Roca On The Rails Pulls Into Union Station

One of the perks to living in Washington, D.C., is the amount of social events – some open to the public and others limited to an exclusive guest list – being held on any given night. Recently, we were invited to Patron’s rollout of its new line of premium tequila, Roca Patron, which was billed to be a classy cocktail party.

Liquor companies are prone to offer somewhat frequent tastings of their higher-end products in an effort to increase their customer base. These events usually occur at bars or restaurants that treat the experience as an opportunity to showcase the complexities of the products on offer. In this case, we knew something was different when we saw the location: Union Station. Home to trains, buses and a metro stop, this busy 107-year-old building seemed like an odd choice for a tasting event. The day before the event, Patron revealed the exact location of the event: a platform number.

Once I arrived on the platform at the start of the event, the location suddenly made sense. Patron had converted a train into their own Tequila Express. The outside and interior of the train car were ornately decorated in an art deco design. Business casual attire was requested, so between the train’s vintage appearance, the scene seemed straight out of a Gatsby party. Space was tight inside, so every 15-20 minutes attendees would be ushered to a new room to to keep the crowd moving so everyone had the opportunity to fully experience what the Tequila Express had to offer. (It seemed like only 35-40 people were allowed onboard at any given time, while the total number of invitees were around 100.)

A seemingly endless supply of elaborate finger food and artisanal cocktails prepared with Roca Patron were handed out inside the train. Since alcohol was not permitted outside the train, attendees milled about, eager to rotate back aboard once a group exited. The food made its way outside, but the real draw of the event was the tequila – why else attend a Patron-hosted party? The one thing missing was music. Without a soundtrack to overpower conversation, it actually seemed to encourage strangers to converse with one another; a refreshing change of pace versus most social events.

After a few hours, the crowd dispersed and the event staff began cleaning up the inside of the train, grabbing empty mason jars and discarding napkins and random refuse. Soon, the interior of the Tequila Express was returned to the spotless appearance it held at the beginning of the night. The next day, they traveled to another city on their Roca Patron tour to pour fresh cocktails for a new crowd.

Disclosure: We received a free invitation to this event but received no monetary compensation in exchange for sharing our experience. All thoughts and opinions are entirely our own. Roca is a great addition to Patron’s already solid line of tequila and we would absolutely recommend trying it!