Tequila

Like Jerez, Curacao, Champagne and a handful of other places, Tequila, Mexico has achieved a reputation far out of proportion to its size. Millions of drinkers who might not even dream of going to this small town wax rhapsodic about its name, and the popular drink it is so famous for. Less than an hour’s drive northwest of Guadalajara on Highway 15, Tequila lies almost under the shadow of an extinct 2,950-meter (9,700-ft.) volcano. It is surrounded by thousands of acres of spear-like cultivated agave plants.

Although there are hundreds of different species of the maguey plant, under Mexican law at least 51 percent of any tequila must be from a specific variety, the tequila weber agave, which grows only here and in a nearby region. The best kinds of tequila use pure juice; cheaper brands supplement their liquor with cane juice.

After growing for eight to ten years, the tequila maguey is trimmed down to its 50-kg (100-lb) heart or piña, which is steamed then shredded and squeezed. Sugar is added to this liquid, which is then allowed to ferment for four days before undergoing two distillations. Most of this colorless liquid is then bottled, the rest aged in oak casks for anything up to seven years, during which it assumes a golden color.

Like tequila, the popular drinks mezcal and pulque are also derived from the maguey plant. But pulque, the favorite drink of the Aztecs, is fermented (before the Conquest, the distillation process was unknown). These two drinks–whose origins go back over 1000 years—have retained their mass popularity. Pulquerias, with their sawdust covered floors and predominantly blue collar clientele, tend to exclusivity found in the Public Bar (as opposed to the more family-oriented lounge) of English pubs.

Tequila, on the other hand, has taken its place with top-flight liquors, especially in the U.S., which by the late 1980s was importing 5 million cases a year from its southern neighbor. As long ago as the 17th century, tequila became popular with silver miners in the nearby town of Bolanos but its reputation got its major boost from American servicemen on leave in border towns during World War II. Now more than 600 million margaritas are reportedly drunk in the US every year—that’s about 1 ½ million every day.

Hueblein is the market leader in the US. When the company launched it’s first big tequila advertising campaign, its public relations director said that the drink “always had something of a bad boy image and we wouldn’t want to lose that even though we are promoting its mixability.”

The ritual of tequila drinking begins with placing grains of salt on top of the fist, licking them, then, after sucking some drops of lime, taking a drink from a fajo (the cup from which you drink tequila). This is followed by a sip of sangrita. The idea is to establish a precise and satisfying balance of strong flavors in which tequila’s pure, sweet fire is complimented by the hotness of sangrita the acidity of lime, and the relief given by those grains of salt.

April 2003

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