When times are good, people drink. When times are bad, people drink.
Rande Gerber
When we were younger, but still of legal drinking age, it would be things like Goldschlager or peppermint schnapps. Things like that are not something I ever enjoyed.
We made Casamigos just for us to drink. Four years later when, you know, we're offered a billion dollars to sell the company, yeah, we were kind of shocked.
I'm usually up until around 1 A.M. or 2 A.M. I don't get much sleep - and I prefer it that way, writing notes and coming up with different ideas for two to three hours between 11 P.M. and 1 A.M. or 2 A.M.
I thought I wanted to work in music production for a while. I worked for a film producer. Then I was given the opportunity to open a bar in New York. So, I was like, 'You know what, I'm going to give it a shot.'
Pour two parts mix and you throw in one part tequila, some Don Julio, which is my favorite, shake it up a couple times. There's a perfect margarita.
Nothing says the party is over more than when you run out of ice.
My favorite website is The Daily Beast, and I also like 1stdibs.com, where I'll browse for great rugs or classic furniture.
I don't love mixed drinks.
None of our bars smell like a bar at all - that's our number one rule - and we use certain scented candles and certain types of incense in order to give our bars a specific feel and ambiance.
You'll get the maximum potential out of everyone on your team when you create harmony, when you treat each employee well.
Always be interested in what's happening with other people.
When I interview someone, I want to find out about their life, get a sense of their personality, their passion. Maybe I'm hiring for a certain job, but even if your job is marketing, I'm going to ask you for your opinion on other things - taste this, what do you think of this bottle?
When I was in the restaurant and bar business, I followed a rule, which was that the places that I opened were places that I wanted to go to.
I travel light, but always with three key things: Passport, cash and iPod. The latter is perhaps the most key - it keeps me going at the gym or on the plane; I listen to everything from rock to country to blues.
Attention from the photographers is part of my life and I think the best thing is to learn to deal with it.
When I get dressed, I do wear Armani.
I play a little but also like to keep the guitars around for when friends come over.
My wife is great at giving input for my projects. She's good at naming places, she has pretty good taste in music, and as a model, of course, she's excellent when it comes to lighting.
I had long, blond, wavy hair.
I don't give my employees hours - some of them come in at 7 A.M., some at 10 A.M., some stay until 6 P.M. or midnight. They have that freedom to come and go as they wish, although they all put in more hours than your 9 to 5.
On weekends we try and stay around the house, have a BBQ, have friends over.
My mind starts to work creatively past 10 P.M. or 11 P.M. - all of a sudden there's silence and my head starts going.
It's always nice to get fresh flowers.
I don't want to be stuffing my face at a party - I just want to talk and socialize.
I love blues, mellow rock 'n' roll.
It's nice to be able to have a conversation with someone and know there's nothing they can gain from me, nothing I'm looking for from them.
Real entertainers love to entertain.
A lot of people go into the bar and nightclub business thinking: 'Hey, we can make money for a year or two, close and then open again,' but for me, it's always been a business and it's always been about longevity.
Oh, the secret of a great club is all in the detail. When I walk into one of my bars, I have to have all my napkins a certain way and all the pourers in the bottles facing a certain way. It drives some people crazy, but I figure if I notice something's off, then other people will notice it, too.
I like to adapt to each city. I like to come up with a concept for each space I do. The vibe in L.A. is a little sexier than New York, so the colors are a little different.
Casa amigos means house of friends and that's how we work. We have lunch together every day; a couple of times a week we have drinks. There are no assigned desks - everyone just moves around. It's very social and creative.
I'd only been to Studio 54 a couple of times, when I was 16.
I wasn't a party boy.
I was always a design junkie.
We own a proprietary recipe for Casamigos Tequila that can't be duplicated.
Our rum, Caliche - I call it Cali - is a blend of three-, four- and five-year rums: It took us about three years to find the perfect blend.
Big cubes, small cubes - it's all ice. I'm not that fancy.
My favorite hotels are anything Aman, because their properties are always so beautiful.
Wherever I travel, I always head for a drink at the hotel bar as soon as I arrive. Not only is it a great way to relax, but it's a fantastic way to feel the pulse of a city.
I've hired people I've met at parties and other events, and I've hired a lot of people right out of college. It's really based on personality as opposed to experience.
I know what I know and I also know what I don't know, and I make sure I hire the right people who can teach me.
To me, it's important, always in life, to never wonder what would've happened if I only tried something.
There's nothing like driving a Corvette.
I do have the most beautiful wife in the entire world.
I want to be unique and original and truthful.
I have to be proud of what I'm doing. When I created Caliche, it was something I really wanted to drink and that I wanted my friends to think is the best.
There are so many things I love about he. She's still a small town girl at heart. The most important thing to Cindy is her family and making sure that we're all happy. She's so low-key despite her high-profile position. She's someone who constantly gives back, who does so many things for so many people without asking for anything in return.
Around 16 I began going out with friends to the city. That's where the action was. We would go to this place on Times Square - real shifty - and get fake IDs made up.
Studio 54 was the place you could never get into. Of course, the place you can't get into is the place everyone is trying to get into.
