The world of tequila-making has long been dominated by men, referred to as maestro tequileros: a master of tequila.

Coming in at a time when the representation is needed, Bertha González Nieves of Mexico has become the world’s first woman tequila maker, a maestra tequilera, as confirmed by the Academia Mexicana de Catadores de Tequila.

Nieves is the co-founder of Casa Dragones. Casa Dragones is a small-batch tequila company offering beverages such as their Casa Dragones Joven sipping tequila.

Casa Dragones was founded in 2009. Since, Nieves has considered her tequila company from the perspective of an art curator.

In producing their signed and numbered crystal bottles, Casa Dragones took inspiration from traditional Mexican pepita hand engraving.

The pepita engraving technique employs aluminum oxide grinding stones or wheels, in application to a grinding machine, which produces manually-carved pepita-like shapes on the glass.

It’s no surprise Nieves sought a marriage between art and tequila, as the maestra tequilera also houses a growing art collection in her Mexico City home. The collection places particular emphasis on Mexican Art.

In her home collection are artists Sam Moyer, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Gabriel Orozco, Hayley Hudson, Carlos Amorales, Pedro Friedeberg, Gardar Eide Einarsson, and Elisa Sighicelli.

Work by Dr. Lakra, an Oaxaca-based tattooist and artist, has also made its way into Nieves’ collection.

In conversation with Art Net, Nieves named Frida Kahlo as the most important female Latin American artist in our history, a vital feminist icon, and someone she wishes she could have known.

Further exploring her career, Nieves also serves on both the board of the Judd Foundation and the executive council at the Museum of Food and Drink. 

She was also once involved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art‘s Latin American Art Initiative.

Casa Dragones currently offers their products for sale on their website.