Tequila is a spirit made from blue agave, a cactus-like plant from Jalisco, Mexico. This highly sugary plant makes it ideal for the preparation of alcoholic beverages. The Mexican government enforced laws that only allow tequila to be produced in the state of Jalisco and a few surrounding regions. The alcohol is sad to be discovered when the conquistadores settled in Mexico. Once they ran out of their own brandy, they introduced the distillation process to the region and started distilling agave to produce pulco in order to make pulco wine. This product eventually evolved into what people today call tequila.
About tequila
The two main categories of tequila are « 100% agave » and «mixtos». The term tequila is protected and may only being used on the product label if it is produced in specific regions of Mexico and contains at least 51 percent of agave. The United States was by far the largest consumer, followed by important markets such as Germany and France. Here is a list with a quick description of the different kinds of tequila:
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Blanco: this is the basic product as it is bottled shortly after distillation and is not aged in oak
barrels. Blanco’s have the real original agave taste.
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Oro: this is the basic tequila, where savours were added to give it different tastes. It has a yellow colour and is not 100% agave.
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Reposado: this version is aged in oak barrels between two months and one year. The barrels give the tequila a softer taste and a pale yellow colour
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Añejo: the tequila is aged in oak barrels (maximum 600 litre volume) but for over a year. It has an amber colour with an oaky taste as the oxidation that happened with the wood gives it a unique mix of savours and perfumes.
To produce tequila, 4 steps are needed. First of all, the producers either buy or grow the agave, with the latter being better for quality control. Secondly, the plant is cut into pieces and put into a large brick or cement oven, where water vapour is injected to rise the pressure and the temperature to around 55°C, for 24 to 35 hours. The product is then cooled. Thirdly, comes the fermentation process where the product is squished to extract the water and the sugar coming from the plants’ fibres. Last but not least, the distillation process must, under Mexican law, be done in two steps. First, the fermented juice called mosto is heated until the alcohol evaporates and is passed through a cooling machine. The liquid obtained is called ordinario and is rated between 20° and 30° alcohol volume. The second distillation and last step, will raise the alcohol volume, sometimes reaching 55°. This is the final product, as we obtain 100% pure agave tequila.
