Mixing business with pleasure: A recipe for margarita success 

Chris and Elsa DeGroot hit a business milestone in 2023. Just as last year’s long, hot summer was beginning to roast Texas, their margarita mixer, Tepetán, landed on shelves in H-E-B Central Markets across the state. That raised the number of retail locations carrying their mixer, which is also shipped nationwide, to over 60 across five cities in Texas. 

For the DeGroots, both of whom are McCombs MBA gradudates (she’s ‘14, he’s ‘01), margaritas are a longtime family hobby. “We made them when we were dating. We had a margarita hour before our wedding. All family gatherings have pitchers of fresh-squeezed margaritas,” Elsa says. But the washing, slicing, squeezing, measuring, and shaking can be tedious. 

So, during the summer of 2020, with a push from the COVID-19 pandemic, they started considering a business by exploring answers to one question: Why hasn’t someone bottled a fresh margarita mix that actually tastes good? 

Chris turned the kitchen into a science lab and earned the nickname “Beaker” as he tested recipes, acidity levels, preservation processes, and packaging. In January 2021, Elsa ramped up the branding, sales, and marketing of the budding business. Four months later, they sold their first bottle. 

During their development work, the DeGroots learned that heating fruit juice to kill bacteria also destroys flavor. Their solution: treating the bottled juice to high pressure in cold water for three minutes. This cold press process preserves nutrients and the juice’s taste and color.  

The DeGroots, who have three children, now say that Tepetán is like their fourth child — always needing attention and nurturing. Tepetán comes in four flavors: The Classic (lime sour), Spa Day (cucumber mint), Don Paco (orange pineapple), and Hot Tin Roof (pineapple jalapeño).