Adorable Agave
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Spirits made from agave are becoming more and more popular.
Don't we all want to drink and enjoy divinely?
So why not more often with the wonderful Mexican delicacies that are interwoven with a goddess in their origins. Mayhuel is the name of this Aztec deity who, as the nourisher of creatures and motherly fertility being, is also connected with the earth and its plants. Numerous sources refer to her as the goddess of agave, pulque and intoxication. Many tequila and mezcal bars around the globe named itself after this deity, thus referring to Mexico's long history and historical connection with agaves, especially the maguey plant and divine intoxication.
Enjoyment of agave is becoming more and more popular
While the German-speaking world is still rather hesitant about agave distillates and all too many still wave off the idea of tequila when it reminds them of pubescent drinking rituals and bad headaches, other regions have already recognised the high enjoyment factor of 100% agave tequilas and enjoy the exciting qualities of tequila, mezcal, raicilla, sotol or bacanora. Above all in the USA, which is naturally due to the geographical and cultural proximity to Mexico.
Even celebrities are discovering the great value of the trend drink tequila
In the TV series "Shameless", a famous line from the mouth of actress Emmy Rossum is: "Stop trying to make everyone happy. You're not tequila!" As a current trend drink, the sales figures there increase every year and currently it seems to be good manners for celebrities to call a tequila brand their own. For example, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson with his brand "Teremana" or George Clooney, whose "Casamigos" was acquired not long ago by Diageo for the proud sum of almost one billion dollars. Then there is Justin Timberlake with "Sauza 901", Carlos Santana with "Casa Noble", P. Diddy with "DeLeón", Michael Jordan with "Cincoro" or Mark Wahlberg with "Flecha Azul", to name a few.
Tequila is strictly controlled
But tequila offers more than just a celebrity factor. Few spirits are subject to such strict controls as tequila. The state supervisory authority Consejo Regulador del Tequila (CRT) inspects the producers and provides the products with a seal of approval and identification numbers according to NOM and DOT, which are noted on the back labels of the high-quality brands and make the origin of the agave plants and processing traceable. The inspection covers 7,000 fields with almost 180 million agave plants.
Tequila must be made from at least 51 % Blue Weber Agave. The highest quality tequila is made entirely from this special agave species and bears the label "100 % Agave Azul". It was the German botanist Franz Weber who moved to Mexico in 1896 to devote himself to the study of plants and whose name the most important of the agaves bears today.
Such a tequila must have an alcohol content of at least 35 and at most 55 % vol. alc. and must be bottled in Mexico. Five provinces are licensed to produce tequila. On the Pacific side of Mexico in Jalisco, where the city of Tequila itself is located, Nayarit, Michoacán and Guanajuato. And a little to the northeast of that, aligned with the Atlantic Ocean and the Texas border, the state of Tamaulipas.
"Nectar of the Gods"
Mezcal can be made from different types of agave. It usually has a distinctive smoky aroma. Mezcal is more original and artisanal in its production. For example, considerably less foreign sugar is used, and the yeasts come from the natural climate of the respective region. Pot stills are predominantly used, while the majority of tequila is distilled in an industrial column distillation process.
The roots of both agave distillate varieties lie in the historical drink of the Aztecs, "pulque". They loved the fermented agave drink and called it "nectar of the gods". The alcohol content was the same as our beer. The Spanish conquistadors around Hernándo Cortés ensured the downfall of the Aztec empire from 1521 onwards but brought the art of distillation with them and so the development of pulque into agave distillate followed.
What else Mexico has to offer
With the growing German interest, more Mexican specialities are finally available here, albeit rather rarely. For example, Raicilla, a mezcal that is not so heavily smoked when the agave hearts are cooked, the mildly nutty Sotol, made from a plant from the asparagus genus (i.e. not an agave) called Dasylirion wheeleri, or Bacanora, a vegetal-sweet drink made from the wild agave angustifolia from the Pacific coast. But tequila remains the important gatekeeper spirit towards Mexico. Be it a Blanco or Plata, which is usually bottled immediately after distillation, but can also be stored for up to two months, usually in steel tanks.
Joven or Oro is rather rare in Central Europe. This quality is mostly a coloured mixto (i.e. not 100% agave tequila) and is in the rather low-priced segment. The young and golden tequila consists of a mixture of a blanco and a matured tequila. The Reposado is more elegant. It matures for a minimum of two and a maximum of twelve months in oak. The size of the barrels is not predetermined. American oak is predominantly used in Mexico.
Añejo tequila matures for at least one year in barrels with a maximum capacity of 600 litres. Since 2006, there has been another category, Extra Añejo, in which the distillate is aged for at least three years in wood. Tequila can and should be so much more than just a drinking pleasure with salt and lime. Whether tasted neat or in one of the numerous Margarita variations as Old Fashioned or as the grander Corpse Reviver No. 4.
A Mexican saying is: "You cannot worship an unknown saint." But we have learned her name: Salud, Mayahuel!
