Tequila is Mexico’s most representative beverage with worldwide recognition.
It is one of the fastest-growing beverages in the United States, where its consumption has increased by 40% in the last five years, according to International Wine and Spirits Research (IWSR).
All the tequila consumed in the world comes from Mexico, which has the denomination of origin to produce the beverage based only on blue agave.
This denomination of origin covers only 181 municipalities in the states of Jalisco, Michoacan, Tamaulipas, Nayarit, and Guanajuato, which since 1974 have been the only ones authorized to grow and process blue agave to produce tequila, according to Mexican government data. There’s even a Tequila Regulatory Council in Mexico that supervises the origin and quality of all the tequila produced in the country.
The use and consumption of this plant has a long tradition and history. In pre-Hispanic times, agave was used to make alcoholic beverages used in rituals.
“The ancestral myth points to a lightning strike on an agave plant as the beginning of the discovery of its quality to produce beverages,” according to the Mexican government.
After the arrival of the Spaniards to the region in 1521, locals began using barrels for distillation and experimented with aging.
The tequila we know today is the result of the crossbreeding of preparations, composed of three types of tequila.
Tequila is present in more than 100 countries worldwide, but most of the beverage’s exports are to the United States, which imports more than 75 million gallons yearly.
Types of tequila
When buying tequila, it is essential to check that the label states it is 100% agave. Mexican law establishes that the minimum agave content of a bottle must be 51% and a maximum of 49% of other sugars.
The longer the tequila is matured, the smoother but more complex the flavor becomes, acquiring a more woody and full-bodied taste. It is recommended to drink the most aged tequilas without mix-ins to appreciate its flavor in all its intensity.
According to the Mexican Tequila Regulatory Council, there are five types of tequila defined by the processes after distillation. Tequila is classified as follows:
- Tequila Blanco (White or Silver Tequila). This is the tequila that, after being distilled, goes directly to bottling without going through a barrel.
- Tequila Joven u Oro (Young or Gold Tequila). This tequila often goes through the process of “abocado,” which consists of softening the flavor with some ingredients, usually caramel color, natural oak or oak extract, glycerin, and sugar-based syrup. Young tequila sometimes results from blending white tequila with rested and/or aged and/or extra-aged tequila.
- Tequila Reposado (Aged Tequila). This tequila must be matured in oak for at least two months. It goes through a maturation process, which is the slow transformation of the product that allows it to acquire additional sensory characteristics, obtained by physicochemical processes that naturally occur during its permanence in oak or oak wood containers.
- Tequila Añejo (Extra-aged Tequila). This tequila must be matured for at least one year in oak or holm wood containers, with a maximum capacity of 600 liters.
- Tequila Extra-Añejo (Ultra-aged Tequila). This tequila must be matured for at least three years in direct contact with the wood of oak or holm containers whose maximum capacity is 600 liters. It doesn’t have to specify the maturation time on the label, but it must be at least the three mandatory years.
