This Is the Rock's Favorite Way to Drink Tequila

In the year and a half since Dwayne Johnson launched his tequila brand, Teremana, he has learned a lot—including the best foods to pair it with.

By

Nina Friend

Published on September 2, 2021

In March 2020, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's tequila brand, Teremana, was supposed to launch with a full-scale marketing campaign. But when the pandemic hit, Johnson decided to take a different approach. He started hosting "Teremana Tuesdays" on Instagram Live, addressing the isolation that everyone was feeling in the early days of the pandemic.

He'd make margaritas, answer questions, and talk about silver linings amid a confusing time. "I did that every week and developed a real connection with the consumers," Johnson said. His unique style paid off: By the end of 2020, Teremana had sold 300 cases of tequila—a record-breaking amount of sales in comparison to any other spirit in its first year of business.

"I'm really grateful that consumers didn't only trust the new brand, but they all made a point of sending in these videos of themselves enjoying Teremana," he said. "It became this really unique experience with a tequila."

While Teremana has been 10 years in the making, it wasn't until five years ago that Johnson connected with a family-owned distillery in the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico. Together, they built a new distillery exclusively for Teremana, and 113 distillations of Teremana Blanco were created before Johnson was satisfied. "I wanted to make sure that I went into the venture with respect and reverence to the culture," he said.

WATCH: The Rock taste tequila with F&W executive wine editor Ray Isle.

As for what to eat with Teremana, Johnson said, "It goes with everything." Sometimes he'll add a splash to oatmeal with some maple syrup and brown sugar, or make coconut chips with Teremana-soaked coconut shavings.

And he even likes to drink a glass with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But Johnson has a self-proclaimed "pretty sizeable sweet tooth," so his all-time favorite pairing? Teremana on ice with warm chocolate chip cookies.

In naming Teremana, Johnson combined two words: a derivation of the Latin word "terra," or earth, and the Polynesian word "mana," meaning spiritual energy. Johnson also created another word, "TIJASI," and etched it into the bottom of each Teremana bottle. TIJASI pulls the first two letters of Johnson's three daughters' first names: Tiana, Jasmine, and Simone. He said, "There's a legacy component to this."

While Johnson is focused on tequila right now (Teremana currently offers a blanco and a reposado, with an añejo launching in fall 2021), he alluded to plans for other spirits down the line. "I'll just say that in my house, we grew up with tequila and whiskey, and I've made a tequila."