It is not every day that an authentic, made-in-Mexico tequila with Hawaii ties comes to market, but by midmonth such a day will have arrived.

Kapena Tequila is 100 percent agave tequila, made with blue Weber agave plants grown in the Los Altos region of Mexico’s Jalisco state.

“If we could have, we would have made the tequila in Hawaii,” said strategic consultant Travis Watanabe, the local partner in Seattle-based Goto Imports, Kapena Tequila’s parent company.

However, if tequila is not made in Mexico, it is not truly tequila.

From there it is infused with “li hing mui sourced in Hawaii,” Watanabe said.

The partners all “love the local flavor” of li hing, and for one, tequila is his spirit of choice, so the plan was hatched to come up with an infused flavor of tequila.

Watanabe describes Kapena, which translates to “captain” in Hawaiian, as a local brand. The partners want to launch it out of Hawaii, he said.

The artwork on the label depicts a double-hulled Polynesian-style voyaging canoe. Given the “rich history and culture” of Polynesian voyaging, “we thought of aligning with that; that’s part of our branding,” Watanabe said.

Kapena Tequila is crafted to go way beyond your brother’s or cousin’s gallon jug of cheap tequila with a handful of store-bought li hing mui thrown in and aged in the bedroom closet or carport.

Kapena “is premium tequila,” which starts with a silver tequila base, Watanabe said.

“A lot of time and patience went into choosing the right li hing mui and how long it needs to infuse,” he said, as well as determining whether the flavor profile will change over time.

“We finally found the right one with this product,” Watanabe said. “It’s really consistent. Every bottle tastes the same.”

You will find something in the bottom of each bottle of Kapena Tequila, but not a worm. First of all (and this is a controversial and arguable subject): Most if not all tequila snobs, er, aficionados will tell you that it is never premium tequila that contains a worm (“gusano rojo”) at the bottom, but mezcal. Mezcal is not tequila.

So there. Harrumph.

Kapena Tequila has six li hing mui seeds rolling around the bottom of each artisanal glass bottle.

“The flavor of li hing is exclusively from the infusion of the insertion of li hing seeds into the bottle,” Watanabe said.

The partners are “super excited to be finally launching our product,” partner Mike Goto said via email.

“We have agreed to an exclusive retail agreement with Tamura’s,” Goto said, adding that the product should be available in Tamura’s Fine Wine & Liquors locations on Oahu and Maui by the middle of the month.

For those wary of buying a whole bottle without having sampled a taste, Kapena Tequila also will be available at a handful of local bars and restaurants to start, including Bar Leather Apron, Square Barrels and Lucky Belly, with additional outlets planned, Watanabe said.

Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com, or on Twitter as @erikaengle.