Facts about Tequila

Tequila is the distilled spirit which is made up of fermented juice of the Mexican blue agave plant. Pulque (which is also known as fermented juice of Mexican blue agave plant) was produced by native peope of mexico as a ceremonial intoxicating drink, which had similar strength as wine.

After the Conquistadores invaded, the Spanish people forced the native people to convert to Catholics. And pulque became a popular drink among commoners during this time. A lot of Spanish people learnt the practice of distillation, and distilled the essence out of pulque (which is referred to as crude and raw drink). And one distilled, pulque became liquor which even an aristocrat loved.

100 percent de agave tequila, is normally produced from the large root of the blue agave. These bulbs are also known as pinas because they look like pineapple. The workers who work on the field to harvest the plant are referred to as Jimadores. Harvesting agave is a taxing job. The pina must be cleaned of its leaves with a sharp knife, and then is excavated out of the ground.They then send it to the distillery, or even sold as it is.

Different producers have different ways of making different tequilas. The agave pinas, are cooked in an oven until they become consistent, then broken up and water is mixed to it until the right consistency is formed for fermenting. Fermentation is often done by yeasting the mixture.

The finer tequilas are produced with copper pot stills, which are considered as an old fashioned way of producing tequila. Distillation is often done by a master distiller. The first booze to come out of the still is undrinkable and is known as "cabezas," or "heads." It contains unpleasant compound, which is not drinkable. The good booze is known as heart.

Distillation of tequila is very important in order to purify it. The more you will distill it, the more it will purify but the less flavor it will retain. So, different producers distill it different number of times as per their preference. Blanco tequila is distilled twice.

Reposado, is allowed to rest in the tank for a short time, in order to allow it to get some aroma and taste.

Anejo, which is alsoknown as aged tequila is often done by maturing them in oak barrels for various years. Tequila Mezcal is distilled only once, yielding a more flavorful, yet weaker spirit, than double-distilled tequila.

Traditionally, and even a lot of tequila producers now days, keep an agave worm inside the bottle to show that the drink is very strong even to preserve the worm.

And if you are in Mexico, never re cork the bottle of tequila after uncapping it. It is a very old tradition in Mexico that a bottle of tequila should not be re corked, once it is opened for drinking. The bottle must be consumed in full, as that brings good fortune to the drinker, and anyone else who partakes. It is considered unlucky, to re cork any tequila bottle in Mexico.