Everyone who visits Guadalajara is encouraged to do two things: eat tacos and drink Tequila. Since arriving in Guadalajara, we have been enjoying many, many tacos made with pork, beef, and fish. In fact, tacos are a staple in our diet. However, drinking Tequila is another story. Even though we’re not big Tequila drinkers, we knew we wanted to take a Tequila tour.

So, last week we took a tour with 8 others to learn all about Tequila. Of course, the main purpose of the tour was to sample tequila and by the end of the tour we drank our fair share of Tequila shots.

Tequila – The Volcano

About fifty miles northwest of Guadalajara is the Tequila volcano. It last erupted 200,000 years ago and has produced large quantities of lava, including enough obsidian to rank the state of Jalisco fourth largest in the world in terms of obsidian deposits.

The ash released by the volcano covered a large area which combined with springs and near-tropical climate in the already fertile Santiago-River canyon helped produce the perfect environment for growing agave – the plant harvested for Tequila.

Tequila – The Town

Near the foot of the volcano is the town of Tequila. The town was given the name Santiago de Tequila when it was founded by the Franciscan Friar Juan Calero in 1530. The name Tequila comes from the native name for the volcano which means “place where they cut”, most likely referring to the obsidian mined since ancient times.

We spent a couple of hours in the town and as with most small Mexican towns, it has a beautiful center surrounded by government buildings, shops, and restaurants. There is a museum that explains the history of the town and the history of the Tequila drink. You can also hop on one of many tour buses to tour the town, the surrounding area and one of many distilleries nearby.

Tequila – The Drink

The point of our tour was to visit one of the many distilleries. We visited the Tres Mujeres (Three Women) Distillery to learn about the different types of Tequila and how it is made.

The generic liquor is called Mezcal. Basically, Mezcal is distilled alcohol from any type of Agave plant. There are 200 agave species but only 30 are harvested and distilled. Mezcal dates back to 1000 B.C. when the Aztecs fermented the pit or piña of the Blue Agave plant.

In the 1500s, the Spaniards began distilling the piña, creating Vino de Mezcal, later simply called Mezcal. Originally, the drink was considered a drink for the workers.  Because there were no controls on the distilling process the workers never knew what kind of Tequila (Mezcal) they would be drinking. This uncertainty gave rise to using lime and salt to minimize the bitterness of poor-quality Tequila.

In 1974, the Mexican government declared the term Tequila to be Mexican intellectual property and required Tequila to be made only from the blue agave plant, aged only in certain areas of Mexico, and made it illegal for other countries or regions outside of the Tequila area to produce Tequila. Today, it is well regulated and there are very strict standards in the production of Tequila.

The Making of Tequila

The first step in the process is harvesting the heart or piña of the blue agave plant. The piña from a mature agave plant typically weighs between 80 and 150 pounds. It takes approximately 15 pounds of piñas to make one liter of Tequila.

The piñas are placed into ovens to convert the complex carbohydrates into simple fermentable sugars.

The baked piñas are milled to extract the juice (aguamiel). The sugary syrup is then fermented, distilled and aged in oak barrels to create the finished product – Tequila.

Types of Tequila

There are two categories of Tequila; 100% Blue Agave and Tequila Mixto (Mixed). Tequila Mixto contains a minimum of 51% Blue Agave and the remaining 49% from other sugars. The 100% Blue Agave tequila is made only from the Blue Agave plant with no additional ingredients or sugars. Bottles have a label stating, “Tequila 100% de agave” or “Tequila 100% puro de agave”.

There are five types or classifications of Tequila differentiated by the aging times of the tequila.

Blanco Tequila

This is Tequila in its purest form. It’s the freshly distilled spirit without any oak aging at all. These Tequilas show you the true expertise of the distiller because there are no oak flavors and no aging to hide behind. It’s just the flavor of agave, freshly distilled.

Joven Tequila

Joven (young) Tequila is known as gold Tequila because of the golden or rich light brown color that the liquor has from flavoring agents such as sugar, glycerin, oak tree extracts, and caramel coloring before bottling. Gold Tequila is typically a mixto Tequila and usually served in cocktails such as margaritas since it is less expensive.

Reposado Tequila

This Tequila is known as “aged” or “rested.” Reposado (rested) Tequila is aged in oak barrels for a minimum of two months, but less than a year after being distilled. This gold-colored spirit is typically aged in white or French oak barrels where resins and tannins shape the flavor of the Tequila. Many different types of wood barrels give the Tequila different flavors since the barrels were previously used to age other spirits such as wine, cognac, whiskey, or bourbon.

Añejo Tequila

Añejo means “old” in Spanish and is aged a minimum of one year, but less than three years in oak barrels. The Tequila can only rest in oak barrels with a maximum capacity of 600 liters. This Tequila is generally aged in whiskey barrels, French oak casks, or cognac barrels. Compared to reposado, Añejo Tequila is darker in color, more complex, richer, and smoother in flavor. This type of Tequila is typically sipped.

Extra Añejo Tequila

This Tequila has only been recognized since 2006 when the Mexican government created “Extra Añejo” Tequila. It has the same distilling and aging process as Añejo Tequila, but it aged longer – more than three years. It still must be aged in a barrel that doesn’t exceed 600 liters. It is darker in color than Añejo. Because of the lengthy aging process, Extra Añejo is the most expensive but is the smoothest Tequila.

Tres Mujeres Distillery

Tres Mujeres Distillery, named after the “Three Ladies” of the Melendrez family, is a small, family-owned distillery but is one of the largest growers of blue agave with over 8 million agave plants.

Of course, the highlight was a sampling of the various types of Tequila. We sampled some of the varieties in the factory itself.

More sampling was done inside the underground cellar (cava). Parts of the area were set up for sampling and drinking.

During the tour, we sampled all types of Tequila. At Tres Mujeres, each type of Tequila is packaged in a different color bottle.

Our first shot was of Blanco Tequila. Not knowing the proper tasting method, we quickly gulped the entire shot, not fully tasting the Tequila.  Our guide then provided us with the proper tasting technique which consists of sipping the Tequila, swishing in your mouth for 5 seconds, inhaling and then swallowing. Wow…what a difference, my entire mouth, and nose tasted the Tequila. And the taste lingered for minutes afterward. This technique allowed us to really capture the full flavor and character.

As we moved up to the extra-aged Tequila, we could appreciate its smooth, full flavor. But after 8 or 9 shots, it became hard to distinguish between the different types.

After exploring the rest of the distillery, we drove to the village of Amatitán. This town is known as the birthplace of Tequila and is home to one of the largest Tequila distilleries in the world. In the 1800s, the people of the town dug underground aqueducts (qanats) to bring water to the otherwise very dry town.

Luckily for us, there was an opportunity to try another brand of Tequila. The size of the shot depended upon the size of the horn we were going to drink from. After a few shots, we had to pass but other members of our group kept going.

Outside of the village of Amatitán, we stopped for a snack or two at Cantaritos el Güero. The stop provided us an opportunity to try Cantaritos, a refreshing Tequila-based cocktail that is found in the Tequila region. The drink consists of ice, salt, lime juice, grapefruit juice, orange juice and a grapefruit-flavored soft drink like Squirt. The drinks are made fresh and are served in clay cups (jarritos) to keep the drinks cold. The clay cups are in various sizes and are made on site.

For a snack, to tide us over until lunch, we tried Aquachile, a Mexican dish similar to ceviche. The dish consists of raw shrimp in a lime-based juice with chili peppers, cilantro, onions, and other raw vegetables. It was very tasty and refreshing.

After a long day of drinking and eating, we headed back to Guadalajara with a greater appreciation of Tequila. On the drive back, we became more aware of the thousands of agave plants and fields that cover the land. All the land is used and there are even agave plants planted between rows of corn and along highway ditches and shoulders.

I asked our guide about who owns and harvests these plants along the highway and in the ditches. Apparently, farmers can raise, harvest and distill their own Mezcal. I don’t know if there are any regulations or rules for private distilleries. I have noticed small stands along the road where people sell Mezcal. I’m not sure I would drink it but, who knows, maybe there is another Jose Cuervo out there.