Archive for May, 2010

Know Your Tequila

 Agave – a member of the lily family, is the plant from which tequila is made.  Tequila is made from the blue agave plant, which takes from 10 to 12 years to mature. There are 136 varieties of agave and only one – the blue agave – can be used to make tequila.

 Tequila - distilled spirit made with at least 51% blue agave. From only three states in Mexico.  Production centers around Jalisco, Mexico.  Lowland tequilas are deeper and mellower than highlands, which are

Blanco – also know as silver, clear, very spicy, tequila that is bottled immediately after distillation

Reposado – Tequila that is “rested” for a minimum of one month and usually up to 6 months in oak casks before bottling, takes on the flavor of the barrel – some are new oak, some are used to age bourbon, some are used tequila barrels.  All these factors affect the taste characteristics

Anejo – Tequila that has been aged a minimum of one year and up to five years in oak casks holding no more than 600 gallons.  Longer ageing give a darker, richer color

 Maguey – a member of the same lily family as agave; used to make mezcal.

 Mezcal – a spirit made with maguey plants related to the blue agave.  Mezcal is not Tequila.  Mezcal refers to any spirit made with some type of agave plant.  Tequila must be made with at least 51 % blue agave.  Only certain brands of Mezcal are sold with worms in the bottle.  An artist named Jacobo Lozano Paez started a small bottling plant buying mezcal from a family in Oaxaca.  He noticed that, in his opinion, batches made with agave heavily infested with agave worms tasted much different.  It gave him the idea to market his mezcal with a worm in the bottle.  Consumers began to accept the worm as proof of alcohol content.  Like Tequila, Mezcals come in different types:

          Blanco – bottled immediately after distillation

          Madurado – similar to reposado tequila

          Con Gusano – “with the worm”

          Anjeo - aged in oak for at least 6 months, usually 1 to 4 years

          Minero – triple distilled, often considered “the best”

 Mixto - Tequila that is less than 51 % blue agave.  Other sugars, usually cane, are fermented and mixed in with the agave

 Pina - the heart of the agave plant.  The spiky leaves of the mature plant are cut off and the pina is either steamed or baked, then crushed to release the juice.  The juice or pulque is fermented and distilled