For many of us, tequila conjures up images of crazy college kids doing shots or an old-West gunslinger knocking back a glass of high-octane rotgut, worm and all. Unfortunately, tequila has a persistent reputation as a cheap, quick, awful-tasting way to get blasted. You probably know people who will swear up and down that tequila turns them into a raging animal or—as the country song says—makes their “clothes fall off.”
In fact, tequila has become so notorious that it has its own category of jokes:
· “One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, FLOOR!”
· “Trust me, you can dance.—Tequila”
But does tequila deserve its reputation as the bad boy of booze?
In honor of National Tequila Day this July 24th, it’s time to take an honest look at Mexico’s iconic spirit. In this blog, we’re going to separate the facts from the myths and teach you everything you should know about tequila…or at least we’ll give it a shot!
What is (and is not) tequila?
To legally be called “tequila,” a liquor must be made either in the town of Tequila or somewhere within a specific five-state area of Central Mexico. The term “tequila” is a “denomination of origin,” meaning that it refers to a product made in a certain place and following certain guidelines. Other alcohols with denominations of origin include scotch (which must be made in Scotland), bourbon (which can only be made in the U.S.), and champagne (which can only be made in the Champagne region of France).
Tequila is made by fermenting the sugars in agave, the same plant used to make mezcal and agave spirits. To avoid confusion, let’s get those terms straight.
AGAVE SPIRITS
In its broad sense, “agave spirits” are any kind of alcohol made by fermenting the sugars of the agave plant. In that sense, both tequila and mezcal are agave spirits.
But when you see the term “agave spirits” on a bottle, it probably just means that the alcohol was made in the U.S. and therefore cannot be considered “tequila.”
MEZCAL
Mezcal is a broad category of liquors distilled in Mexico from fermented agave. Technically, tequila is a type of mezcal, just like champagne is a type of wine. However, mezcal and tequila are different in significant ways. First, mezcal can be made from any of nearly 30 different types of agave, whereas tequila is made from only one type, the blue agave (Latin name, Agave tequilana Weber var. azul). Second, when mezcal is made, the agave hearts are cooked underground in pits lined with hot rocks, whereas for tequila, the agave hearts are usually steamed. Third, mezcal typically has a smokier flavor due to the underground cooking process.
Although mezcal has taken longer than tequila to catch on in the U.S., it remains extremely popular in Mexico. In fact, a popular Mexican saying is "Para todo mal, mezcal, y para todo bien, también; y si no hay remedio litro y medio," which means "For all bad, mezcal, and for all good, as well; and if there is no remedy, a liter and a half!"
FUN FACT TO HELP YOU SOUND LIKE A TEQUILA AFICIONADO:
Tequila is not made from a cactus! Although the agave plant looks spiky, it actually belongs to the same plant group as Joshua trees and other yuccas.
What are the different types of tequila?
The three most popular types of tequila are called blanco, reposado, and añejo. Their main differences have to do with how long they are aged in wooden barrels as well as their resulting color and taste.
Blanco.
Also called plata, silver, or white tequila, blanco is considered to be the purest type of tequila for showcasing the essence of agave. Because it is bottled immediately after distillation (or aged in barrels for no more than two months), blanco retains the clear agave flavor and looks colorless in the bottle. Depending on where the agave plants were grown, you may also notice hints of citrus or pepper. A quality blanco is great for sipping on its own, or blanco is ideal for making most tequila cocktails.
The subcategory of joven (a/k/a gold or oro) tequila, is basically just blanco with something added such as caramel coloring or a bit of reposodo to give it a golden appearance. Other additives may include sugar, glycerin, or oak extracts.
Reposado
The word “reposado” means “rested,” which makes sense because reposado tequila is allowed to age from two months up to one year, usually in oak barrels that were previously used in the US to age bourbon. The barrels add resins and tannins to the tequila, which changes its nose and flavor. The longer the aging process goes, the less the tequila tastes like agave and the more it picks up hints of caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, chiles, or sweet woody flavors.
Añejo
Añejo, meaning “old” or “vintage,” is tequila that has been aged in barrels for 1-3 years. (Tequila that has been aged even longer than that is called extra añejo.) The extended aging process gives añejo its deep, bold tannic notes of chocolate, hazelnut, coffee, or black tea. Preferred by many as a sipping tequila, it is not the right tequila for many cocktails. The extra time and care to produce añejo tends to make it pricey. Purported to be the most expensive bottle in the world, the Tequila Ley .925 Diamante is worth $3.5 million! (Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the bottle is pure platinum and white gold and decorated with 4,100 white diamonds.)
Which tequila should I buy?
To choose the right tequila off the shelf, you need to know what you’re planning to use it for.
If you’re going to sip and savor it the way tequila is popularly enjoyed in Mexico—possibly with a tangy sangrita chaser—then it makes sense to buy a higher quality tequila like Don Julio 1942, Clasa Azul Plata, El Tesoro Añejo, or Patrόn Extra Añejo. But if you’re just going to take shots or use it in cocktails, a mid-quality tequila like Espolòn Tequila Blanco or Teremana Reposado will do just fine.
Although rating tequilas is somewhat subjective, it can be useful to consider the opinions of tequila enthusiasts. Check out this list of “30 best tequilas” or this ranking of store-bought brands. Brands that have earned solid reputations include Casa Noble, Clase Azul, Fortalenza, Patrόn, Don Julio, El Tesoro, El Taquileño, and Casa Dragones.
Whatever brand you buy, make sure it’s made with 100% blue agave. If the label doesn’t mention that it’s 100% agave, then it’s probably just a mixto, meaning that only 51% of the sugar has to come from agave. The rest may come from sugar cane, beets, or even corn syrup. Mixto tequilas are okay for frat-boy parties, but we don’t recommend them, not even for a cocktail.
One other detail to look for on the label is the word “tahona.” A tahona is a two-ton volcanic wheel that was traditionally used to crush the cooked agave fibers prior to fermentation. Using a tahona is a messy and laborious process, which is why most tequila producers have replaced them with modern machinery. But tequila made with the traditional tahona tends to have a richer taste and preserves more of the agave aroma and taste. It’s worth trying a tequila made the old-fashioned way to see if you prefer it. Certain tequilas, like Siete Leguas Reposado, even use a blend of the tahona and more modern milling methods to create a taste that’s definitely worth trying!
What cocktails should I make with tequila?
Up until forty years ago, it was practically impossible to find a good tequila in the U.S. But since the 1980s, importers have been bringing better and better tequilas into the country, and bartenders have gone nuts coming up with fun and creative new cocktails.
The OG tequila cocktail, of course, is a classic margarita. That’s still great, but so are its variations like the skinny, spicy, mezcal, mango, or cadillac margaritas. You can look online for delicious recipes for palomas, tequila sours, tequila sunrises, Mexican mules, bloody Marias, el diablos, or siestas. For a traditional drink from Jalico (the Mexican state where Tequila is located), try the cantarito, which is tequila with grapefruit juice, grapefruit soda, lime, orange juice, and salt. Or you can combine tequila with vodka, gin, and rum to make a Long Island Iced Tea. (There’s no way a cocktail with that much alcohol should taste so good!)
If you’re looking for something light and refreshing to beat the summer heat, try our agave-sweetened version of ranch water. You won’t be disappointed!
Will tequila turn me wild or make my clothes fall off?
Okay, we know we’re going to ruffle some feathers when we say this. But does tequila make you a “different kind of drunk” from other types of alcohol? The short answer is, no.
But the long answer is a little more complicated.
Ethanol, the ingredient in booze that makes you tipsy, is exactly the same chemical in beer, wine, gin, tequila, or any other type of alcohol. So, if you drink 0.6 ounces of ethanol in a shot of tequila, it won’t affect you any more or less than drinking 0.6 ounces of ethanol in a glass of wine or a can of beer.
That said, bear in mind that every alcohol has a different concentration of ethanol: tequila is around 50% ABV (alcohol by volume), while vodka has 40-95% ABV; whiskey, gin, and rum are around 36-50%; wine is around 15-24% and beer is way down around 4-8%. So yes, if you drank the same volume of tequila as you drank of most other alcohols (say, a full glass of each), then the tequila would make you more intoxicated just because it would contain more ethanol.
Also, there are other ingredients in a drink besides just ethanol and water, and those different ingredients can have a slight effect on the ways the body reacts. Alcohol that’s mixed with fizzy water, for example, will be absorbed into the blood stream a bit more quickly than alcohol that’s only mixed with water or fruit juice.
Still, by and large, alcohol is alcohol is alcohol.
The myth of tequila
So why will so many people swear up and down that tequila makes them feel wild and sexy, or that wine makes them feel chatty and social, or that beer makes them relax?
There are two likely reasons.
The first reason has to do with what researchers call “alcohol outcome expectancies..” These are beliefs that drinkers hold about what will happen if they drink a particular kind of alcohol. As human beings, we tend to see what we expect to see and feel what we expect to feel. If we go into a situation believing that a certain drink is going to make us feel more social (or excited, or relaxed), that expectancy can turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Over time, those expectancies can have a powerful effect on the ways we experience alcohol. Interestingly, many people start forming their alcohol outcome expectancies as children, long before they have any personal experience with drinking!
The second reason has to do with where, when, and why people drink. If you tend to order tequila when you go out partying and taking shots with friends, but you prefer sipping a gin and tonic when relaxing at home, what kinds of experiences are you learning to associate with each drink? Imagine if, instead, you always took shots of gin at parties but you sipped tequila slowly at home. Eventually, you might swear, “Tequila makes me relax, but gin makes me crazy!”
Does tequila give people headaches?
Technically, yes, tequila does give people headaches (or worse) when they drink too much, too quickly, without giving their bodies a break. The same is true of any kind of alcohol.
When they wake up with a pounding headache after a night of drinking, people don’t tend to blame it on the friends who kept goading them into drinking “one more” shot. They don’t blame themselves for not drinking enough water, not eating enough food, or not cutting off the tequila sooner. Of course not. They blame the tequila.
Does tequila help with weight loss?
You may have heard this one.
A few years ago, there was quite a stir after Mexican researchers published a study that found that mice lost weight when they were fed a diet with agavins, which are natural sugars produced in agave plants. Media outlets heard about the study and started claiming that tequila might help people lose weight since it, too, is made from agave.
Sadly, it was another example of the media reporting science they don’t really understand. Remember, the rats in the study weren’t fed tequila; they were fed water with agavins in it. Like any kind of sugar, the agavins that start out in agave plants are broken down into ethanol during the process of making tequila. By the time tequila is bottled and shipped, there are no agavins left in it. So even if it turns out that humans (like mice) can lose weight by consuming agavins, that doesn’t apply to tequila.
Sadly, similar claims that tequila can help control blood sugar, prevent diabetes, and provide other health benefits are also based on misunderstood science. On the bright side, raw agave does seem to have real health benefits, so maybe the agave syrup that you add to our ranch water recipe can actually be good for you!
What’s with the worm?
Despite what you may have seen in movies and commercials, there are no brands of tequila that contain a worm. The Mexican government prohibits the bottling of worms, insects, or any other animals in tequila.
However, there are certain brands of mezcal that are bottled with a “worm” inside—or rather, they contain the larva of a certain moth that lives on agave plants. Why would mezcal distillers put a “worm” in their bottles? Good question.
One theory says that a bottler in the mid-1900s started the practice because he thought it would improve the flavor. (We can’t endorse any drink whose flavor can be improved by adding a moth larva.) Others have said that the “worm” is just a marketing ploy, or that it’s visual proof of the mezcal’s potency. Some even claim that the “worm” has aphrodisiac and magical qualities, but we don’t feel qualified to evaluate those claims.
Can tequila be used to make diamonds?
There’s one last tequila legend that’s worth mentioning: can tequila be used to manufacture diamonds? The answer, surprisingly, is yes!
A team of Mexican scientists were experimenting to see if they could produce diamonds from acetone or various forms of alcohol. When they poured 80-proof tequila blanco over a silicon or stainless-steel substrate and then heated the vapor, the evaporated tequila left behind a thin film of diamonds.
"[O]ne morning on the way to the lab, I bought a pocket-size bottle of cheap white tequila and we did some tests," said one of the researchers. "We were in doubt over whether the great amount of chemicals present in tequila, other than water and ethanol, would contaminate or obstruct the process, it turned out to be not so. The results were amazing.”
These tequila diamonds aren’t large or suitable for jewelry, but they are actual diamonds with potential value in commercial uses. Plus, they make a great little party story.
There you have it; everything you need to know about tequila…or at least enough to be able to “talk tequila” at your next party.
Have a wonderful and responsible National Tequila Day!
