Happy International Tequila Day everyone!

In light of the "Holiday" I thought I would take this opportunity to teach Arfcom a little bit about Agave and all the amazing things that are made out of it.

So for most of you guys, when you start to think of tequila or agave, you probably have horrible memories of things like Jose Cuervo Gold and the horrible "coming to god" moments that come after drinking it. Well, it doesn't have to be such a terrible experience, and the class of spirits is far more in depth than you could ever imagine.

So lets start with the bigger family: Mezcal.

Mezcal, in this sense of the word, is any alcoholic spirit made out of agave (or in some categories sotol). I'll get back to this word later, but it means something different when used on bottles. Mezcal as a class originated when the Spanish colonist in Mexico realized the locals were making a rough beer out of crushed agave pinas (the soft sugary center of an agave), that had been previously roasted to focus the sugar, and allowing it to ferment. The spanish introduced the native people to the Filipino style clay stills that could be made locally by mexican ceramics workers. This spirit exploded in popularity with the locals but was regarded by the spanish as low quality spirit when compared to the brandies, sherries, and other spirits from the old world. The local people eventually started to standardize the practice and over centuries it became steeped in culture and local traditions. These traditions and small variations per area later became known by the classes I will discuss.

Let's start with the big dog; tequila. Tequila is in fact a mezcal. It is an alcoholic spirit made out of agave. The part that makes tequila different is that it is made from only one type of agave, the Blue Weber. On top of being legally required to be made out of blue weber, tequila can also only be made in the state of Jalisco and limited municipalities in the states of Guanajuato, Michoacán, Nayarit, and Tamaulipas. This is protected by a law, or NOM in mexico, that is recognized by over 40 countries. The other things that make tequila so much different is the break from the old tradition of roasting the agave pinas in a pit using mesquite wood. Instead tequila has shifted to large industrial ovens called autoclaves to roast their agave. Although some good brands do still use brick ovens to roast and steam (with the moisture inside the agave) the agave before fermenting.The roasted agave is then broken down in large shredders before being pressed to pull out all of the sugar and moisture. This extract is then added to spring or purified water and then fermented using either wild or cultivated yeast in large vats. This is then distilled in large pot or even column stills, and then water is added to typically bring it to 40% alcohol, then bottled. If the tequila is going to be aged, it is generally placed in a previously used oak barrel at the still proof, and then diluted after aging before bottling. Traditionally agave spirits were not aged, but instead drank Joven, or young.













Traditionally drank neat, out of a small ceramic bowl called a copita, tequila has transformed over the years into largely a cocktail drink or shooter. Unfortunately with the demand for low quality tequila for these uses we have seen an increase in additives such as caramel to color low quality tequilas like jose cuervo gold. The bests tequilas are going to clearly state 100% blue weber on the labeling.


If you would like to try a better quality tequila to see what they can actually be like try to find the Fortaleza blanco or still strength. These are amazing traditionally made tequilas.



And interesting thing often seen with tequila is a trend towards higher ratings for tequilas produced closer to traditional methods. Roasting the agave over days concentrates and caramelizes sugars in a way that cannot be achieved through chemical or quick cooking methods. Those flavors carry on all the way to the end product and makes up a large part of the flavors we all love and enjoy.

A thing to be aware of with tequila, is that production method drastically impacts flavor. Brick ovens slowly roast the agave over days. This caramelizes the sugars the same way as smoking a brisket. The flavor builds up over days, and everything breaks down to the point where the sugars are ready for fermentation. The next method, is the autoclave or pressure oven. These speed up this process. Some people use autoclaves under no pressure and just steam. This is still a multi-day roast. Others though, use it like an instapot and put multiple atmospheres of pressure to cook the agave in as little as 6 hours. The same way as some ribs coming out of a instapot are soft and tender but don't have as much flavor, is exactly what is happening here. The last method is a diffuser. These are MASSIVE machines, some 100's of yards long, that uses pressurized jets of water to cut the agave up without ever cooking it. Then, many using different acids to make the sugar available for fermentation. This leaves the end product having almost no flavor of the agave and harsh notes that many describe as "too sweet". This is because more sugar is being made available for distillation, but that sugar is concentrated and stripped away from the fatty lipids in the plant that carry the flavors we are used to.



Photo of a diffuser

Curious to get your take on the G4 108 proof.  I love the std G4 blanco but have not tried the high proof.  I am still getting used to the high proof blancos, but the Gran Dovejo I bought a few months ago is growing on me.

Just finished a pour of G4 108. What a treat that was.

Apparently Tequila Ocho has constructed a new distillery. This video only gives a small glimpse and leaves you with a lot of unanswered questions, but from what you can see it kind of seems like a blend of La Altena and El Pandillo (at least with the "tahona"). He says in the video that they will also be producing other brands of tequila. Perhaps we have more to look forward to from Carlos Camarena?

Is anyone in here familiar with the houston area?   I will going there for business and I am wondering if there are any shops that I might want to check out for some good agave juice.    A quick search makes me think that specs liquor could be worthwhile.    Any thoughts?    I will be SE of houston towards Seabrook.

The big specs on Smith street is awesome.
NASA liquor on east NASA parkway is great for agave
The big total wine on 45S right there by Nasa has also been a lucky spot for me.

I spend a lot of time in Houston for work and it's where I've gotten a lot of my agave collection.

Thanks!   I will actually be staying relatively close to NASA liquor so I will be sure to stop there as well as hitting Specs and that Total Wine if time permits.  

I switched jobs recently and will be traveling to the area several times per year for business - Maybe an agave toast will be in order if we are both in the area at the same time.

Back in Texas for work and stumbled across this, made by the Cascahuin folks according to the label.  I'm a big fan of their Tahona Blanco, so this looked like a good bet and I'm giving it a whirl.  Pretty citrus forward, mild pepper on the back end, smooth.  I'm liking it.



Edit, this one apparently wasn't the Cascahuin distillery, that was the bottle next to it I think.  I don't know, I saw Cascahuin on a label and got excited, but further research suggests this is a different distillery.  It's still worth a taste.

So I didn't realize that the big specs is closer to downtown.  I stopped in a small specs close to my hotel and didn't see anything interesting.

I made it to the Total Wine on 45S and bought 2 of the El Tesoro store pick reposados, a Tapatio blanco, and an ArteNOM 1579 blanco.  I've had some Tesoro store picks from other places and really enjoyed them, and the Tapatio was just convenient to get since I know I like it and I haven't found a good local place to buy it.  Also I noticed that Old Town Tequila is moving from 1L bottles of Tapatio to 750ml bottles so I picked up the 1L bottle that I saw at Total Wine.

I've never tried anything from ArteNOM and look forward to trying this bottle.  There was also a bottle of Fuentaseca Cosecha 2018 blanco which was tempting, but I wasn't sure if I was ready to cough up $100 for that blanco.  

I'll be back out to the Houston area in a couple of weeks and will try to hit Nasa liquor.  I was also keeping my eyes open for some bourbons that are hard to find in AZ but nothing jumped out at me.  

Just got home and took a taste of the artenom 1579 and it is great.    After looking into it more, I realized that 1579 also  makes G4 and Pasote which are 2 of my favorites, so no surprise that I like it.

I'm out of G4, but will get a bottle and do a tasting between all 3 from the same NOM to see how they compare.

I'm curious, what's the proof on your 1579? The guy who owns artenom Announced he was going to start releasing things at different proofs above 40%. In glad the total wine worked out for you, but if you make it to the big specs, or NASA you're going to have some fun too. There is also a bar called pastry wars downtown you should check out. 100s of different tequila and mezcal.

My haul from Houston.  The 1579 that I got is 40%, but I wasn't paying attention to that when I was shopping.  There was also a 1414 reposado that I considered buying but passed on.  

I'll be back in the hare in a few weeks, however most of my time will be spent away from downtown and closer to the Nasa stuff.  Maybe I will stop at Nasa liquors and do some shopping if I can make some time.

Good pass on the 1414 Repo. I am not a fan of that one at all.

I'm luke warm on it at best. 1414 is a weird distillery for me, where some of their products are fantastic and some are flat out undrinkable.

Interesting.  I was checking out a Volans blanco and it's out of Nom 1579.  I had either forgotten or never realized that Nom was El Pandillo.  Pretty damn tasty too, but I'm a fan of their other offerings so I guess that's not a terribly big surprise..

Old Town out of San Diego is selling Paradiso for $129 right now if anyone lives where they'll ship to.  I think they switched to some ugly new bottle from some of the ads I've seen.

Liquor Barn still has it available @ $119.99.Not sure what their shipping policy is though. They're from IL so I had no problem getting it shipped.

As for the ugly bottle, did it have a 90's looking label with rainbow type shit? If so that is the old style bottle. Newer one is black and gold and looks 1000x better.

Found these on the way to South Carolina for our son's Army (National Guard) basic graduation.

Oh man. Jumping in swinging! Those are two killer bottles you got there.

Might get a day off work in the DFW area, any place around here have a much better selection than others?

Liquor King is suppose to have a good collection.

The wife loves owls and I think I remember hearing El Buho was decent. I really need to get in gear, I have a few bottles I haven't opened yet.

Really awesome peak INSIDE La Altena distillery. Worth the watch, you actually get to see shit.

Its such a beautiful distillery. You get to see a lot of it in the "agave: spirt of a nation" documentary too. I'm curious about the new on that Carlos is building.

@WOAFP

Buddy picked this up and asked if I wanted it... worth the hefty price tag? I think he paid 225 for it.

Attached File

Honestly? Yes. I hate being one of those guys, but it's one of the few hyped up spirits that actually delivered. The fact it's a liter instead of 750ml helps soften the blow a tiny bit. But it's an incredible tequila that shows the fruit influence of the Brandy and port barrels, the maltiness of the scotch barrel and somehow still doesn't hide the agave.

Was hoping you would say that. That will be $225 you just cost me

That's a great video - Nice to see how this stuff is actually made.

Get used to it - He has cost me a good chunk of $$  lol.  

I bought a bottle of Tears also and it's really good.   Total Wine in AZ sometimes runs 15% off coupons for Tequila, and I used it to buy a bottle to help take some of the sting out of the price.

Hey! I give back in the form of tasty agave

Definitely!   I've just been funneling my ammo budget into agave purchases for the last couple of years.   ha ha

Wow! I'm glad you tracked one down though. It's funny what can be so routine and everywhere in one region and unobtainable somewhere else. Youll have to let me know what you think!

Finally got a bottle of Pasote! I kind of like the new bottles .

Got around to trying the few bottles of mezcal backlog I have built up.

El Buho: I liked it but it was my least favorite of the three.
Bozal Castilla: more complex than the Buho. I need to come up with some good descriptive words for mezcal.
El Jolgorio Arroqueno: Smoky, peppery, agave fun. My favorite mezcal so far.

I'm hoping to get some of the Chisholm Trail mezcal glasses for Christmas. Maybe that will help with picking up notes.

Good stuff!

I have one of the old Pasote bottles and I plan to keep refilling it as long as the stopper is still good.  Eventually I'm sure that I will give up and embrace the new bottle design.

I've realized that the El Tesoro repo store picks are becoming my go-to bottles.   I've had a few and they are just really good at a "not too crazy" price point.

I need to venture more into the Mezcal world and develop a taste for it.   I tried a couple and while I enjoy them, I keep going back to Tequilas.  Maybe that will be a 2022 project for me.  :)

I haven't really found a great option for buying Tequila locally in the PHX area so far.    Total Wine has El Tesoro, Tears of Llorona, and some Artenom which have been good picks, but a lot of my purchases have been from Old Town Tequila in San Diego, both in the store and online as the shipping is reasonable to AZ.

I was out of town in Prescott, AZ and found a couple new Blancos to try.  I have been wanting to try the Volans Blanco since I like other Blancos from the same NOM.  The Suerte was an impulse buy. I don't know much about it, but it was relatively affordable so I picked it up.  I'll probably try them both tonight.

I was able to try my latest new ones.   The Suerte Blanco isn't bad, but I'm not blown away by it.   It definitely has good agave flavor with maybe some citrus.    I get a little bit of a harsh finish on it when I compare it to other blancos at a higher price point.    I'm glad that I tried it, but probably will go to other ones at a similar price in the future.

I really like the Volans, as with the other blancos that I've tried from 1579.    I need to get another bottle of G4 blanco and compare Volans, G4, Pasote, and Artenom1579 to see if I can pick out the differences.  

As a sidenote, I am seeing prices creep up by 10-15% on various Tequilas.    As an example, Cascahuin Tahona Blanco was $68 over the summer, now it's $75.

Interesting on the suerte. I had heard it was good but hadn't gotten around to it. I may not bother now. And yeah, tequila is exploding in popularity. This is looking more and more like the early days of the bourbon boom with I am not looking forward to. It takes 8+ years to get agave to a good age for harvesting again. This industry can't just ramp up all the sudden .

I don't have a great palatte, and have a hard time articulating what I like about one bottle and dislike about another.

I may need to give the Suerte another chance.    At $30, I think Suerte is a good option.  I had not taken Tequila price increases in consideration when reviewing Suerte.     I like it better than Teremana, but maybe not as much as Tapatio.

Got a couple bottles of Olmeca Altos Plata pretty cheap a while back. One went into a small oak barrel that previously held bourbon. The other has had a few pours out of it but otherwise remains unaltered. El Tesorro Repo on the right for comparison.

I don't remember exactly when I filled it but it wasn't more than 6 weeks ago. Pretty surprised by the color and it smells decent too. Waiting for Christmas to try it as the barrel was a gift last year.

Today I picked up a bottle of Fortaleza Repo Winter Blend 2021 from The Breeze Wine Bar in Louisville. They still had 3 bottles on the shelf if anyone nearby is interested.

Hey neighbor! I grabbed a few from breeze here in Lexington. It's fantastic stuff. There are some bottles at the bigger liquor barns too.

Merry Christmas my agave friends!!

Fan freaking tastic

Love the color on that. No additives I assume?

Merry Christmas!    I've been sipping on some Paradiso tonight.    Cheers

How does that compare to other XAs, such as Tesoro XA, Tesoro Paradiso, Tears, and Reserva de Familia?   Those are ones that I have tried and enjoyed.

I am deeply offended you would even ask!

No, don Fulano (also own fuenteseca and distill tears of llorona) do not use any additives in their processes and have some of the largest stocks of aging tequila. I can't say this was my favorite example though. If left to choose again I probably would have grabbed another tears.

Alright. This year's winter blend is really freaking good.