The House of the Tequila Review in the Shopping Guide
The first thing to know about this nectar of the God’s is that real tequila must be made in Jalisco, Mexico (the state where Puerto Vallarta is), in accordance with the Mexican law and international agreement. The second is that tequila is made with one hundred per cent agave, a type of cactus. The label must contain these two pieces of information to ensure you are purchasing pure tequila.
There are four different types of tequila, distinguished by the amount of time they are aged. The one that is bottled fresh from the still is blanco; this is the best type of tequila for margaritas. Tequila that rests for two to eleven months before bottling is called Reposado. Añejo spends at least one year fermenting and Premium Añejo enjoys one and one half or more years in the barrel before being bottled.
The older the tequila the more expensive it is. The age of the tequila refers to the time spent fermenting before bottling; there is no vintage year as with wine.
Agave grows and is harvested year round, unlike grapes which have a seasonal harvest time which indicates the vintage of wine.
The tasting bar at La Casa del Tequila is lined with around fifty bottles of tequila, some in unassuming clear glass bottles and others in curvy red bottles (Doña Añejo), or beautifully painted ceramic bottles, like the La Cofradía Iguana Edition. They have the household names including Don Julio and many small batch brands.
Good tequila is one that you can sip, not slam. The Mexicans drink tequila at room temperature from a caballito, a tall, skinny, shot glass that holds around two ounces of the Mexican water. They usually accompany the tequila with another caballito of lime juice and or sangrita (a spicy tomato juice), drinking alternately from each glass.
If all of this talk of tequila has made you loco, Brimi will guide you through the differences until it all makes sense, or at least until you find a tequila you like. And that is what is important when choosing tequila, that you like it; though a fancy bottle is nice too.
