 Tequila is a distilled alcoholic beverage made primarily in the area surrounding Tequila, a town in the western Mexican state of Jalisco, 65 km from Guadalajara. It is made from the blue tequila agave (agave tequilana weber) plant (also called Maguey by the local people), part of the lily family, which is native to Mexico. Most common tequilas are 35% to 55% alcohol (70 to 110 proof).
Tequila is only one type of mezcal, which is the name of any distilled alcohol made from the agave plant. What makes tequila different from other mezcals is its adherence to the strict standards set by the Tequila Regulatory Council (Mexican norm NOM-006-SCFI-1994), the region where it is made – Denominación de Origen regulations restrict its production to specific regions in the states of Jalisco, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Tamaulipas and Nayarit – and the fact that tequila is made from Agave tequilana Weber, also called blue agave or agave azul. Tequila is required to be at least 51% agave; the remainder is usually maize or sugarcane. There are, however, premium tequilas made from 100% blue agave. If it is not made from 100% agave, tequila is refered to as mixto, although labels in the bottles will say only "Tequila". Tequila that is made only from agave, must be bottled in Mexico and will say in the label "Tequila 100% de Agave" or "Tequila 100% puro de Agave" (some may add the word Azul after agave).
Tequila was first produced in the 16th century near the location of the city of Tequila which was not officially established until 1656. The Aztec peoples had previously made a fermented beverage from the agave plant which they called octli (later, and more popularly called pulque), long before the Spanish arrived in 1521. When the Spanish conquistadors ran out of their own brandy, they began to distill this agave drink to produce North America's first indigenous distilled spirit. Some 80 years later, around 1600, Don Pedro Sánchez de Tagle, the Marquis of Altamira, began mass-producing tequila at the first factory in the territory of modern-day Jalisco. By 1608, the colonial governor of Nueva Galicia had begun to tax his products.
The tequila that is popular today was first mass-produced in the early 1800s in Guadalajara, Mexico. 1800 Tequila is marketed today in commemoration of the year in which the first successfully aged Tequila was produced. Several large batches of Tequila produced in 1800 (although not of the original single batch) have survived the test of time and are marketed today for commercial consumption. This premium Tequila is a tribute to the earliest master Tequila blenders.[citation needed]
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, increasing world-wide popularity of tequila drove corporate interest in the drink. Notable developments as a result included:
* The purchase of Herradura by Brown Forman for 876 million dollars in September 2006.
* A New NOM (Norma Oficial Mexicana) for tequila which approves of tequila flavors and creates a new category of Ultra-Aged Tequilas, has been established in March 2006.
* The purchase of the El Tesoro brand by massive holding company Fortune Brands.
Although some of the high quality tequilas have remained as family owned brands, most well known tequila brands are owned by large multinational corporations. However, there are over 100 distilleries making over six hundred brands of tequila in Mexico and over 2,000 brand names have been registered.
A one-liter bottle of limited-edition premium tequila was sold for $225,000 in July of 2006 in Tequila, Jalisco, by the company Tequila Ley .925. The bottle which contains the tequila is a two-kilo display of platinum and gold. The manufacturer has submitted the transaction to the Guinness Book of World Records as the most expensive bottle of liquor ever sold, and it awaits certification for the category.
On January 17, 2006 the United States and Mexico signed an agreement allowing the continued bulk import of Tequila into the United States. Without this agreement all tequila would have had to be bottled in Mexico. In addition to allowing bulk import, the agreement also created a “tequila bottlers registry” that identifies approved bottlers of tequila.
Other key elements of the agreement include:
* The end of restrictions of bulk tequila exports to the United States;
* A prohibition on Mexican regulation of tequila labeling or marketing, as well as the labeling, formulation, and marketing of distilled spirits specialty products outside of Mexico;
* Continuation of current practice with respect to addressing Mexican concerns regarding the manufacturing of tequila in the United States; and
* Establishment of a working group to monitor the implementation of the agreement.
Tequila is usually bottled in one of four categories:
* "oro" ("gold") or – unaged tequila which is "joven y abogado" (young and adulterated) which means that caramel, fructose, glycerin and wood flavoring can be added to resemble aged tequila
* blanco (white) or plata ("silver") – not aged white spirit)
* reposado ("rested" – aged a minimum of 2 months but less than a year in oak barrels)
* añejo ("aged" or "vintage" – aged minimum 1 year but less than 3 years in oak barrels)
* "Extra-añejo" ("ultra-aged" or "vintage" – aged minimum 3 year in oak barrels) This is a new category which was established in March 2006.
The aging process changes the color of tequila, but the liquid can sometimes be colored with caramel to show a darker color, indicative of a longer aging process; añejos tend to be darker, the reposados slightly less dark, while the platas are not colored at all. It is a common misconception that some tequilas contain a 'worm' in the bottle. Only certain mezcals, usually from the state of Oaxaca, are ever sold con gusano, and that only began as a marketing gimmick in the 1940s. The worm is actually the larval form of the moth Hypopta agavis that lives on the agave plant. Finding one in the plant during processing indicates an infestation and, correspondingly, a lower quality product. (Note: for more information on how tequila is made, see mezcal.) However this misconception continues, and even with all the effort and marking to represent Tequila as a premium product -- similar to the way Cognac is viewed in relation to brandy -- there are some opportunist producers for the shooters and fun market who blur these boundaries.
In the 2000s, a distributor known for their Tequilas, launched Villa Lobos, a vodka which had the unique selling point that it too featured the "agave worm". The marketing of this product highlighted the drink's links with Tequilas and said that it was developed in reaction to the Tequila crisis of the previous years.
There is a very distinctive taste difference between the different types of tequila. The most notable being a "bite" that tequila is famous for. This "bite" is more common with the lower end "gold" tequilas and is mostly due to additives that are less expensive than 100% agave.
A single shot of tequila is often served with salt and a slice of lemon or lime. This is called "tequila cruda" and is sometimes referred to as "training wheels". The drinker moistens the back of their hand below the index finger (usually by licking) and pours on the salt. Then the salt is licked off the hand, tequila is drunk and the fruit slice is quickly bitten. It is common for groups of drinkers to do this simultaneously. Though the traditional Mexican shot is straight tequila, lime is the fruit of choice when a chaser must be used. The salt lessens the "burn" of the tequila and the sour fruit balances and enhances the flavor. This is rarely done with aged tequilas due to their smoother character. In Germany and some other countries, tequila is often consumed in much the same way, sometimes substituting cinnamon and slices of orange for salt and lemon. In Mexico this is not common.
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