Mexico looks to keep 'Teslaquila' off the shelf

Elon Musk is no stranger when it comes to breaking into – and upending – established industries.

Electric cars? Meet Tesla. Space travel? Rockets with the SpaceX name on them are launching from Florida, and Musk wants to use them to colonize Mars. Bad traffic around Los Angeles? Start digging a tunnel with the Boring Co. Oh, and why not make some novelty flamethrowers while you're at it?

So why not get into the business of making liquor, too? Sammy Hagar (Cabo Wabo) and George Clooney (Casamigos) have found success making tequila. Musk probably would not have much more than 20 percent stake in Tesla to get bottles on the shelves.

But the money is not enough to oversee the world of tequila: Mexico's Tequila Regulatory Council (CRT).

In case you missed it, on Oct. 12 Musk tweeted out "Teslaquila coming soon," along with what he said was a "visual approximation" of what the label would look like.

Visual approximation pic.twitter.com/sMn3Pv476Y

– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 12, 2018

The label, which includes Tesla's "T" -like logo and a couple of cool lightning bolts, purports to also be "100% puro agave," like many good tequilas.

However, Musk wants to make Teslaquila, not "tequila."

Still, it's hard to think of tequila when you hear the name Teslaquila. And that bothers the CRT.

One of the responsibilities of the CRT is tequila a tequila tequila tequila a tequila. It must be made in one of five Mexican states – Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacan, Nayarit or Tamaulipas – in order for the producer to use the word tequila in marketing the spirit. The CRT also says Teslaquila evokes the name tequila, which is a protected word; as such, it could be construed as tequila by consumers when it really is not tequila.