Category Archives: welcome

new logo

14 Thursday Dec 2023

Posted by in sevilla, social media, spain, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours, welcome

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sevilla tapas logo

Well… I say new. To be honest I’ve never actually had a proper logo for the Sevilla Tapas food tours, though I’ve used various orange-themed images over the years over all my messy websites. This was a team effort with my friend Paul who, back in August, also helped me turn my hot mess of websites into a manageable dishevelment. And so this week Paul fine-tuned the basic logo concept I came up with and then properly vectored it for me.

The “problem” I have with my “brand” is that I am both Azahar Sevilla and Sevilla Tapas and they are kind of one overlapping brand with different… um, thingys going on. But probably people know me more as Sevilla Tapas. So after I saw that jerkoff using Sevilla Tapas Tour on his social media I decided to take a stand and reboot Sevilla Tapas Tours, an account I set up years ago (2013) in case anyone tried to use my name. In hindsight I should have also set up Sevilla Tapas Tour but whatever. Anyhow I’m a bit in transition at the moment so you may see some changes coming up for 2024. At least I hope so!

latin grammy fever

16 Thursday Nov 2023

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latin grammy (1)

The Latin Grammy Awards are being held in Sevilla TODAY and I’m even more clueless about who anyone is than I have been over the past twenty years when the other Grammy Awards have been presented. Aside from the old-timers “Hall of Fame” entries, or the “the ones that died” homage I have no idea who most of the grammy artists are anymore. Which is then multiplied by LOTS when it’s a specific Grammy celebration here because I have not listened to music on Spanish radio since 1993 (when I stopped listening to commercial radio in general).

But, it’s still fun to watch all the excitement. Two 5-star hotels near my house have had a steady crowd of fans waiting outside hoping for a glimpse of their idols. Meanwhile, last night I found out by accident who Danny Ocean is because he had been in one of my all-time favourite tapas bars Casa Morales and left this chalk-written memento on one of their magnificent tinajas, quoting the title of his latest song.

latin grammy (2)

on being a sherry educator

16 Monday Oct 2023

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sherry educator 8th anniversary

Eight years ago today I became a Certified Sherry Educator. Since then I have been spreading the sherry gospel far and wide via my Sherry & Tapas Tours and Sherry Tastings and, well, basically anytime anyone wants to listen (and taste). So even on my tapas tours that aren’t specifically focused on sherry, somehow I always manage to slip in a glass or two and some background info. Because while almost everyone has heard of sherry, very few actually know much about it.

It’s been a long and delicious journey since first falling down the “sherry rabbit hole” one day in May 2013 when I asked Rafa, my favourite barman at Las Teresas, for a sherry to pair with my tapa and he hauled out a bottle of VORS Palo Cortado by Bodegas Tradición from behind the bar and said… “have you tried this???”… and then my life changed. Because I had no idea that sherry could be THAT and from that moment on I vowed to find out more about this amazing wine.

That summer I went to the three towns in the Triangle (Jerez, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, El Puerto de Santa María) and visited as many bodegas as I could, I lost count after fifteen. And omg, the welcome I received was amazing. When I got in touch and said I wanted to expand my Sevilla Tapas Tours to include a Sherry & Tapas Tour people were so generous and helpful. I found myself invited on private tours with the owners of small boutique wineries as well as being given the VIP treatment at the larger producers.

Because this is the thing. The sherry community is like a family and I think remains so even these days, even after last year’s expansion of the “Triangle” to include six more sherry making towns. What still exists is the passion and pride in what they are producing, sometimes going back many generations. And even now, with the expansion and with younger producers coming up with their own take on what sherry used to be, and introducing still wines from the same grapes that are totally terroir driven. It’s really an exciting time right now and I can’t wait to see what is going to happen next.