Meet Serita Braxton, a Black woman entrepreneur who has started her own premium tequila brand
Monita Tequila is a line of premier tequila that Serita launched to show her love of Mexican cocktails and margaritas.
The Maryland-born entrepreneur worked with spirits while she was in Washington DC.
There, she frequented various Mexican eateries on dates, and she grew interested in tequilas and margaritas.
With her friends, she started an almost-weekly tradition of going out to drink margaritas and tacos for Taco Tuesdays at various restaurants in Washington DC.
Eventually, she eventually convinced her mother to tag along. Her mom wasn’t a fan of liquor of any kind. However, once she had a taste of margaritas, she became a fan.
The two would go out to dinner, have some margaritas, and tell each other about their days. Regardless of how much pressure they had faced that day or week, they would leave the restaurants with smiles on their faces.
Combining these small but meaningful moments and her love for simple tequila-based cocktails, Braxton got the idea of founding a Black female-owned tequila brand.
She named the brand after her mother, Monita. Braxton’s mother inspired her to always work towards her dreams. She wanted to embody her mom’s essence in the brand.
Braxton hopes that the drink will help friends to make margaritas at home, help bartenders to shake their own cocktails, or help parents to relax with a drink after a long day dealing with life’s constant issues.
Her mother’s presence was long-lasting and warm, and she wants to share these qualities through the brand.
Braxton is currently residing in Tenerife, within the Canary Islands. It’s from here that she’s launching her brand.
She found herself here after a trip to Ghana that didn’t go as planned. On her last night on the island, she sat on the beach looking at the sunset and realized that this was the place she had been looking for.
Of course, starting a premier spirit brand is nowhere near affordable. So, in addition to using her own funds, Braxton is hoping to supplement the remaining costs through crowdfunding.
She has a page on Kickstarter that, with sufficient funding, will allow her to get the licenses she needs to start running her business.
Funding will also help her to bottle, distribute and market the brand. She is offering backers incentives like limited edition t-shirts and even shot glasses.
Production will begin with a Blanco tequila. With time, however, she hopes to expand to Anejo, Reposado, Agave, and more.
In the long-term, if Monita Tequila becomes successful, Braxton hopes to launch an accompanying Mexican food service; there are very few good Mexican restaurants in Europe.
This is an ambitious goal and one we hope Braxton achieves. It’s about time we got a Black female-owned premier tequila brand, after all.
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