Tequila
Mexico's emblematic spirit, Tequila is an alcohol with
rich flavors with a very important cultural heritage. Today become
one of the most appreciated eaux-de-vie in the world, it exhales, when well worked,
delicious vegetal, spicy and herbaceous aromas.
You want to discover the process of making Tequila as well as
its differences with Mezcal?Follow the leader.
The making of Tequila
First of all, Tequila is made from agave, a
succulent plant native to Central America. If there are hundreds of
varieties, aloneWeber tequilana agave(Orblue agave) East
authorized for the production of Tequila. It takes about 7 to 10 years for
this plant is coming of age.
When harvested, the prickly leaves surrounding it are
eliminated in order to keep only the heart, calledpina.
It is within the latter that is contained inulin, a kind of starch whose
plant feeds.
The piñas will then undergo asteam cooking, having the effect ofconvert inulin to sugar. The agaves are then crushed in order to separate the fibers and only recover the sweet juice.
Start thenfermentation stage. The recovered agave juice
is at this time mixed with water, and under the action of yeasts, the sugars
will then be converted into alcohol.
The slightly alcoholic liquid will then bedistilled,
either in pot stills or in column stills. A double
distillation can be done for premium spirits.
Finally, the distillate obtained can,either be conversed in
inert containers(stainless steel tank or large tuns) so as not to
not alter its aromas,either be aged in oak barrelsduring several
months or years in order to give the tequila woody aromas.
Age statements
Several terms can be present on a bottle of tequila.
Some of them give information about the duration of
aging of the spirits sold.
White:white or colorless tequila. No minimum breeding is here
required. It is the most produced type of tequila, like the magnificentTequila Ocho Blanco.
Joven or Oro:it is Tequila Blanco to which certain dyes are added
or essences, in particular caramel, giving it its "gold" color.
Rested: this type of tequila must be aged for at least two months in wood.
Anejo:an Añejo tequila must have been aged in wood
of at least one year. An excellent example is that of theTequila Ocho Anejo.
Extra Year:the tequila here must be aged for at least three years in wood.
The main differences between Tequila and Mezcal
Tequila is often confused with Mezcal. Yet, if
the two alcohols are indeed from Mexico and both come from
agave, many differences exist, making it possible to better understand
their uniqueness.
First of all,it is only possible to produce Tequila within of 5 Mexican states: Jalisco(representing the essential
of production), Michoacan, Nayarit, Guanajuato as well as Tamaulipas.For
Mezcal, 8 producing states exist: Oaxaca (the most important), Michoacan,
Guanajuato, Tamaulipas, Guerrero, Durango, Zacatecas and Tamaulipas.
Moreover, if it is possible to use only one variety of Agave
to make Tequila (blue agave), mezcal can be
produced thanks to about thirty of them such as the Arroqueno, Jabali, Tobaziche species
orthe most widespread and common: the Espadín.
Moreover, you will have noticed that a mezcal is
characterized in tasting bysmoky aromas that can be very markedwhile the
Tequila generally does not exhibit these types of notes and will instead express itself on
a forest and plant register. This aromatic difference is linked to the
cooking agave: for tequila, piñas are indeed slowlycooked
steamed in brick ovenswhile those intended for
production of mezcal are cooked inroasting pits on the walls of
rock which is covered with earth, thus cooking the piñas.
Finally, another difference between mezcal and tequila comes
after this cooking operation. Indeed, iffor mezcal, he is
obligatory that the fermentation be carried out only with sugars coming from
agave, it is possible for tequila to add sugars from
other raw materials (such as sugar cane for example). Nevertheless, a
minimum of 51% agave sugar is still required. Thus, tequilas with
the 100% agave labelinsist that only agave sugars are used
during the fermentation process.
Conclusion
You will therefore have understood that if tequila and mezcal have very
many points in common, some differences still exist between the
two spirits.These disparities are actually an opportunityand allow distilleries to
to proposerich and varied aromatic profiles, capable of pleasing all
types of palaces. So let yourself be transported and explore the different facets of these delicious Mexican spirits!
