Luisito Comunica Visits Dallas: We Chat About His New Tequila and Take Shots

On a hot August night, Dallas’ Mexican Sugar is packed to the brim. Fans, influencers and content creators are eager to meet social media sensation Luisito Comunica. Known for his YouTube videos documenting his travels across the world, Comunica has amassed over 45 million followers on the platform, making him its second-most followed Mexican creator. With a friendly spirit and overall festive energy, Comunica has formed bonds with viewers as he immerses himself in the culture of each city he visits.

At the time of our conversation, he was in Dallas for the U.S. rollout of his new tequila brand Gran Malo. He kicked off festivities at the Mexican Sugar party, while fans chanted “Luisito! Luisito! Luisito!” as he stepped off an elevator.

But hours before the party, we met Comunica in the lobby of the Marriott Dallas Uptown. He had spent the day visiting the liquor stores—Total Wine, Spec’s, and Costco—where Gran Malo is to be sold.

Comunica originally launched Gran Malo in 2021. The idea was conceived during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when liquor sales were on the rise.

“In Mexico, we noticed that alcohols with flavor were having a big sales [moment],” Comunica says. “They were positioning themselves in the charts. But some of them weren't even drinks that Mexicans usually drink. For example, whiskey, gin, vodka — but we noticed that they were positioning themselves because of the flavor.
So that's when we said ‘OK, let's do tequila. It’s what the Mexicans drink the most. So let's do tequila with flavor. That sounds like a banger combination.”

Gran Malo is a smooth sip, best served cold. The spirit is flavored with tamarind. During the launch party, guests enjoyed classic cocktails like a Paloma, a Michelada and a margarita. But in true Mexican spirits, the shots kept coming out all night.

Each bottle is distilled in the Tequila region of Jalisco, Mexico, and runs shoppers about $20, which Comunica was intentional about, “even though it looks so fancy and cool.”

Comunica is rolling out Gran Malo’s U.S. launch slowly, as he likes to get well acquainted with each city he visits. At the time of our conversation, Gran Malo was arriving at stores in Texas, Florida, New Mexico, California, Arizona and Nevada. But for Comunica, this is only the beginning of a global takeover.

“I would like to keep on transitioning up north of the country,” says Comunica. “And at the same time, maybe to Colombia or more of South America. I think that would be a banger. I would love to see Gran Malo everywhere — like, you go to a hotel, you go to a bar, you go to an airport, and there's Gran Malo. But it's a very hard process, so little-by-little.”

Though getting Gran Malo on U.S. shelves has been the biggest challenge of Comunica’s career thus far, keeping up with a rapidly evolving social media landscape has proven to keep him on his toes just as much. “Every two years, we have, like, a new social network,” he says, “and you have to invest time in that, and also invest resources.”

But to optimize the process of sharing content to YouTube, Instagram Reels, and TikTok, he’ll upload his videos to YouTube first and foremost, then cut the footage and reformat various clips to a vertical screen, allowing for soundbites and meme action.

“I've always been a social media guy,” says Comunica.
”And it's cool that I've been able to build an audience in many places without the need of a middleman. Through social media, I've been able to grow an audience in different states of the US.”

Though Comunica’s audience is primarily Spanish speaking, he is proudest when he can unite people from all walks of life.

“Whenever I see someone post a photo, like ‘You know, we're chilling here, having a drink,’ and the family comes together — or the posts of people saying ‘It's your birthday, so I brought you this bottle all the way from Mexico,’ or well, now Texas or California—It's very rewarding to see people like it, even in places that don’t sell it.”