A new woman-led tequila brand is making its pitch to California's restaurant and hotel buyers with a sculptural all-glass seashell bottle and a smoothness-forward Blanco positioned to convert consumers who claim they don't drink tequila.
PLAYA DIA, co-founded by Rachel Forbes and Dennis Cisterna and headquartered in Newport Beach, launched this month with a 750ml Blanco crafted from 100% Blue Weber Agave in Jalisco, Mexico, bottled at 40% ABV. The formulation uses three ingredients — agave, water, and yeast — and is marketed under a "ZERO BURN" platform designed to broaden the spirit's appeal beyond dedicated tequila drinkers.
"Why does tequila have to burn? It doesn't," said Rachel Forbes, Founder and CEO. "I wanted PLAYA DIA to be the tequila you pour for someone who already loves tequila, and for the person who says they don't drink it because of the burn."
On-Premise Strategy
Forbes is personally leading the Orange County retail and on-premise rollout, introducing the brand to restaurants, hotels, and specialty retailers — a grassroots approach that reflects how many emerging premium spirits build early velocity in the hospitality channel before scaling distribution. The brand is simultaneously available through its own e-commerce site with delivery to 45 states, giving it national reach from day one without waiting on traditional three-tier distribution to expand.
For beverage directors and bar managers evaluating the crowded premium tequila segment, the bottle itself is part of the proposition. The seashell form — a white sculptural piece accented with turquoise rope and coastal design details — is built to stand out on a back bar or display shelf. PLAYA DIA also offers a luxury keepsake presentation box aimed at gifting, celebrations, and hospitality amenity programs, a format that has proven effective for premium spirits brands targeting hotel and resort F&B accounts.
Lifestyle Angle for Hospitality
The founders' background in travel and experiential hospitality shapes the brand's positioning. Forbes and Cisterna developed the concept after repeatedly noticing a gap between the quality of settings — high-end hotels, coastal resorts — and the tequila programs those venues offered. That insight aligns with a broader trend in premium spirits and beverage program development, where operators increasingly seek products whose story and design reinforce the experience they're selling guests.
Beyond the liquid, PLAYA DIA is building a lifestyle collection — hats, apparel, tote bags, and pet accessories — inspired by resort culture. For hospitality operators, branded merchandise extensions can open co-marketing opportunities, particularly at boutique hotels and resort properties where curated retail has become part of the guest experience.
The brand is founder-owned and woman-led through Reign Global Investments, LLC, with Forbes as CEO and controlling owner. As coverage from Food & Beverage Magazine has tracked, founder-led spirits brands with strong visual identities have found receptive audiences in the premium on-premise channel, where back-bar storytelling matters as much as price point.
For operators exploring craft and premium spirits additions to beverage programming, PLAYA DIA represents the type of differentiated SKU — distinctive package, smooth profile, broad consumer appeal — that can anchor a cocktail menu section or serve as a signature ingredient in a resort's branded cocktail program.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
