Tequila

Tequila is a Mexican distilled spirit made from the fermented juice of the cooked hearts of the blue agave (Agave tequilana Weber, blue variety). It is produced mainly in the state of Jalisco, is Mexico's most representative drink, and has held a protected designation of origin since 1974.

History

Long before the Spanish arrived, peoples of Mexico were using agave to make fermented drinks such as pulque, which is made from agave sap and is not distilled. Distillation was not part of that tradition. It came with European colonists at the end of the sixteenth century. One of the earliest accounts of colonial use of agave is Hernán Cortés's second letter to Charles V, in which he describes the maguey products sold in the market of Mexico City, including an alcoholic drink he calls "wine".

The first agave spirits were known as "vino de mezcal", a name they shared with other distillates made from the same plant. During the eighteenth century, production concentrated in the valleys of Amatitán, Tequila, Magdalena and El Arenal, and over time the spirit from that area took the name of the town. In 1795, the Crown granted the Cuervo family a licence to make it commercially, and the Cuervo house is one of the oldest tequila companies still operating.

In the nineteenth century tequila became an established regional product, and in the following decades it began to be exported. The Sauza family played a prominent role in that expansion. In 1936 a distillery opened in Nogales, Arizona, bringing production to the United States. In the mid-twentieth century, the drink's popularity abroad led to imitations in other countries, and Mexican producers pressed for exclusive use of the name.

That claim took legal form in 1974, when the Mexican government protected the name "Tequila" for products made in the delimited region. In 1978 the registration was extended internationally through the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the protected zone has since grown to include more municipalities. The modern commercial boom began in 1992, when large international drinks groups took over much of the production and distribution. The official standard has been revised several times, and in 2006 UNESCO inscribed the agave landscape and the old industrial facilities of the region on the World Heritage List. In 2013 China lifted its ban on imports of 100% agave tequila, widening the product's presence in Asia.

Culture

Tequila is one of Mexico's emblems of national identity, and its history is tied to towns, haciendas and families in Jalisco. The Tequila Regulatory Council, a non-profit association in which agave growers, producers, bottlers, marketers and government representatives take part, checks compliance with the official standard and promotes the quality and culture of the drink. The standard requires tequila to be made from blue agave within the protected territory, and it separates 100% agave tequila from mixto tequila, which may contain up to 49% sugars from other sources such as corn or cane syrup.

Categories depend on how long the spirit rests in wood: blanco or silver, with little or no ageing; joven or gold, usually a blend that may include colouring; reposado, aged at least two months in oak or encino barrels; añejo, at least one year; and extra añejo, at least three years. Many enthusiasts also distinguish between tequilas from the Los Altos highlands, which tend to be sweeter and fruitier, and those from the valleys, which are earthier and more herbaceous.

In Mexico, the most traditional way to drink tequila is neat, at room temperature, without lime or salt. In some regions it is accompanied by sangrita, a sweet, sour and spicy drink made with orange juice, grenadine or tomato and chilli. The bandera, a popular serve, arranges three glasses: lime juice for green, white tequila, and sangrita for red. Outside Mexico, tequila is often served as a shot with salt and a slice of lime, in a ritual of licking, drinking and biting known as tequila cruda.

Drinking habits vary by country. In Germany, for example, it is common to take gold tequila with cinnamon on a slice of orange, while white tequila is usually drunk with salt and lime. In cocktail bars, tequila appears in classics such as the tequila sunrise and in mixes with beer and hot sauce, which have become popular in bars and parties.

Tequila's presence in daily life also extends to the landscape and farm work. Planting, tending and harvesting agave remain largely manual. Jimadores, who cut the leaves with a long-handled tool with a circular blade, pass on from one generation to the next the knowledge of when a plant is ready. The fibrous pulp left after extraction is reused as compost or animal feed. Today tequila is an export product and one of the main references for the gastronomy and tourism of Jalisco, with routes, museums and fairs devoted to the drink.

Trivia