Blue Line? Yeah. How often? I was just on it last week. But I don't do it. I mean, I do it. Do you ever come to downtown on the Blue Line? Yeah, last week I came to... To do business or just for pleasure? I came to do business last week on my... On the Blue Line? Yeah. That's awesome. I was cruising around on my bike, my little chanel-y. That's great. I mean, you're green. Well, you're brown. You're brown and down. I'm brown. I'm brown and down, but we're green. I'm brown and down. Right? We're brown and down. Right? Yeah. Like Kid Frost. Yeah. So I'll do it, like, if I know I'm just gonna go somewhere and I know I don't have to... If I'm not gonna wear heels or I'm not gonna carry a bunch of tequila on me... Right. I'll... But if you see, maybe go see someone, like... I'm just gonna go see something that's an easy appointment and I don't have to taste. Maybe one bottle or something. Yeah, something. Or my calendar. I just bring something easy, you know? But it's hard when you're... Gotta be in heels. Or you have to take a bunch of records or you're doing this and that. Yeah. Or a bunch of bottles. Or you're hitting 10... You're trying to hit 10 accounts. Yeah. I'm trying to... Or 20 or whatever. But yeah. Where's... Okay. Where's the best Mexican food in Long Beach? Los Compadres. Where's that? Boom. Anaheim and Temple. Temple. Yeah, it's by Alex's, actually. It's, like, not far from there. Good food. And I'm not talking, like... Like, in Chicago. Like, enchiladas. Enchiladas. I'm saying, like, chicken and chipotle. Or ceviche. Or, um... I don't know. Like, the chicken mole. Good? Yes. Let's get artsy. Tell me about Mola, the gallery. I go there sometimes. Yeah, I go there. Yeah? I ride my bike over there, too. It's fun. Now, it's free sometimes, right? Mm-hmm. On three-day weekday? No, like, on Sundays. On Sundays. On... On, like... I don't know. Sundays. I don't know. Like, I don't know. The first Sunday or last Sunday. Some... Something. Something. I don't know exactly. Where's the best Japanese food? I haven't found it. Not in Long Beach. Nothing? It used to be Aki's, but... Not no more. Really? Aki's is gone. Tear in my eye. I love Aki. Did you ever go to, uh, Taco Beach? Yes. You know the place? I'm behind. I was there a couple weeks ago. A couple weeks ago. Yeah. It's still there? Yeah. Man. Do you like? Yeah. I used to play there. That place was great. Like... What happened? We would play there. We would play there because we found, like, the hot secret was if you play at Taco Beach... Uh-huh. ...any night of the week, they won't pay the bands, but when you play there, they give you anything you want for free for dinner and an unlimited bar tab. Isn't that anywhere? Yeah. What? Don't they give that to you anywhere? Yeah. But, no, I'm just saying, like, when we were starting out... Uh-oh. ...it was, like, a big deal. Because, I mean, a venue, like, if you play Alex's, they're not going to give you free food. Oh, they don't have food, but... And I'm just saying... They don't give you free... Free tab, right? Yeah. But imagine... I mean, and more, but I'm just saying, like, you know, back when you started playing music... Yeah. ...you find out, oh, Taco Beach, they're really nice and they'll book you, and if they like you, you could go every month and you would play. And I remember, like, when I started my band, it's kind of... Oh. ...casually. We did a residency, like, every Tuesday night in the summer. Yeah. And, like, it was free for our friends to get in. It was totally free, so they could go see you play for free. Uh-huh. And everyone that was playing, like, you get, like, this... You know, you order anything on the menu. You get, like, free food. So you're sitting there, and you're just like, oh, I just started my band. And you're just, like, so happy to just be playing anywhere. You know what I mean? And you're, like, getting, you know, free dinner and, like, unlimited tab, and it's, like, fun. Yeah. You know, when you're green and new, that's a big deal. I wonder if they still do that. I don't know. I haven't played there. I've never even heard of bands playing there. Yeah. I don't know. I have no idea. I have no idea. What about record stores? You're a vinyl fan. Are there any record stores you like going to in Long Beach? Oh, in Long Beach. Fingerprints. Fingerprints is good. Yeah. I got a friend that works there. But I like, like, The Hunt. You know, like, the last bookstore. You go there? Fun. Yeah. Do you go there? Yeah. Yeah. I just got a gift certificate for there. Conspiracy Theory Books. I know. I love that stuff. You have bows. Chemtrails. I believe in it. What's up with Chemtrails? We'll find out. We'll find out when we come back after this music break. That's another episode. We're going to take more tequila shots, and we're going to talk about Chemtrails and organize our next episode. What is that? I don't know. Hi, this is Eddie Solis. You're listening to Los Angeles Nista on Skid Row Studios. This episode of Los Angeles Nista is brought to you by La Mascota Bakery, a family-owned business serving the community since 1952. Tamales and sweetbread, made the old-fashioned way daily. We'll see you next time. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.! Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Free friends, free Jews, free mob Free life, free friends, free Jews Free mob, free life, free friends, free Jews Free mob, free life, free friends, free Jews We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. Be courageous Isn't it wrong To not love people Isn't it wrong To have a moral purpose Isn't it wrong To hurt people Can't you see What it is to do You give me strength You don't give me fuel It's not enough To fight for what is yours You have to live You have to live And that's what's fighting for Yeah Yeah Isn't it wrong To tell a lie Isn't it wrong To cheat and steal Isn't it wrong To kiss and to dream Isn't it wrong To love people Isn't it wrong To hurt people Isn't it wrong To bleed to your face Isn't it wrong To gossip and judge Isn't it wrong To have no self-respect People have the right to have the right People have the right to have the right People have the right People have the right People have the right People have the right People have the right People have the right People have the right People have the right People have the right People have the right People have the right People have the right People have the right People have the right People have the right People have the right People have the right People have the right People have the right People have the right People have the right People have the right People have the right People have the right Welcome back to the 119th episode of Los Angeles Nista. I am the show creator, producer, and host, Eddie Solis. And this episode is brought to you by SST Records, Cruise Records, Grey Ginn Guitar School of Music, and Judy Rivera. I have a question for you. One of my advertisers is a tarot card reader. Have you ever had your cards read? No. Are you interested? Yes. The best in America. The best in all United States. Look her up on Facebook. It's Airdream, space, E-I-R-E-D-R-E-A-M, space, S-P-A-E-T-H. That's her name. She's a great illustrator and painter and a tarot card reader. She will read you over the phone and she will connect. And she will see you with her eyes just by your voice. Really? Really. I had to. Want me to send you the link? Yes. Okay. Amazing woman. Have you done it? I have. Was it interesting? It was extremely interesting. There were aliens in my room. Get out of here. Really? Terrestrials. That's rad. Super rad, right? Yeah. So we had all four of your tequilas. Yes. My personal favorite. Which is? Silver. Silver. The silver. I love silver. Really? You know, no, no, I take that back. It was the jalapeno. The one with the jalapeno. What was that called? Spicy. Oh, we call it Cino Spicy. Oh, my God. Really? You know, when I took that shot, it felt like I had a quesadilla with tons of jalapenos on it. Like I just, yeah, it warmed me up. Like I had a quesadilla with like the hot tortilla and cheese. Like just loaded, loaded with, loaded. Don't laugh. You're laughing. Come on the air. Come on. I want to hear your laugh. What was your favorite, Jenny? My favorite was the, what is it? Reposado. The regular Reposado. Yeah. Jenny Guzman, everyone. She's the soundboard operator tonight. Hello. Hello. Yeah. Yeah, no, that one was good. The jalapeno or the spicy one. I didn't really taste it. I didn't think it was that spicy. But like I was saying, my taste buds are probably bad. So. But. That one was good. Yeah. Thank you very much. So tell us about your website. Give us the website URL. Oh, sinotequila.com. Yeah. You're on Instagram. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter. And that's it. Oh, and email if you guys have any questions or anything. Contact at sinotequila.com. If you have any questions. Or I don't know. Want to collaborate. Yeah. Tell us about your next event that you will be at serving. Any special events coming up? St. Patrick's Day. Well, yeah. 420 Easter Sunday. Actually, I'm going to Mexico next week to go work on a Neho. So super excited on that. How long you got? I'm so excited. About a week. Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to take some bar owners out there. They're going to meet me down there. And I'm so excited. You know what? You should have sinotequila served at Quiet Cannon. QC's. That's wild, right? Yes. Yes. Why is it 30 bucks to get into Quiet Cannon? Are you telling me you go? I went to go see DJ Quick and Sugar Free like two years ago. Oh, my God. And because, you know, I'm into gangster shit, you know? Yeah. And I want to get my gangster on. So I was like, fuck this shit, man. 30 bucks. Yeah. I was like, I was at, I rolled up to QC with some friends. It was like night before. It was like night before, like Thanksgiving two years ago. And it was like 30, 35 bucks a head. And it was like all the Monobolo PD was there. And I was like, okay, well, it is what it is. Quiet Cannon. QC's. QC's. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for listening to Los Angeles Nista episode 119. My name is Eddie Solis. I am the show creator, producer, and host. This was a Long Beach episode with emphasis on the Metro Los Angeles blue line. And my in-studio guest, Judy Rivera of Cino Tequila. Thank you very much. Thank you. Salud. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for watching. See you next time. Bye.