TEQUILA 101: 5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Regardless if you’re a longtime drinker or new to agave spirits, there is so much that is not known or misunderstood about tequila. When many think of tequila, images of a dusty old bottle with a worm floating inside or a lineup of bottom-shelf Blanco tequila at a dive bar come to mind; however, tequila has a storied history, an ancestral distilling process, and nuanced flavor profiles that is meant to be respected and savored.
So, to help all of us up our tequila game, we are sharing some of the key facts we recently read in VinePair.com’s ‘12 Things You Didn’t Know About Tequila’ article - keep scrolling below!
All tequila is mezcal, but not all mezcal is tequila.
All tequila is mezcal, but not all mezcal is tequila. Tequila can only be made from the blue agave, or agave tequilana, but mezcal can be made from over 30 varieties of agave. For example, Doña Loca has three mezcals made with three types of agaves - Espadín, Tobalá, and Tepezate.
Tequila usually comes from Jalisco, Mexico.
Almost all tequila - including ours! - is produced in the Mexican state of Jalisco. But Mexican law also allows tequila to be produced in certain limited municipalities in the states of Tamaulipas, Nayarit, Michoacán, and Guanajuato. (And yes, there is a town called Tequila.)
Tequila is legally required to be only 51% blue agave.
Tequila is made from blue agave, but it does not have to be 100% agave, and many tequilas will advertise themselves as ‘100% Blue Agave,’ but the legal requirement is 51%. This is why Doña Loca’s 100% organic tequilas made with 100% blue agave are a true standout within the market!
Distillers are allowed to fill out the rest with a neutral spirit made from cane sugar juice, creating what is known as a “mixto” tequila. Generally, no surprise, these are thought to be lower quality.
Your tequila bottle should not have a worm in it.
Tequila - including Doña Loca’s - will have absolutely no worms in it. The association with tequila and worms is (probably) based on the fact that maguey plants are often nibbled on by “gusano de maguey,” little larvae that, if not interrupted, would turn into a mariposa, or a kind of butterfly. When they are put into bottles of liquor as larvae, it’s mezcal, not tequila. So basically don’t drink tequila if there’s a worm in it. If the producer got that wrong, who knows what else is wrong in the bottle.
The Tahona process is as crafty as it gets.
Tequila can be as artisan as the most artisany crafty tiny spirit out there. Even if it’s made by a big producer. See, tequila is made by steaming and crushing those massive piñas. One way those piñas can be (and have been) crushed is the Tahona process–basically dragging a massive volcanic wheel over the steamed agave hearts. Traditionally, and in at least one place, still done by donkey. If use of a donkey isn’t artisan, we don’t know what is. Doña Loca’s producers in Jalisco use this process to make our tequilas!