The problem with records is they are bound to be broken. Roger Maris’ record 61 home runs stood for 37 seasons before Mark McGwire came along and upped the ante. Takeru Kobayashi beat his own hot dog-eating record the year after it was set. Wednesday night, a crowd of energetic revelers converged on Taylor’s Bar and Grill with the hope of breaking a “Guinness Book” record of their own on Cinco de Mayo: The world’s largest tequila smash.
According to the July 2001 issue of Cheers magazine, Cinco de Mayo partygoers at Lulu’s Club Mardi Gras in Washington D.C. slammed a record 191 shots of tequila, setting the standard for record breakers worldwide.
In preparation for Wednesday’s record-setting attempt, Taylor’s manager Justin Walker had close to 100 bottles of tequila and a surplus of shot glasses on hand for the event.
“Trust me; we’re not running out of tequila tonight,” Walker said.
Savitri, a self-described “Freak-out funk jazz” quartet, drew the crowd within inches of the stage as the band plowed through everything from Paul Simon’s “Kodchrome” to the requisite Cinco de Mayo anthem, The Champ’s 1958 instrumental “Tequila.”
“I got my feet stepped on 18 times and I just walked in the door,” 22-year-old art major Jordan Domont said.
For one night, Taylor’s resembled a cantina, with neon beer lights and the emergency exit sign providing a discreet pink glow. No fewer than three sombreros were spotted in the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd, and by set break, it was impossible to find a surface spared from the sticky remnants of spilled Tortilla Gold. More than 200 celebrants prepared for the record-breaking moment, with Savitri guitarist Tate Peterson returning to the microphone for a quick history lesson.
“Folks, Cinco de Mayo isn’t Mexican Independence Day,” Peterson said.
Students appeared hesitant to shell out $2 for a shot, and the prospect of topping the 191 mark began to look slim. With only minutes until the 11 p.m. toast, Taylor’s owner Chuck Hare stepped onto the stage and offered to buy the final 70 shots. Naturally, the crowd responded with a triumphant roar as 195 shots of tequila were downed simultaneously, setting a new world record in Eugene.
Or, so they thought.
As it turns out, in October of 2003, students at Australia’s Macquarie University beat Eugene to the punch, drinking a whopping 1,049 simultaneous shots of Jose Cuervo tequila, a number still waiting to be verified.
So much for the “Guinness Book of World Records.”