Spirits of Mexico Tequila Trail 2013 Review Part 2 of 2

And the Tequila Trail continues from part 1!

Inside the Cosmopolitan Hotel bar area, they were serving El Jimador, which actually did well in the competition in previous years. It's funny that once you learn about something, all of a sudden it's everywhere! I've been noticing this brand in the stores ever since last year!

Outside in the farther patio seating area, they had Aztec Brewing Company beer with different varieties like El Dorado, Agave Wheat and Amber Ale. Not scary at all since we already took the 'tequila beer' plunge earlier in the night! Everything we've tasted so far has been pretty good.

The Cosmopolitan Restaurant served fried chicken and churros. The chicken was very good but the churros were a bit stiffer for my taste. Best when served very fresh!

Back at Barra Barra Saloon again, we were once again able to sample Muerto tequila, which won some awards last year in the festival. It's still one that I remember and wouldn't mind drinking again!

Barra Barra Saloon served Chicken Mole this year which was delicious and succulent and topped with sesame seeds, peanuts and sour cream! The mole spices were perfect with a tiny kick at the end. Even the rice was savory and good on its own. Another one of our favorites foods of the night. We really do have to eat here outside of festivals and events!

In the Fiesta de Reyes area, there was live entertainment throughout the night provided by Los Rios!

On one side of the Fiesta de Reyes plaza, we found another tequila infused beer. This time I sampled the Aztec Brewing Company's Hibiscus Wheat which I thought was light and easy to drink. There was also one other beer sampled which was a dark one whose name I didn't catch...

On the other side of Fiesta de Reyes plaza was Altos Tequila. We thought both was relatively smooth. They only have a silver and resposado now but hope to have a anejo version soon. This company is also newer to the area, maybe something like 10 months or so?

Casa de Reyes was serving Chili Colorado which was an excellent sampler. It reminded us of vietnamese beef stew with the richness of the sauce. I can happily gobble this down anytime!

At La Pinata, we found Don Weber Tequila. This brand has the super aged special anejo which was the best of the bunch but even the anejo had a little burn in the throat for us.

La pinata had flautas and chips to snack on. Dennis and I both really enjoyed the flautas, with the softer but firm outsides and tender meats inside. We preferred the chicken over the beef. They also had apple flautas but I didn't try it since we were getting very full at this point!

At Casa Guadalajara the Dos Armadillos brand was shown off. They have very unique bottles and even a few special edition colorful ones that can be seen on the museum shelf further down. Dennis actually preferred the anejo over the special anejo!

The lovely Dos Armadillos Tequila ambassadors

At Casa Guadalajara, the chicken was better than carnitas taco but what really threw me off was the stiff and almost dried out corn tortillas. I actually ate here earlier the same day for the restaurant week $10 lunch menu and thought that the grilled fish tacos were just so-so as well. A couple of my friends rave about this place but I must be missing the dish that they have in mind!

The Art of Tequila Exhibition was open for viewing and focused on Mexican iconography as represented on and within tequila bottles. Above are two of the huge displays featuring tequila bottles.

There were a couple other neat tequila bottles in the middle as seen above. There was even art brought in from the artists of the mexican influenced murals around San Diego!

The owner of the museum was also the artist for this beautiful spirits of mexico painting (inside) and some limited poster prints were passed out commemorating this masterpiece. It's quite beautiful really.

Overall, we definitely enjoyed attending this event again and recommend it to anyone who appreciates both food and tequila. And if you want even more tequila tasting, the MAIN EVENT may be for you since all the vendors in the competition will be showcasing and sampling their tequilas! We attended that event too and it was also fabulous!

Disclaimer: we were provided tickets for this event but the opinions are strictly our own