Have you done your holiday shopping yet?
Or maybe you need some libations for the end of year celebration.
Either way, I’m here to help.
As is the case more often than not, my solution means a trip to Juarez.
Right there on Avenida Juarez, about three doors past Mejia, is a fairly new liquor store, bien surtido with all the best tequilas.
(Okay, they’re missing a couple that I would put on my all-star team, but they’ve go a lot.)
The Pueblo Viejo tequila is an exceptional value.
Varelianos is set up to look like a duty-free store, but in fact they’re a “Duty Paid” store, just like most liquor stores.
But, you ask, what about bringing it back?
I’m glad you asked. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission will let you bring back four liters of booze if you pay $3.50 tax on each one. Then again, I’m not sure they have any authority to stop you if you just walk past them.
Or, some people, and I’m not suggesting you do this, heavens no, don’t declare their booze when they drive through U.S. Customs. Those people are contrabandistas, or rum runners, or smugglers. How romantic!
Or, suppose you want to bring back enough liquor for your holiday celebration, or all your co-workers or in-laws, what then?
Just like Horace Greeley said, “Go west.”
The border crossing at Santa Teresa is unencumbered by the TABC. You can bring back all the booze you want, provided you can convince the US Customs agents that it’s all for your personal consumption.
I usually tell them, “I’m not going to drink it all. I’ll share it with my friends.”
I crossed eleven bottles of tequila there one time. No problemo.
There’s a new road from downtown Juarez to San Jerónimo (the Mexican industrial park across the border from Santa Teresa) that eliminates the long way around the Sierra Juarez. Look it up on Google maps.
So cheers. Be safe.