Alcademics

Tag: tequila

  • Paloma History – Tracing the Facts and Fiction about this Tequila Cocktail’s History

    I'm still searching for the first book reference to La Paloma, the cocktail with tequila, grapefruit soda, a squeeze of lime, and a dash of salt. However we know enough information about the drink's history – especially the false parts of the drink's history – to push the conversation forward. 

    Finding the False Lead: Popular Cocktails of the Rio Grande

    For years, the Wikipedia entry for this drink cited a first reference as coming from Popular Cocktails of the Rio Grande, and this reference was cited and spread throughout the internet. Nobody could seem to find a reference to this book though. The answer to this mystery comes from Jeremy Foyd of the Distinguished Spirits YouTube channel. As he mentions in his video entry for the Paloma, the reference is a clearly fake. 

    Jeremy Foyd and I emailed back and forth about it, and here's what Foyd had to say:

    In terms of Popular Cocktails of the Rio Grande, I really dug into that one. The book was not registered with the Copyright Office and no one named Evan Harrison has registered works. That doesn’t mean anything definitively if it was self-published, but if it was self-published, it may also be a red flag in terms of authenticity.

    The references to Rio Grande only date back to when it first appeared on Wikipedia. The first references to Rio Grande popped up almost a year to the day when it first appeared on Wikipedia. The first reference to Rio Grande was Feb 17 2013 and Rio Grande was added to Wikipedia on Feb 16 2012. Its first entry on Wikipedia was not cited in the References and Sources sections. The entry was made at 2am from a cell phone in Connecticut. The location in CT was about 2 hours outside Cambridge, MA.

    The subsequent 12 changes to the Rio Grande Wikipedia entry all happened between Nov 9, 2013 and Nov 30, 2013. Each entry, with the exception of one, was made from an IP address in Cambridge, MA. All of the entries embellished, changed and gave more and more elaborate and obviously bogus details to the story. One of the changes was the following:

    The first published recipe for The Paloma is attributed to Evan Harrison in a 1953 pamphlet entitled, "Popular Cocktails of The Rio Grande" but it was thought to be created by rival tavern manager Manuel Gonzales who named it for his true love. Manuel had courted her for many years but when Evan published the drink in his pamphlet Manuel in a fit of jealous rage arrived to her small pueblo of La Guadalupe del Tortugas and shot both her and himself in front of her family at her Fiesta de quince años . Legend has it his last words were "con limon, no es pomelo." Which is a crazy story, because is means the rival tavern manager started courting this girl when she was 11, in order to kill her at her 15th birthday party 4 years later. But such was life in 1950's Mexico.

    Clearly just spam. Then a moderator pulled the reference to Rio Grande from the Wikipedia page and no one tried to add it back.

    There is a bartender who has worked at several bars in the Cambridge area named Evan Harrison. He currently works at two places, one of which, Mamaleh’s, he owns a piece of. Evan’s jokey profile on Mamaleh’s website says, "EVAN HARRISON. OWNER / BAR MANAGER. Is a bartender from Texas with a dual degree in feminist studies and a language he doesn’t speak who, according to some sources, invented the Paloma cocktail fifty years before he was born."

    Here’s my hypothesis on this situation, it seems like Evan or Evan’s buddies, put this up on Wikipedia maybe as a joke. Then almost two years later, elaborated on that joke to make it obvious that it was spam. When the adult in the room caught on, they pulled the reference and the pranksters let it die. But by then it had already been cited in a couple blogs and other bloggers just passed along the bogus info.

    Anyway, looking at all of that has made me fairly confident that this was a joke that got out of hand and I’m certain that Popular Cocktails of the Rio Grande does not exist.

    Excellent sleuthing Mr. Foyd. 

    8/24/18: Update to this story: I received an email about the Harrison Hoax which clears things up. It turns out that wasn't the only drink that lead to some false founder assertions on the internet. A bartender writes: 

    In 2009 a couple of ridiculous jokesters from Drink [Boston] decided to make changes to some wikipedia pages on cocktails to see who would notice it. No one around us except our friends cared about drinks and we were curious how long it would take to see it changed back (I won't reveal the exact people who made this change). There were some funny consequences. From what I remember the following edits were posted: Misty Kalkofen invented the Margarita,Scott Marshall invented the Mai Tai, John Gertsen the Sazerac, Josey Packard the Old Fashioned, and I was listed as inventing the Bijou (which wasn't edited out until about 2 or 3 years ago).  

     

    Don Javier of La Capilla

    The other popular theory is that the Paloma was created by Don Javier of the famous bar in the town of Tequila, Mexico, called La Capilla. Don Javier has denied creating the Paloma, according to Jim Meehan in his new Meehan's Bartender Manual. 

     

    The Squirt and Grapefruit Connection

    Meehan reached out to me a while back as I had done some research on the Paloma for a presentation I gave years ago. Meehan says in his book that he first saw the recipe in David Wondrich's 2005 book Killer Cocktails, and further that "Neither the combination of ingredients nor the name appears in any recipe guides before this, despite Squirt's being imported to Mexico in 1955 and the maker's claim that it became popular as a mixer in cocktails like the Paloma in the 1950s." 

     

    The latter bit of information about Squirt came from my research. I found the following curious timeline on the Squirt website. It claims that the soda was used for Palomas in the early 1950s, yet it wasn't exported to Mexico until 1955. (If we take this to be true, that means the Paloma is actually an American drink.)

     

    Squirt in paloma

    Here is what I found researching grapefruit sodas and grapefruit generally:

    Squirt soda was invented in 1938 in Phoenix, AZ. As far as I can find, it was the first commercial grapefruit soda. Other grapefruit sodas are:

    • Squirt created 1938 
    • Rummy, a short-lived soda created in 1948
    • 1950 Jarritos created (no grapefruit initially)
    • 1955: Squirt first exported to Mexico
    • 1966: Fresca invented
    • 1976: Ting created

    Grapefruit production in Mexico didn't take off until the 1960s, according to some citrus research I did.

    My belief, based on intuition ab0out how cocktails come to be and the timeline of grapefruits in Mexico, is that the Paloma never existed before grapefruit soda did. I doubt that there is a tradition of fresh grapefruit used in the Paloma, but that's yet to be proven. 

    Back to David Wondrich, via Jim Meehan's book: "According to Wondrich, 'In the 1940s, you start seeing references in Mexico to 'changuirongo,' which is simply tequila cut with soda- any kinds, from ginger ale to Coke to whatever.'"

    This aligns with my beliefs as well – people put spirits into sodas, and eventually someone put squirt with tequila and figured it was delicious. Though I never trust any definitive history of a spirit-and-soda highball, I'd still love to find the first reference to this drink. 

    A Squirt advertisement from 1963, visible here (the carousel ad), mentions tequila by name (along with other base spirits) with Squirt. 

    Wondrich responded to this post on Twitter with an ad from 1973, in which Squirt advises you to try it mixed with your favorite drink: gin, vodka, whiskey, rum, or tequila. They don't call out the Paloma by name, but neither do they for any of the others. 

     

    Wondrich further tweeted that the first reference he's found by name doesn't come all the way until 2001: 

     

     

    And then mid-tweeting, he found an earlier book reference from 2000:  

     

    So then our goal as researchers is to now find the first reference to the Paloma in a book, ideally before Wondrich's Killer Cocktails from 2005 Cowboy Cocktails in 2000. 

    Below is what I've found (or rather, not found):

     

    Searching for the Paloma in Vintage Cocktail Books

    Jeremy Foyd says, "I’ve got the 1947 Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide and the Paloma is not in that one. The only tequila drink is the El Diablo."

    He follows, "I have 4 Floridita books from 1939. I didn’t see any Palomas in them. However, there is a Tequila Cocktail in each one that is basically a Tequila sour. The Tequila Cocktail was the only drink with tequila in it in each book." 

    I asked Marcovaldo Dionysos, who owns a ton of cocktail books from this era, about the drink. I thought it might turn up in the old Esquire cocktail books, which are a great source of first references to many drinks. He wrote, "

    No luck on the Esquire books. 1949 & 1956 have no Paloma. I found a Paloma in a book published in Madrid in 1957 (El Bar en el Mundo), but it’s a different drink (gin, orange juice, Cointreau). No mention in the Trader Vic books, even in his Book of Mexican Cooking (1973).

    I think of the Paloma as a Mexican drink with just tequila and Squirt, with maybe a squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of salt, though it has gotten the craft bar treatment in the last 10-15 years or so. I’m not sure when it would have been first mentioned as a proper drink.

     

    So, do you, dear reader, have any cocktail books written between say 1940 and 2005 that you can check for me? I don't know where we'll find the Paloma, but we can certainly eliminate some books. For example:

    • 1937: The Cafe Royal Cocktail Book lists both tequila and grapefruit in the book, but not in the same recipe. 
    • 1948: I have the Mud Puddle Books printing of David Embury's The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks (I'm not sure if this is the 1948, 1952, or 1958 edition or a combination of all three). It is not in this book, despite it mentioning a Tequila Collins, Tequila Fizz, and Tequila Sour. 

    Let me know if you find anything!

     Here's another one that came in over Twitter:

     

     

    Update! David Wondrich found a 1950 Squirt ad, not the Paloma by name but the drink:

  • Tequila is the New Vodka; Tequila is the New Scotch in LA Times Magazine

    I've brought up one side of this topic before here on Alcademics, but now both sides are in a magazine.

    In today's Los Angeles Times Magazine I have a story on tequila, looking at how brands are being produced and marketed – some like vodka; others like scotch. 

    As our preference for 100 percent agave tequila grows, it’s no surprise that brands are now popping up to take advantage of that trend. But what is really interesting are the niches tequila is carving out: Some are being bottled in sleek vessels complete with the same marketing and mystique that seems to be inspired by premium vodkas, while other new tequilas are promoting the artisanal, historical and romantic notions of the agave spirit, akin to scotch whisky—even if the brands were created within the last week.

    It's a whopping 1,000 word story. Please give it a read and let me know what you think. 

    Tequilastoryphoto
    (Photo: BRIAN LEATART for LA Times Magazine)

  • The Humble Potato and the Dangers of Monoculture

    Recently I watch the documentary The Botany of Desire on Netflix, based on the Michael Pollan book of the same name. Of the four plants they focussed on, one was the potato. And as I was planning a trip to visit a potato vodka distillery, I decided to take notes.

    Chopin Distillery Trip Paris and Warsaw 236

    The Origin of the Potato

    Potatoes originate in the Andes mountain in South America and were first domesticated 8000 years ago. There are more than 5000 potato varieties in the Andes region.

    The potato in the wild is poisonous, but over time people bred out the more poisonous ones. Early Peruvians grew many varieties of potatoes depending on the altitude/direction of the hill.

    Potatoes were grown by Incas. Spanish conquistadores brought them back to Europe.

    The Potato in Europe

    In Europe potatoes grew well in poor soils in northern countries, wet areas where grains were hit or miss. The potato provides an immense amount of food per acre. It may have helped the industrial revolution to happen, as less people were needed in the fields to grow it.

    The Irish planted almost exclusively one strain of potato. In 1845 a wind-spread fungal spore brought by a ship spread across the whole country and turned the potatoes black within weeks. The Irish potato famine lasted for 3 years and killed many people. Monoculture = bad.

    Chopin Distillery Trip Paris and Warsaw 241

    The Potato in America

    Each year Americans consumer 7.5 billion pounds of French fries. Russett-Burbank is the potato variety used to make those fries everywhere in the world- and in particular by McDonald's. Pollan says “Monocultures on the plate lead to monocultures on the land.”

    When you have a monoculture it essentially stops evolution of that plant, while the pests who want to prey on the plants continue to evolve. And once one finds a way to get one plant, it have access to all of them.

    Monsanto has genetically engineered potatoes to kill the potato beetle, its main pest. People started planting them, and McDonald’s used them in the late 1990s but after consumer pressure and a potential PR problem, they phased them out. This effectively killed the genetically engineered potato. That said, corn, soybeans, and cotton are all genetically engineered by Monsanto.

    But when growing a monoculture, you have to choose between using lots of pesticides or using genetically engineered crops. The solution, says Pollan, is not to grow monocultures.

    I fear for agave.

    Mexico with Julio Bermejo 049

  • Casa Noble Distillery Visit

    Way back in February I took a quick trip to Mexico to visit the distillery La Cofradia, where they make Casa Noble tequila. They make other brands there too, but I was there as the guest of their flagship brand Casa Noble.

    A Beautiful Distillery

    La Cofradia is located about a mile outside of the town of Tequila in the Lowlands of Mexico about 45 minutes outside Guadalajara. In Mexico a few distilleries cultivate a garden-like environment but here they take it to another level. There is a central courtyard with trees, a duck pond, a little cafe, and a set of four cottages where visitors like me can stay. 

    La cofradia sign2_tn

    Casa Noble Tequila Production

    Casa Noble is a certified organic 100% agave tequila. In order to be organicaly certified you need to prove that the land has been organically farmed and not had chemicals used on it for a certain number of years. Casa Noble avoided that problem by purchasing virgin land in Nayarit and planting fresh agave there. Nayarit is one of the five states where it is legal to grow agave, though nearly all of it comes from the state of Jalisco where the distillery is located.

    Thus Casa Noble uses estate-grown agave. This is a growing trend in the tequila industry; producers owning or renting the agave fields so they can control the both the care and harvest of it, but also the price, avoiding the dramatic gluts and shortages of agave in the industry as a result of its long, 6-11 year growing cycle.

    Casa Noble jimador5_tn
    (Agave pina (pineapple))

    The fields in Nayarit are at an elevation of about 4000 feet, higher than some of the Highlands. Yet the agaves I saw at the distillery were much smaller than Highland agave I've seen. Those are often 200 pounds compared with the 110 pound or so average at Casa Noble (and thus only had to be split in half before baking; some Highland producers split theirs into quarters). They purposefully chose an isolated location for their fields, because they are organic: they wouldn't want airborne agave diseases to spread to their fields.

    After harvest, the agave pinas are brought to the distillery where they'll be baked, shredded, fermented, and distilled. Baking converts the complex sugars in the agave into simpler, fermentable sugars.

    Agave fibers1 Casa Noble_tn
    (Closeup of piece of agave. You can see the fibers. The sugars are stored between these fibers which is why agave is shredded after baking to release them.)

    Baking and Shredding

    La Cofradia has 5 hornos (ovens), 3 large 40-ton ones and 2 smaller 20-ton ones. The agave is steam baked for 36-38 hours. Then it cools before the next step. They hasten the cooling process by using large fans blowing through the two sides of the oven.

    Ovens Casa Noble distillery_tn

    When agave is cooking with steam, the first water than runs off the bottom is called "bitter honey" and it is discarded. The next mass of water is called the "oven honey" and this is collected. We sampled this water- its sweet, watery, and has a vinegar note to it. (David Yan, Marketing Director there, says he's used a refined version of this as a vinegrette on salads.)

    Baked agave Casa Noble distillery2_tn
    (Baked agave.)

    After baking the agave is shredded to expose the fermentable sugars that can be washed out and fermented. At La Cofradia they have a unique system: First the baked agave pinas are put through a sort of wood chipper (not a roller mill) with water. This water is collected and they call it the "fat extraction."

    Next the chipped agave goes into a two "extractors" that are shaped like horizontal metal tubes. The first part of the extractor is like a corkscrew that compresses the fibers in the agave. Then it passes through to a set of paddles on a central axis that spins the agave fibers outward and washes them with water.  Apparently this helps separate the fibers without neccesarily shredding them.

    Extractor diagram
    (Diagram of extractor from my notes.)

    Fermenting and Distilling

    Now, onto fermentation. They ferment the combination of the oven honey, fat extraction, and agave juice from the extractors. Yeast is added that feeds on the fermentable sugars and converts it into alcohol plus CO2. While filling the fermentation vats, they bubble air into the tank, which they say makes the yeast reproduce more. This increases their alcohol conversion by an extra 1-2%.

    Agave juice about to be fermented Casa Noble distillery_tn
    (Ready for fermentation.)

    After fermentation (3-5 days, depending on the time of year), the yeast has died and the juice is called "mosto muerto." Now it's time to concentrate the alcohol through distillation.

    At La Cofradia they have large and small stills for the first and second/third distillations. The first, large stillas are called "destroyers" and their job is to get rid of most of the heads and tails.The resultant spirit is 22% alcohol.

    Large and small stills Casa Noble distillery_tn
    (Destroyer stills closer, smaller stills further away.)

    The smaller stills are used for both a second and third distillation that refine the spirit. Though the first distillation cuts most of the heads and tails, there are smaller cuts on the second and third distillations. Both bring the alcohol to 55% ABV. (For most of the other brands that are produced at La Cofradia, they distill only twice. As this is the flagship brand they refine it more.)

    After distillation (or, in the case of the aged tequilas, after aging) the tequila is filtered through micro-cellulose fibers and diluted to proof. The blanco (only?) is oxygenated before bottling for 8-12 hours.

    Aging and Tasting

    The barrels for aging Casa Noble come from the Taransaud cooperage in France. They're new French oak with a light #1 char, and nobody else in Mexico uses these barrels.The tequila goes into the casks at 55% ABV from the still (not watered down before barreling).

    French oak barrels casa noble distillery2_tn
    (New French oak barrels.)

    Interestingly, the tequila destined to be anejo (minimum 1 year aging) goes into new casks. The reposado (2 months to 1 year aging) goes into refilled caks. (More often, brands will use newer casks for reposado tequilas and older ones for anejo so that the wood affects the spirit more in a shorter time for the reposado.) They refill these casks for reposado 7-8 times.

    Cristal/Blanco: This tastes of nickel and minerals, white and red pepper, and "agave sticks" according to my tasting notes.

    Reposado: The reposado is aged for 364 days, the maximum amount before it would be in the anejo category. Reposado is aged in all 228-liter barrels. My tasting notes were: Boo-berry, strawberry cream popsicle, and white flowers.

    Michael B Dougherty casa noble3_tn
    (Tasting.)

    Anejo: Here's where Casa Noble separates itself from the pack yet again. Though all barrels are new French oak from Taransaud, they actually use three different sizes of barrels: 114 liter, 228 liter (about the size of bourbon barrels), and 350 liter barrels. These are blended together to create the anejo.

    The anejo is aged for 2 years. (Anejo is aged a minimum of one year. Extra-anejo starts at three years.) You can definitely taste all three of the below flavor profiles in the anejo.

    We were given the opportunity to taste tequila aged in each of the three sizes of barrels, each of them for a little under two years.

    114 liter: bitter wood, used peanut oil
    228 liter: fruit, dusty Boo-Berry, most similar to the reposado
    350 liter: floral, strawberry juice, light

    Now, besides Casa Noble, I can only think of one other set of brands that ages their spirit in similar casks of different sizes: Jim Beam. Laphroaig and Ardmore both do "quarter cask" programs.

    So, Wow.

    This is a distillery that uses traditional methods in many ways (stone ovens, gentle agave processing) yet has built their system from the ground up (new agave fields, agave processing methods, distillation, aging). And it's all done in a lovely setting to which I'd love to return someday.

    Casa noble hotel5_tn

     

  • Sherry is to Tequila as Vermouth is to Whiskey

    Sherry and tequila are showing up together on more and more cocktail menus. I wrote a story about that in the Sunday, February 20th San Francisco Chronicle. 

    Del rio
    (Del Rio cocktail by Josh Harris of the Bon Vivants. Photo: Craig Lee)

    More drinks including Tequila and Sherry
    Camper English, Special to The Chronicle

    Sherry and Tequila are having a love affair. Bartenders are using more of each ingredient lately, but increasingly you'll see the two sneaking off in a drink together, canoodling in a corner of the cocktail menu.

    One of the first outward signs of this attraction came in the form of La Perla, a drink created several years ago by beverage consultant Jacques Bezuidenhout, which is still on the menu at Bourbon & Branch. The cocktail contains reposado (lightly aged) Tequila, manzanilla Sherry and pear liqueur.

    A not-too dissimilar flavor combination has popped up recently. At the Hideout at Dalva, a tiny backroom cocktail bar in the Mission District, Josh Harris serves the Del Rio. The drink is made with blanco, or unaged, Tequila, fino Sherry, St. Germain elderflower liqueur, plus a dash of orange bitters and a grapefruit zest.

    At Gitane, the Sherry-centric Claude Lane restaurant, bar manager Alex Smith and two other bartenders collaborated on a drink called the Flor Delice, made with reposado, manzanilla, St. Germain and orange bitters, plus maraschino liqueur.

    In New York, this combination shows up yet again on the menu at Mayahuel, a bar dedicated to Tequila and mezcal. The Suro-Mago uses blanco, manzanilla, elderflower and orange bitters, and adds a rinse of mezcal to give it a smoky touch.

     Read the rest of the story and get the recipe for the Del Rio, a simple and delicious drink.

  • Tequila Distillery Visit: Patron

    In November I visited seven tequila distilleries in Mexico. Here are some pictures and notes from my visit to the Patron distillery in the town of Atotonilco.

    Patron tequila distillery_tn(The distillery is on a huge plot of land. It's a huge distillery. This is the front gate.)

    Hacienda patron tequila distillery2_tn
    (This is the hacienda, which is the center of the distillery. Nice place.)

    Roller mill patron tequila distillery_tn
    (This is agave going in to the rollermill. Patron is 50% rollermill agave and 50% tahona agave.)

    Tahona agave wooden fermentionation tanks patron tequila distillery_tn
    (Fermenting tahona agave. Tahona agave ferments and is distilled with the fibers.)

    Composting machines patron tequila distillery_tn
    (Outside the distillery they prepare the spent agave to be fertilizer.)

    Aging casks patron tequila distillery_tn
    (They use a mix of barrels for Patron.)

    • The distillery is actually 12 distilleries operating independently. 
    • Most of the agave comes from the highlands
    • They recycle the first agave juice out of the ovens, don't use it for fermentation
    • Ferment in pine wood, not stainless
    • Have unusual stills designed by master distiller
    • Tahona agave takes 2 hours to crush
    • Patron silver is 75% of sales, reposado accounts for 10 percent and anejo accounts for 15

  • Tequila Distillery Visit: Don Julio

    In November I visited seven tequila distilleries in Mexico. Here are some pictures and notes from my visit to the Don Julio distillery in the town of Atotonilco.

    Cutting agave tequila don julio distillery_tn
    (Cutting up the pinas before baking.)

    Agave pinas tequila don julio distillery_tn
    (Now when I see pinas, I get thirsty.)

    Fermenting agave juice tequila don julio distillery_tn
    (Fermenting agave.)

    Stainless stills with copper inside tequila don julio distillery_tn
    (Stainless steel pot stills.)

    Our team's shots luxury drop contest tequila don julio distillery_tn
    (We had a cocktail contest after the distillery visit. My team of writers won, of course.)

    • Don Julio uses all estate-grown agaves
    • Has a widerspacing between agaves than average
    • They have 18 furnaces, each of which holds 25 tons
    • Fermentation takes 24-30 hours
    • Their agave is larger than industry standards, with a higher sugar content
    • Inside the stainless steel stills is a copper coil

  • Tequila Distillery Visit: Sauza

    In November I visited seven tequila distilleries in Mexico. Here are some pictures and notes from my visit to the Sauza distillery in the town of Tequila.

    Tequila sauza agave nursery2_tn
    (First we visited the agave nursery. Sauza is unique in that they propagate their agave not by using baby plants but by… fancier scientific means.)

    Sprouted agave tequila sauza agave nursery_tn
    (This is what an agave looks like if allowed to propagate.)

    Sprouted agave tequila sauza agave nursery2_tn
    (You can see close-up that instead of producing seeds, the mother plant produces little baby plants.)

    Talk about sprouting sprouted agave tequila sauza agave nursery2_tn
    (We had a lecture about plant propagation.)

    Cooked juice tequila sauza distillery_tn
    (I just like this picture from the distillery.)

    Diffuser tequila sauza distillery_tn
    (This is the diffuser. Super clean at Sauza.)

    • The blue color of agave comes from a wax on the plant. This wax covers the pores of the plant to protect it from drying out in the dry season.
    • Unlike most tequila distilleries, at Sauza they shred agave and use the diffuser before they cook the agave juice in autoclaves.
    • Then they only cook the juice for 3-4 hours.
    • They ferment in covered fermentation tanks
    • The first distillation is in a column still, second in a stainless steel pot still
    • The Tres Generaciones line has a third distillation in a copper pot still

     

  • Tequila Distillery Visit: Herradura

    In November I visited seven tequila distilleries in Mexico. Here are some pictures and notes from my visit to theHerradura distillery in the town of Amatitan.

    Stacks of agave tequila herradura distillery_tn
    (Here they split the agave in two before baking.)

    Fermentation tanks tequila herradura distillery_tn
    (The magic of Herradura is that it ferments naturally- no yeast is added.)

    Barrel aging tequila herradura distillery_tn
    (Sleeping tequila.)

    • Agave grows for 7-10 years before harvesting
    • Jimadors work for 6 hours a day and harvest about 120 plants
    • They use clay/brick ovens, each one holding about 48 tons
    • Agave cooks for 26 hours then cools for 24
    • They use a rollermill to shred the agave after cooking, then a diffuser to get out the last bits of sugar
    • The fermentation takes about 4 days
    • The first distillation takes 3 hours, the second 6
    • They use stainless steel stills
    • They don't move the barrels around, refill them where they are. Use same barrels for about 10 years before replacing
    • Between Herradura, El Jimador, and Antiguo, all of which are 100% agave products, they say the only difference is the amount of aging and the percent of alcohol. [That's not quite true, here is a chart that spells out the differences.]
    • They age in all new American oak barrels. 
    • The reposado is aged for 11 months

  • Tequila Distillery Visit: Jose Cuervo

    In November I visited seven tequila distilleries in Mexico. Here are some pictures and notes from my visit to the Jose Cuervo distillery in the town of Tequila.

    Tequila jose cuervo agave fields2_tn(First we visited an agave field.)

    Sharpening coa tequila jose cuervo agave fields_tn
    (The jimador harvested the agave plant to get the pina, or pineapple, center.)

    Camper english planting agave at tequila jose cuervo field4_tn
    (I planted my own agave from the cuttings of a mother plant. I'll need to go back there in 7 or so years and drink that sucker.)

    Loading agave ovens tequila jose cuervo distillery2_tn
    (After harvesting, they load the agave pinas into the ovens. I didn't notice at the time, but it appears they put the whole agaves into the ovens without chopping them into smaller pieces.)

    Copper pot stills tequila jose cuervo distillery2_tn
    (Copper pot stills.)

    Barrel sample tequila jose cuervo distillery_tn
    (We sampled some Reserva de la Famila out of the barrel.)

    • April and May are the planting months for agave
    • Agave is harvested year-round, though they usually avoid the rainiest month
    • Cuervo irrigates their agave
    • They prune the leaves of their agave plants for three reasons: Because they're sharp, to avoid insects laying eggs in them, and to help the heart grow faster
    • For Reserva de la Familia, they cut out the cogollo, not for the mixto
    • Cuervo owns 4 distilleries
    • The distillery had 110,000 visitors last year
    • They use only oven, no autoclaves
    • The product of the first distillation, called ordinario, is cloudy
    • Heads and tails are called vinasas. They are mixed with the agave fibers and made into fertilizer. This happens here and at most distilleries we visited.
    • Reserva de la Familia agave is grown in special fields. It is aged in a combination of French and American oak barrels.

     

     

    Crow in cage tequila jose cuervo distillery_tn
    (I think it's a raven and not a crow, but hey look, I took a cool picture!)

    Horse and lasso show tequila jose cuervo distillery4_tn
    (We had a horse and lasso show before dinner. )