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Mexican Drinks: Tequila
By Lindsay Cook
Mexico is famous for its tequila! This spirit is drunk throughout the world and there are many different types and brands of tequila. It is made from a plant, the blue agave, which grows in the north of Mexico. However the drink actually gets its name from the city of Tequila as traditionally it was around this city that most of the drink was made.
The flavour of tequila can change significantly depending upon how it is made. In part this is because the blue agave plant has a different taste depending upon where it is grown. Tequila plants which are grown higher in the mountains produce agaves which are both bigger in size and a bit sweeter than those which are grown lower down the mountains. However the taste also changes depending upon the production process.
Mixto tequila is produced using sugar whilst 100% agave tequila contains no sugar and thus has a stronger flavour. Both types of tequila can either be drunk straight after they have been distilled or after they have been aged in barrels. This stage of the process strongly affects the taste of the tequila. Different types of barrel can be used and the wood which the barrel is made of will affect the flavour of it. What´s more is that the tequila may be aged for a few months or for many years.
This means that there are many different types of tequila. "Blanco" tequila is un-aged whilst "reposado" is aged for between 2 months and a year. "Joven" tequila is a mixture of the blanco and reposado tequilas. Then "anejo" tequila is tequila which has been aged for between one and three years and "extra anejo" tequila ages for more than three years!
Interestingly Tequila can only be legally produced in certain areas of Mexico. It can be made throughout Jalisco and in some parts of Guanajuato, Michoacán, Nayarit and Tamaulipas. It can´t be made in other countries either as the Mexicans have claimed exclusive rights to the word. Also whilst people think that it is possible to buy tequila with worms this is actually a misconception. The drinks which contain the worm´s are actually Mezcals produced in the south of Mexico, in Oaxaca.
History of Tequila
Tequila is currently produced by distillation, a process brought by the Spaniards. However, the natives were already familiar with the agave plant and its uses. They would ferment its sap to produce “Octli” or “Pulque”, an alcohol that is still traditionally produced in the Valley of Mexico.
Tequila was first mass produced around a hundred years later by Don Pedro Sánchez de Tagle who was the Marquis of Altamira. Tequila was first exported to the United States by Don Cenobio Sauza whose own tequila brand was called Sauza Tequila. It was Sauza´s grandson who began to insist that real tequila had to come from places where agaves were grown, meaning that it had to come from Mexico, and from the state of Jalisco.
Tequilas popularity has grown since the 1990s. Some of the most famous tequila brands, Sauza tequila and El Tesoro were bought by the American company Fortune Brands.
Nowadays many brands of tequila are owned by international companies, though there are some tequila brands which continue to be family run.
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