Learn About

Tequila

Tequila is a distilled beverage made from the Weber Blue Agave plant. Mexican law regulates that tequila can only be produced in the delimited region including the entire state of Jalisco and the specific bordering areas of the neighboring states of Guanajuato, Michoacan and Nayarit. The only exception is a small area in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. Tequila must be bottled between 35 and 55 percent ABV. When sold in the U.S., tequila must contain a minimum 40 percent ABV.

Tequila is made from the sugars found in the hearts of the Blue Weber Agave plant. The hearts are cooked, fermented, distilled, and aged. Blue Agave plants from the highlands of Jalisco often yield sweeter and fruitier tasting tequila while plants sourced from the lowlands give a more earthy flavor. The length of time tequila spends in barrel determines the depth of color and the intensity of wood or oak notes in the flavor profile.

Here’s a quick reference to help you find the perfect tequila for you:

Plata/Blanco Tequila: Stop and taste the influence of the agave on the flavor of the clear tequila. This version of the Mexican spirit is tequila in its purest form, and carries with it some of the best of what Mexico has to offer. Take a sip of it neat, to experience what only water and the plant’s fibers can produce.

Reposado Tequila: Reposado refers to the rest the juice takes, requiring only a few months in an oak barrel to develop into a complex and savory blend of citrus and herbs. The influence of the wood and the charring degree brings out notes of vanilla, and the occasional hint of a spice or fruit. Sitting around a fire having a warm chat on a chilly night, sippin’ the spirit will awaken what’s primal in us and should be shared with only the closest of friends!

Añejo Tequila: Simply translated as aged, this juice has spent between 1 and 3 years being pushed and pulled into the depths of the wood staves, extracting delicious notes of caramel and sweet fruits. The finest tequilas have a buttery sweet mouthfeel and is not harsh on the pallet. Mixologist prefer Anejo when making the local cocktail, simply called Ranch Water. By adding mineral water and a squeeze of lime to tequila, the natural sweetness of the juice makes for a simply refreshing sipper. Imagine…if you will, sitting under a shady oak tree catching a break on a hot summers’ day after a long stretch of laborious activities…Ah!

Extra Añejo Tequila: The new category of Extra Anejo was officially added in 2006, requiring a minimum aging of 3 years before bearing the Extra Anejo label. Through the aging process, the wood influences the color and taste of the spirit and allows for the maturation of the flavor profile.

Cristalino: Aged tequilas that have been filtered to remove the color. Through this process, some of the more robust flavor qualities are also removed, making the tequila smoother and easier to sip for some. For other, this process removes too much of those bold qualities that we so enjoy about aged tequilas.

Mezcal: If tequila and mezcal were siblings, Mezcal would be the older, wilder, hellraising, tattooed biker brother that shows’ his love by slappin’ you around a little when he comes home for the holidays! With that being said, Mezcals producers have more freedom in exploring fermentation ingredients and are not tied to the same distilling process that tightly regulates tequila production. Mezcal is made by fermenting the cooked stems of the Maguey species of Agave genus. With 200 different varietals, the maguey plants have a full range of taste profiles ranging from earthy and smoky to sweet and savory.

Sotol: A distilled spirit from the cooked stems of the Dasylirion Texanum plant, commonly known as Desert Spoon, that grows wild in the regions of Northern Mexico and Southwest Texas. Sotol captures the unique desert terroir of the region, and it’s known for its earthy and smoky flavor notes. Texas produces some fantastic Sotol that can rival some of the oldest Sotol brands in Mexico!