Everything you need to know about tequila, plus a few recommendations for mixing up any cocktail you desire
Tequila is unique in its versatility. Open-air fermented blancos can have the wild essences of mezcal, while extra añejos are smooth and as pleasing as sweet, woody XO cognacs. But tequila is an often-misunderstood spirit in the United States, despite the fact that a staggering 80 percent of the tequila from Mexico’s five tequila-producing regions is sold and consumed in the U.S.
Getting to know the various styles of tequila is key to choosing the right bottle for all occasions, whether drinking palomas at your Mazatlán beach condo, sipping aged tequila as a digestif, or slowly savoring fruity, smoky ancestral tequila at the end of the day. And as the, including artisanal productions that are turning back the clock to pre-industrial methods, now is a particularly exciting time to expand your tequila shelf.
The most popular tequilas fall into a few categories: silver, unaged tequila, called blanco; and reposado, añejo, and extra añejo, aged in new oak or used whiskey casks. For all of these, blue agave must mature between seven and eight years before jimadores remove its leaves with a coa to send to the distillery. Less popular are mixto tequilas made with 51 percent blue agave and 49 percent sugars, and tequila joven, or gold tequila, which are adulterated blancos.
Tequila is actually a denomination of origin comprising all of Jalisco, and some municipalities in the states of Nayarit, Tamaulipas, Michoacán, and Guanajuato. To qualify as a tequila, Mexico’s most famous spirit can only be made with agave tequilana Weber azul, or blue agave, from this region. The finished tequila must have a minimum of 51 percent blue agave, although the majority of tequila is 100 percent blue agave, allowing for up to 1 percent additives.
These strict regulations do still offer considerable variations to the tequila consumer. There are some 1,377 brands registered by the Consejo Regulador del Tequila , the regulatory board that upholds the standards of tequila manufacturing tracked by the Norma Oficial Mexico for the Appellation of Origin. But the system is not without its flaws. In recent years, the CRT has
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