Smarter Sipping
Your guide to smarter sipping — what to buy, why it matters, and where to start.
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The FDA permits producers to add up to 1% by volume of glycerin, oak extract, caramel color, and natural flavors without disclosing it on the label. Most popular bottles do. The tequilas below contain none of that - just agave, water, and time. Once you taste the difference, it's hard to go back.
My picks
Price and quality are barely correlated in the tequila market. El Tequileno Blanco retails for $22 and outperformed bottles four times its price in blind tastings. These bottles aren't hard to find - and they change what you reach for permanently.
My picks
Lime should amplify the tequila, not mask it. A low-quality bottle doesn't make a margarita - it makes flavored lime juice. We put together the definitive guide to the bottles worth building a cocktail around - all additive-free, all under $70.
Top picks from the guide
The blanco is where the agave speaks - no barrel aging to hide behind, no caramel color to compensate for flaws. We put together a full guide to the best blancos for cocktails: what works, what doesn't, and why the answer almost always comes down to the agave source.
Top picks from the guide
Additive-free isn't a marketing category. It's the original standard — one the industry quietly abandoned.
— Hala Shamas, Founder of Sipsy
Mezcal can be produced from over 30 varieties of agave, by families who've been doing this for generations. By Mexican law, no additives are permitted - no glycerin, no oak extract, no caramel color. It's the standard the rest of the agave spirits industry should be held to.
For a serious spirits person, skip the celebrity bottle. Limited editions, rare expressions, and bottles they'd never buy themselves - but will remember for a long time. Available for 1-hour delivery in LA, ships nationwide.
Gift picks
We'll let you know when limited bottles land. No filler.
Organic grapes, native yeast fermentation, minimal intervention, no added sulfites. No additives, no manipulated flavors, no heavy-handed oak. We rotate our wine selection with the same care we apply to spirits - only what we'd actually open at home. Same-day in LA, ships nationwide.
The Education Corner
The FDA permits producers to add up to 1% by volume of glycerin, oak extract, vanilla, caramel color, or natural flavors without any label disclosure. Additive-free bottles contain none of that — only agave, water, and the yeast used in fermentation. Every spirit we carry at Sipsy meets this standard.
No. The Tequila Regulatory Council (CRT) does not require producers to disclose additives on the label as long as they stay under 1% by weight. That means "100% agave" on the label does not mean additive-free. It's the starting point, not the finish line.
A few signs: pour a small amount in your palm and rub until dry — if your hands feel sticky, there are sweeteners or glycerin in the bottle. On the nose, additives often smell like vanilla cake, artificial fruit, or cotton candy. A clean additive-free blanco smells like cooked agave, fresh citrus, and earth. Also: if a blanco tastes unusually sweet and smooth, that's almost always additives doing the work.
To fake complexity, consistency, and barrel age — cheaply. Caramel coloring mimics years of aging. Glycerin adds artificial mouthfeel. Oak extract simulates barrel time. A distiller can make a spirit aged for months taste like an older, more expensive Añejo. It's legal, common, and never disclosed.
Tequila must be made from blue Weber agave in specific Mexican states. Mezcal can be produced from over 30 agave varieties across a broader region, often by families who have been doing it for generations. By Mexican law, mezcal cannot contain additives — no glycerin, no caramel color, no oak extract. It's the standard the rest of the industry should be held to.
Not always. Smoke comes from roasting the agave hearts in underground pits — the smokiness varies widely by producer, agave variety, and roasting method. Some mezcals are intensely smoky; others are floral, fruity, or mineral-forward with almost no smoke at all. If you've only tried one mezcal, you haven't tried mezcal.
Natural wine is produced with organic or biodynamic grapes, native yeast fermentation, minimal intervention, and little to no added sulfites. No chemical additives, no manipulated flavors, no heavy-handed oak. We rotate our wine selection with the same care we apply to spirits — only what we'd actually open at home.
Yes — Sipsy ships to over 40 states. In Los Angeles, we offer 1-hour delivery. Enter your zip code at checkout and we'll confirm availability in your area.
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