Tequila

A Drinker's Guide

TALKING ABOUT TEQUILA without talking about the agave plant would be like talking about wine without discussing grapes. Unlike other distilled spirits, tequila doesn't come from a grain, nut, fruit, or vegetable. It is made from the blue agave plant, and its history hinges on the discovery and cultivation of this unique succulent. Blue agave, which thrives in the gentle hills of central Mexico, is often mistakenly believed to be part of the cactus clan, and its spiky, blue-green cactuslike leaves make this assumption understandable. But it is actually related to the lily family and to some aloe plants.

Of the approximately 136 varieties of agave grown in Mexico, the blue agave is the most prized. In 1753, Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus classified the plant Agave tequilana, naming it after the Greek word agavos, meaning "illustrious," an apt description for such a magnificent and noble plant. In 1902, botanist Franz Weber categorized the species of agave for tequila making, naming it A. tequilana Weber var. azul. The origin of the word "tequila" itself is a mystery. It may have come from the Nahuatl-speaking inhabitants who have long lived in the area. The ancient word téquitl means "the place of harvesting plants," "the place of wild herbs," "place where they cut," "the place of work," or even "the place of tricks."

Indeed, to truly understand the history of tequila, one must go back thousands of years, to when the agave plant, or maguey, was much revered. The sap, also known as agave nectar or aguamiel (honey water), was fermented to produce a thick, white, mildly alcoholic drink with about 3 to 4 percent alcohol. The drink, called pulque, was considered a gift from the gods. The great civilizations of the Americas used it for several things: as an intoxicant for priests to increase their enthusiasm for sacrifice, as a relaxant for sacrificial victims, as a medicine for a variety of ailments, and as a libation to celebrate brave feats. The Aztecs attached such importance to the maguey that they even named one of their divinities Mayahuel, a goddess of fertility who was often depicted nursing babies with pulque from her many breasts while seated inside a maguey plant. Then, five centuries ago, the face of tequila changed.

Early in the sixteenth century, the invading Spanish recognized the potential of the agave plant. They tended to drink alcoholic beverages with their meals instead of water, which could be contaminated with disease-causing bacteria. Seeing that agave could produce a mildly alcoholic beverage, they concluded that perhaps it could be used to make something even more potent. The conquistadors, who had carried their copper distilling pots with them, applied their knowledge of alembic distillation to pulque, thereby bringing it one step closer to the tequila we know today.

In 1595, Phillip II banned the planting of grapevines in Mexico in an effort to keep the flow of Spanish wine and brandy coming into Mexico. For some reason, he didn't particularly care about agave. Five years later, Don Pedro Sánchez de Tagle, known as the Father of Tequila, took advantage of this loophole, cultivating agave and establishing the first tequila factory, in Jalisco. The product he made, called vino de mezcal or mezcal tequila (commonly spelled "mescal" in the United States), a rough-edged liquor fashioned from a variety of different agave species, was the first distilled spirit made in the Americas.

Early distilleries were located way out in the countryside in the agave fields, and since drinking glasses generally weren't available where mezcal was being made, it was initially served in the hollowed-out tip of a bull's horn, called a cuernito or caballito. Due to the limited supply of horns, the vessel was passed from one drinker to another. Because it was impossible to set the horn down without it falling over, shots were thrown back before the horn was passed along to the next drinker. Thus began the tradition of drinking of shots of mezcal and, later, tequila.

In 1636, Don Juan Canseco y Quiñones enabled tax collection on mezcal production by authorizing the distillation and manufacture of the spirit. Then, in 1785, due to the dramatic drop in sales of Spanish wines and brandy, the production of all spirits, including mezcal and pulque, was banned by Spain's Charles III. Officially, production was halted, but of course the manufacture of spirits continued underground. In 1792, new king Ferdinand IV thought that taxing the product would be a better way to control it, so mezcal was once again made legal. And the industry was reborn!

During the period from 1810 to 1821, Mexico gained its independence from Spain through the War of Independence. In the mid-1830s, Mexico tried to retake the province of Texas. Remember the Alamo? The Mexican army might have lost that battle, but in the process it introduced Mexican food, culture, and mezcal to the victors. Wagonloads of mezcal commonly followed the troops and soon became popular on both sides of the conflict.

During the U.S. Civil War, there was a serious shortage of American whiskey and moonshine. Smart tequila vendors from Mexico saw this as an opportunity to cross the Rio Grande and sell their mezcal to American soldiers. While they were in the United States, they picked up discarded whiskey barrels that were left over from making moonshine and took them back to Mexico, thinking that they would be perfect for storing mezcal. Thus began the aging of mezcal, and later tequila, in barrels.

Tequila wasn't officially named "tequila" until 1873. Mezcal producers in the town of Tequila wanted to distinguish their mezcal made in central Mexico from mezcal made elsewhere, especially what was being manufactured in southern Mexico. So, they named it "tequila," after the town of the same name. Later that year, three barrels of legal tequila were sent to the United States and sold there-and the tequila export business was established. A few years after that, exportation of tequila got a boost from a new railroad system that linked Mexico to its neighbor to the north.

It wasn't until 1903 that the first tequila bottling plant was built and tequila began to be sold in bottles. Then, beginning in 1918, an epidemic of the Spanish flu killed tens of millions of people in the United States, Europe, and Asia over the next two years. Believe it or not, this led to a tequila boom in Mexico, as doctors told their patients to ingest tequila, lime, and salt as a flu treatment. This could have been the beginning of the ritual of drinking tequila with lime and salt. The tequila available at the time wasn't as palatable as it is today, and the lime and salt probably masked the less-than-desirable flavor.

Between 1920 and 1933, tequila sales got a boost again, this time because of Prohibition. Strict laws limiting the sale and consumption of alcohol in the United States forced Americans across the border to buy "Mexican whiskey," as they called it. Again, during World War II, when whiskey was in short supply in the United States, Americans headed over the Mexican border to buy tequila.

The first efforts to regulate tequila manufacture began in the late 1940s and culminated in the establishment of the Norma Oficial Mexicana (NOM) in the 1970s, which specified both how the spirit could be made and the source of the agave, regulations that have been revised and updated over the years. Today, tequila can only be distilled from the sap of blue agave cores, or piñas, grown in zones in five north-central states of Mexico, and it must contain at least 60 percent blue agave. The NOM regulations were followed by two actions that guaranteed international recognition: the issuance of a Denomination of Origin (DOT), specifying that the production of tequila be applied to a specific geographical area of Mexico, and an Appellation of Control (AOC), which declared the word "tequila" the intellectual property of the Mexican government, thus preventing its use for any spirit made outside the government's jurisdiction.

Tequila and mezcal are the only two Denomination of Origin spirits produced in North America. The term "mezcal," which is often confused with tequila, refers not only to the agave-based spirits from the Mexican state of Oaxaca, but also to the whole category of distilled spirits created from the roasted agave piña. Tequila is actually a specific type of mezcal. Just as all cognacs are brandies but not all brandies are cognac (because cognac must come from the Cognac region of France), all tequilas are a type of mezcal, but not all mezcales are tequila.

There are many watchdogs over the tequila industry-and justifiably so. Founded in 1994, the Consejo Regulador de Tequila (CRT), or Tequila Regulatory Council, is a nonprofit organization made up of agave growers, tequila distillers, and government representatives that verifies the fulfillment of tequila standards. In short, the NOM ensures the protection of tequila's origin and name, polices production, and regularly revises standards to guarantee continued quality, while the CRT certifies that a tequila distillery has followed the laws of the NOM. When buying a bottle of tequila, check for the four-digit NOM number. It links the bottle to its distillery, which takes responsibility for the tequila in that bottle.

Discovering Tequila

TODAY, BY LAW, 100 percent agave tequila can only be produced using blue agave, or agave azul, grown in five areas in Mexico: the entire state of Jalisco and small parts of the states of Tamaulipas, Nayarit, Guanajuato, and Michoacán. Ninety-eight percent of all blue agave tequila is produced in Jalisco.

When you're in Guadalajara, you're in the heart of Jalisco. If you drive northeast from the city, you'll begin to see hints of red clay soil, a vibrant contrast against the steel-blue agave that covers the hills in the distance and reaches all the way down to the roadside. Continue on and you'll be in the Highlands, or Los Altos. A slow, steady climb will take you through Tepatitlán and Atotonilco, and by the time you reach Arandas, you'll be nearly seven thousand feet above sea level. This part of Jalisco is known for its red clay soil, the tierra roja. Rich in iron and full of nutrients, the soil produces a piña, or agave heart, with a higher-than-usual sugar content, of at least 27 to 28 percent. The piña can also weigh as much as 200 to 275 pounds. The colder temperatures at this elevation mean that it takes longer for the agave to mature, usually eight to ten years, and many say the cool temperature and richness of the soil result in an end product that is sweeter, more floral, and has a fruitier flavor.

Drive less than an hour from Guadalajara in another direction, toward the northwest on Route 15, and you'll arrive in the town of Tequila, the center of the Lowlands. Tequila shares its name not only with this tequila-producing town, but also with a tall volcanic mountain and the lowland valley. This area has a very different kind of soil than that found to the northeast. Here rich, jet-black volcanic soil, or tierra negra, is the result of a volcano that erupted 200,000 years ago. The volcano now looms over the town, with a peak of nearly ten thousand feet. Although this area is called the Lowlands, the elevation is still four thousand feet above sea level, and there are mountains everywhere. Unlike in the Highlands, where you are actually in the mountains, here in the Lowlands, you're in the valley looking at them. It is considerably warmer too, which means that the agave matures faster, sometimes in as few as seven years. The piña are smaller, 125 to 175 pounds, and have a lower sugar content, about 25 percent. Some tequila aficionados say that Lowlands tequila is drier, richer, rounder, and earthier. One thing is certain, though: the volume of tequila produced here is extraordinary.

The charming, easygoing colonial town of Tequila supports the tequila industry, and most of its residents work in the business. Battered old Buicks and Chevys share the narrow, cobbled streets made of black volcanic rock with rugged farmworkers, or jimadores, wearing sombreros and driving pickup trucks. They either work in the fields or in the distilleries (some of Mexico's largest are located here). The center plaza buzzes nightly with activity, as everyone comes to share it like a communal backyard. But Tequila isn't the only town with the drink in its blood. Nearby Arenal and Amatitlán produce some extraordinary blue agave tequila as well.

The Making of Tequila

TEQUILA IS THE only spirit that contains a whole life cycle. Grapes, potatoes, rye, and wheat all grow again, producing crops for wine, vodka, whiskey, and beer year after year-but every glass of tequila contains a whole life. Once the heart, or piña, is dug from the ground, the agave plant dies. A new plant must be grown to take its place. Imagine having to plan at least eight years in advance to produce a bottle of liquor!

At the beginning of the tequila-making process, a farmer starts with shoots called hijuelos, pups, or mecuates, which are produced at the base of the stem of a three- to five-year-old agave plant. When the shoots are a year old, they are removed and set aside for planting. Later, the female plant sends a tall quiote, or flower stalk, straight up out of the center of the plant, a signal that it is nearing maturation. The quiote is cut to prevent it from draining the sugars and nutrients from the mother plant. The plant continues to grow one more year, during which the sugar-rich nutrients ebb from the leaves and flow into the heart of the plant. It is now time to harvest the plant. The male plant is ready to be harvested when the leaves are taller than the cogollo, the spiky shoot that rises straight up from the center of the plant.

The cultivation of the agave plant is a long process, and the harvesting of it is laborious. The skillful jimador must be able to judge the perfect time to harvest the plant, determine whether a plant is diseased, and hack off each leaf, or penca, with a single blow. His job is an art, and often the skill is passed down from one generation to the next.

The jimador uses a long-handled tool called a coa, which has a round blade at the end that he continuously sharpens. When harvesting the plant, he starts at the bottom, pulling the plant, leaves and all, from the ground. Next he removes the leaves until he gets to the piña, which resembles a giant pineapple or pinecone. Until the jimador gets to the piña, he has no idea of its size, but it can weigh anywhere from eighty to three hundred pounds. He often uses his coa to cut the piñas in half right there in the field. The jimador then loads them into wire baskets strapped onto the backs of mules or into wheelbarrows, for transport to trucks that will haul them to the fabrica, or tequila distillery.