Spirits 101: Tequila

It may be a cold, dreary rainy day in New Jersey, but warmer temps are right around the corner! We're only one weekend away from Cinco de Mayo, and what better way to get into the mood than with a quick refresher course on Tequila?

Tequila is made only in Mexico. The country even has an international right to the name and threatens legal actions on other countries that try to manufacture the liquor. It comes from the blue agave cactus, which can only be grown in certain parts of Mexico that have a favorable red-volcanic soil.

Tequila's roots began in the 16th century, when the Spanish conquistadors arrived, and eventually ran out of Brandy. Instead, they distilled liquor from the agave plant. Tequila began being mass-produced in 1600 and was first distributed into the United States in the mid to late 1800s.

Tequila is usually bottled in one of five categories:
-Blanco ("white") or plata ("silver"): white spirit, un-aged and bottled or stored immediately after distillation, or aged less than two months in stainless steel or neutral oak barrels
-Joven ("young") or oro ("gold"): a mixture of blanco tequila and reposado tequila (Ex. José Cuervo Oro)
-Reposado ("rested"): aged a minimum of two months, but less than a year in oak barrels of any size
-Añejo ("aged" or "vintage"): aged a minimum of one year, but less than three years in small oak barrels
-Extra Añejo ("extra aged" or "ultra aged"): aged a minimum of three years in oak barrels.

Tequila is aged in barrels made from oak that is usually imported fro the US, France or Canada. Sometimes the distillery will char the wood to impart a smoky flavor to the spirit. Another technique for flavor is to age the tequila in barrels that were previously used other alcohol, such as whiskey, or even wine.

There's a common association with tequila and the presence of a worm. The presence of a worm in a type of tequila called mezcal, was actually started as a marketing gimmick in the 1940s. In truth, the presence of a worm in the agave plant indicates an infestation, and if there's a worm in the tequila it's a very poor quality spirit.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the most expensive bottle of spirits ever sold was a one-liter bottle of limited-edition premium tequila which sold for $225,000 in July 2006 in Tequila, Jalisco, by the company Tequila Ley .925. The bottle which contains the tequila is a two-kilo display of platinum and gold.