Tequila drinks

Tequila is a distilled spirit made from the blue Agave or Agave Azul, and produced only in five areas of Tequila drinks. It can be drunk on its own or in a cocktail. Find out more in our full guide below.

Some Tequilas are extra-aged giving them a richer gold hue. Mexican states that are legally allowed to produce Tequila: Jalisco and parts of Guanajuanto, Tamaulipas, Michoacan and Nayarit. Made from: The agave plant, which although has the appearance of a cactus, is a succulent related to the lily family and native to Mexico. Translation: The name is derived from the Mexican town of Tequila, which lies to the northwest of the major city of Guadalajara.

These plants are particularly suited to the silicate-rich, red volcanic soils in the region around the city of Tequila with more than 300 million plants harvested there every year. But it wasn’t until the 16th Century when the Spanish conquistadors who had settled in Mexico in 1521 ran out of their supply of brandy and decided to use their knowledge of distillation to turn pulque into a spirit. Around 1600 the first mass-produced tequila was being made with the first official license to commercially make tequila issued by Spain’s King Carlos IV to the Cuervo family in 1975. There are currently over 22,000 registered agave farmers in the DOC Tequila region cultivating several hundred million agave plants over 125,000 hectares.

Regulations The Mexican government has imposed strict regulation to control what can be called Tequila and how it is made. Blue Agave, with legislation allowing for the remainder to be made up of a neutral spirit made from cane sugar juice. Tequila is made from ripe blue agave plants which take a minimum of six years to mature but those planted in the highlands frequently take much longer to reach maturity and can be up to 12 years. Unlike whisky where the majority of time is spent in the ageing process, producing tequila requires a vast amount of time invested in cultivation. Coa, preserving the starch stored in the heart of the plant.

The hearts are known as the piña as they resemble pineapples with jimadores cutting the plants’ spiky leaves as close to the piña as possible. 7 hours where the starches are converted into fermentable sugar. It is then put into fermentation tanks where yeast is added, though traditionally spontaneous fermentation using naturally occurring airborne yeast is still used by a small number of distillers. The liquid is left to ferment in open or closed vats of wood or stainless-steel tanks for 24-96 hours.

Sometimes distillers add some of the agave fibers from which the liquid was extracted to the tanks which form a seal and trap aromatics in the fermentation. These have a bold taste and work well in cocktails. Best for mixed drinks and sipping. 600 litres for at least one year, or between one and three years.

These often have a toasty, vanilla and citrus flavour. These generally have more of a smoky flavour and can be compared to fine French Cognacs with similar price tags. Distillers can choose to use new casks for ageing or those that previously held tequila or more commonly American whiskey. The type of wood, toast level, thickness of stave, temperature and humidity all combine to dramatically effect how Tequila matures.

To comply with regulations, all containers must remain closed, and have paper seals applied, for the duration of the ageing process which only the Compliance Assessment Agency can remove at the designated time. Serving In Mexico the most traditional way to drink Tequila is neat at room temperature without fruit slices or salt. Mexican beverage made traditionally with orange juice, lime juice, pomegranate juice and hot chilli-sauce. These are sipped alternately without salt or lime.

Cantarito’ which is made with freshly squeezed orange, grapefruit and lime juice with tequila, a pinch of salt and sparkling grapefruit soda. In 2002, an official tequila glass was approved by the Consejo Regulador del Tequila called the Ouverture Tequila glass made by Riedel. The margarita glass, rimmed with salt or sugar, is also a widely used for the entire genre of tequila-based drinks. Tahona Process’ where the cooked hearts of the blue agave plant are moved into the path of a huge, volcanic stone that has been chiselled into a rough, hulking wheel. It’s not just the hearts of the agave plant that are important, at one point in history local inhabitants of Tequila county used the leaves to build roofs, make needles and pins, wind strong rope and manufacture paper as well as using the dried fleshly leaves as fuel, the ashes as soap or detergent and the sap to heal wounds. In 2006 a white gold and platinum bottle of Ultra Premium Tequila Ley .