, which grows in Mexico but is also abundant in Arizona, New Mexico and West Texas. The founders of La Pulga will distill their sotol in Fort Worth, not Mexico. They’re one of only a few distilleries in Texas doing so,Sotol has a shared heritage between Mexico and Texas, the co-founders of La Pulga say, so perhaps as a symbol, La Pulga’s head of spirits plans to make batches of sotol using plants from Mexico and the U.S.
De la Torre has managed the flea market for 12 years. Slaughter is a real estate developer. Castillo created Fort Worth restaurant/bars Tacoheads, Tinies Mexican Cuisine and Sidesaddle Saloon. The three La Pulga founders bought nearly 12 acres of land in 2021, with plans to preserve the Mexican flea market and expand sotol’s presence in Texas.Tequila was a natural place to start, they say.
“There are a lot of people doing tequila right now,” Castillo says. She ticks off the celebrities involved in tequila brands: Casamigos from George Clooney, Teremana from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Flecha Azul from Mark Wahlberg, Casa Del Sol from Eva Longoria, Cabo Wabo from Sammy Hagar, and Santo, Hagar’s newer tequila part-owned by Guy Fieri.“There’s a big business benefit to having a large celebrity attached to your brand,” Castillo says. But it isn’t the La Pulga way.