tequilla and vanilla

We'll be in Costa Maya, Belize, Roatan and Cozumel and want some tips on buying tequilla and vanilla. Best brands? Best prices? Thanks.

Hi. Coz is a great place to buy both! Be sure you get your vanilla in glass bottles--not plastic. The vanilla will loose flavor in plastic.

As for the tequilla, there is a store on the waterfront -- can't remember the name, but you'll know it when you see it--that has a HUGE selection of tequilla. It is open to the street has a long bar where you get to taste as many as you like. We like Patron, but there are lots of good ones--just don't bring home Jose Cuervo!! Marti

my favorite brand of vanilla from the area is Azteca. there's basically two things youw ant to look for, one that it contains no coumarin, and two that vanilla bean is the first ingredient listed on the label.

now tequila suggestions, depends on what you are looking for. Something for shooting, mixing, sipping or dessert?

Hi. Coz is a great place to buy both! Be sure you get your vanilla in glass bottles--not plastic. The vanilla will loose flavor in plastic.

 

As for the tequilla, there is a store on the waterfront -- can't remember the name, but you'll know it when you see it--that has a HUGE selection of tequilla. It is open to the street has a long bar where you get to taste as many as you like. We like Patron, but there are lots of good ones--just don't bring home Jose Cuervo!! Marti

Los Cinco Sols? Thats where I bought my Tequila last time there. According to some local sources, there are some cheaper places to buy Tequila several blocks inland from the pier area, which makes sense. Covi Liquor (on 30, across from San Francisco), is one...

Other things I've "heard"

Cinco Sol's has a keg of their private brand that the give free samples of. There's hardly ever anyone around it so you can "sample" all you want. The told me it was from Roo but Im not sure where. Of course they also sell it.

Another liquor to look for is "Bacardi's Dark Anejo"

We, too, have found that the lowest prices are at Covi on 30th, but Cinco Soles on the malecón is a good place to taste a tequila before you buy. Prices for the better tequilas are about the same or perhaps slightly higher than the States. Don Julio Anejo this past summer was running around $45 a bottle at Covi. Our favorite, Don Eduardo, was a few dollars less. Both Don Eduardo and Don Julio are so smooth that you really don't even need the lime. Tres Generaciónes and Patrón are also good. If you can find Milagro (about $35 in the States), it is a smooth tequila for a little bit less. There is also a tequila liqueur called Agavero(a?) that you might want to taste while you are at Cinco Soles.