Tequila is one of the most competitive categories in the spirits world with major corporations fighting to keep their share of the market. Now there is a new young, fresh, independent female led brand that is making major inroads in the industry. We spoke with Dafna Mizrahi, the CEO and Co-founder of Curamia Tequila, to learn what sets her brand apart and how she is competing with the big boys – and winning.

Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexico, Mizrahi is an established chef and restaurateur who pays homage to her Mexican roots, upbringing, and love for her home country with the launch of Curamia.

From a young age, Mizrahi showed a talent for cooking and hospitality. She cooked for every Jewish holiday with her grandmother and eventually became a food contest fixture when she won the Weber Harley Davidson National Burger Championship in South Dakota in 2014. Shortly after she made her first of many television appearances on the Food Network as a Chopped competitor in April 2015.

After acquiring extensive experience in the restaurant business Mizrahi opened her first restaurant, Monte’s Local Kitchen & Tap Room  located in Amenia, New York. She followed her dream to establish a farm to table restaurant featuring local farms and highlighting their fresh ingredients in a unique and creative manner.

Today, Mizrahi is the proud founder of Curamia Tequila in her quest to bring American consumers the highest quality, smoothest tasting tequila at an affordable price. She is doing so in a unique way, creating a company that is female founded, with an investment group composed of only women and employing over 95% women in the distillery back in Mexico.

She wants to disrupt a category long-known for being male dominated and empower women in the spirits business with the introduction of Curamia. While doing so, Mizrahi also manages other hospitality ventures including running events and catering operations at Silo Ridge, a private community in Amenia, New York.

HOMBRE: Let’s start at the beginning of the brand, how was Curamia Tequila born?
Dafna Mizrahi: I am a native of Jalisco, Mexico and moved to the US when I was twelve years old. I grew up in a Mexican Jewish household, very focused on traditions. Throughout my journey in hospitality  there was something telling me that the true Mexico wasn’t coming through here. There was a way for me to bring out the beauty of Mexico from its people, to the culture, to the food. I did a lot of projects and what I really wanted was  to bring my roots out from the Mexican side and the Jewish side …and that’s when COVID started.

Then out of the blue I get a call from a childhood friend asking if I ever thought of doing my own tequila. My gut told me yes immediately, and I would figure it out later. My next call was to Melissa (Del Savio) who is our partner. We first met ten years ago when she was showcasing a spirit and I was doing a new restaurant menu. I asked her if she ever considered doing her own tequila, knowing that she has experience in the spirits category, and she said yes.
This tequila was a way to bring authenticity, the real Mexico that I know to the States in a way that can create a change.

H: What was the inspiration for the brand?
DM: My grandmother immediately came to mind. She was the mother of seven, wife to a doctor in Mexico. Everybody knew my grandparents in their Mexican community. And they knew her as the queen of beauty. Not only because she was physically beautiful but it was more her internal spirit. I always say the way I am and the way I look at life is through the eyes of my grandma.
That started the legacy of La Mujer Mas Bella which is our slogan. The legacy is my grandma’s legacy and although she was not in the tequila business she always emphasized how important it was to stick to our roots and to share the beauty of that.

H: How did the concept of being a female led brand come about?
DM: I told Melissa that this is my grandma speaking through me, this is our story, this is our message that we want to share and we also want to go to a very male dominated category which is the spirits world. As a chef I had been in a male dominated category as well.
I said we really want to do this with people that have had an impact in our life. For her it was her mother, for me my grandmother; and my mom as well, very strong women that stood for what they wanted. I hand picked five females that have had an impact in my life and shared the project with them and they ended up joining in as investors.

H: How was it working with Melissa?
DM: Melissa had experience with the supplier side and the distributor side so she had the experience and the connections with the liquor industry in a different way than I did.
Both of us grew up being driven to success through our mothers, and we aligned in many ways. The idea of doing this fully female funded appealed to us.

H: Tell us about the process of actually developing the tequila, finding the distillery, etc
DM: The friend who initially proposed the idea already had a family relationship with a distillery. What I did was work with a tequilero until we found a recipe that we loved. For me it was finding a tequila that people don’t only associate with shots, but something that they could associate with a steak.
I wondered why in Mexico people drink tequila when having a steak but in the US it’s not that common. I wanted the highest quality, as pure as possible, no additives, a spirit people can enjoy at a reasonable price point. We have tequilas of high quality but their prices aren’t as accessible to the masses.

H: What makes Curamia different?
DM: Curamia was developed through the palate of a chef so it’s a balanced tequila and meant to be enjoyed and shared, not put behind on your top shelf. We stand behind those special moments and experiences and it comes through from the bottle to the actual juice. It’s all about the enjoyment of something. We’re friendly, we’re  approachable, we’re unique, we’re edgy, energetic, we’re female funded and founded which is also very unique.
But our flavor is based on the land and what the land has to offer. It does have a citrusy note that a lot of people enjoy. We’re as authentic as it gets.

H: What can you tell us about the journey to actually launch the brand?
DM: We launched with one market and one skew and that was on purpose. We launched in New York. The second team that we hired was the PR team of Misfit Toys and we started getting the word out and creating that storyline so people could share it.
I think that what has gotten us to be successful is being authentic and sharing something that is not just advertised by a celebrity and gotten a million views or what not. It’s to truly show who we are as people, and meeting the restaurants, meeting the stores, meeting the hotels and talking to those bartenders because to us that is what makes us unique. We’re approachable, we’re there, and we’re fully supportive of supporting each other.

H: We talked about being a female chef in the restaurant world, how is it to be a female in the spirits business?
DM: I think it’s very similar. Melissa and I had some moments where we looked at each other and understood why the person reacted the way that they did. A lot of people are not used to having a bold or strong female to stand up to. Times have changed to where we feel more on an even playing field but it’s still a very different environment. When you think of tequila you don’t think of a female so that’s the change of perception.

H: What are the expansion plans?
DM: We began in New York, our second market was Florida which we have done great with. After that it was New Jersey, then Tennessee and Georgia, after that it was Maryland, DC, and Delaware just recently. We’re about to expand to North and South Carolina. We have about 14 other states in the works. I would say that by next year we’ll be throughout the East Coast and already expanding into the West Coast.

H: What are some of your other plans with the brand?
DM: We already launched our second skew which is the Reposado, following our initial launch of the Blanco. Now we have the Cristalino and the  Añejo which will launch in 2024 as they have a two year aging period. The company continues to grow and we are very excited to start having other team members join us, meaning staffing in other states so we do have representation besides the distributor.
There is endless growth and endless potential for us.

H: What were some of the toughest challenges you faced and how did you overcome them?
DM: The toughest challenge is to educate people to a new brand because you are going up against brands that have endless pockets so the approach will be different. But again, it goes back to a personal and an authentic approach. It’s just going to take us a little longer than if we were a big funded brand but we’re doing it the right way and making sure the message is very clear.

H: What advice can you give to someone who admires your tenacity and the superb work you’re doing?
DM: I love this quote and it’s true to anything you want to do: ‘The only way to achieve the impossible is to believe it’s possible.’ And that is a strong and powerful message for anyone. To us success is measured by what your own goals and dreams are, so believe in yourself and believe in your abilities and put your best foot forward and don’t be afraid of the challenges because that’s the only way it will become reality.

H: Did you ever imagine you would be doing this?
DM: You know what, I did. I pictured myself bringing Mexico with me. I wasn’t sure it was going to be through tequila, I thought it would be through a TV show or cooking or something else. But this is much more of a true message because my grandma was the first person I ever tasted tequila with. She was the beautiful lady that we talk about and she always had a sip of tequila before her meal and that goes back to understanding that a spirit like tequila needs to be enjoyed and savored as opposed to just shots and cocktails.

H: Your grandmother was such a major influence in your life, what is the best advice she ever gave you?
DM: To be authentic. And I think right now that’s something we miss because of the many changes the world has gone through. Being authentic and being you and not letting the craziness of the world change who you are.
We all have a message and if you don’t allow yourself to be authentic that message will never be shared.