Tequila

Question 1

Where is Tequila?

Answer 1

It is a town in Jalisco State,Mexico

Question 2

What is the core of an agave called? What is in it?

Answer 2

A piña. Carbohydrate in the form of inulin.

Question 3

What is the carbohydrate in an agave called?

Answer 3

INULIN.

Question 4

Why is only Blue Agave allowed for Tequila?

Answer 4

1. high concentration of inulin;
2. low fibre content;
3. right chemical compounds for taste and flavour.

Question 5

Where is blue agave grown?

Answer 5

Around Tequila and in highlands east of Guadalajara.

Question 6

How long does blue agave take to get to maturity. When is it harvested?

Answer 6

6 years to maturity; harvested at between 6 and 7 years.

Question 7

Describe a highland tequila.

Answer 7

Here blue agave larger and slower maturing. It is higher in sugar. Highland tequilas tend to have fruitier aroma of green mango and Poire William. Tapiato is an example.

Question 8

Describe a lowland tequila.

Answer 8

Tend to be earthier and more robust. Herradura is an example.

Question 9

What is Chinaco tequila like?

Answer 9

Vegetal with a lime zestiness.

Question 10

What is the name of William Grant’s tequila?

Answer 10

MILAGRO tequila.

Question 11

How is Blue Agave treated?

Answer 11

Cooked in ovens for 36 to 48 hours using steam. Left to rest in the oven for 2 days. NOT baked in the ground.

Question 12

What flows from tequila as it rests? And what happens to it?

Answer 12

‘Honey water’, AGUAMIEL drips out of it; it is collected and added to the juice before fermentation.

Question 13

What other way can blue agave be cooked?

Answer 13

In an AUTOCLAVE - a sort of pressure cooker. Allows them to cook at 121 degrees for 6 hours. Some say this is too rushed and does not allow development of flavours.

Question 14

How is juice extracted from the cooked blue agave?

Answer 14

By milling. Leaves behind a fibrous mass. some of this added to the ferment to add flavour.

Question 15

What are the yeast options?

Answer 15

Commercial; specially isolated and cultivated; wild. Supposedly the last two give best results.

Question 16

How long does fermentation take?

Answer 16

1 to 3 days. Wild ferments can take 10 days.

Question 17

How is tequila distilled?

Answer 17

Double fermentation in pot stills. Column stills also used. But at its best is a low-rectified, full-flavoured spirit.

1st distillation produces liquid of around 30% abv.

2nd distillation no max or min strength level specified; typically 55 to 60% abv. Some distillers cut heads and tails and send them back at both first and second distillation.

Question 18

What is tequila produced from continuous distillation in column stills like?

Answer 18

Spirits produced have less aroma and less flavour; sometimes blended with product of pot stills to create greater agave character.

Question 19

Maturation and finishing of tequila, list the categories.

Answer 19

Blanco - unaged and bottled within 2 months of distillation.

Joven and Oro - mellowed with ABOCADO process. Can give appearance of age but is not for use with premium quality tequila.

Reposado - aged a minimum of 2 months but under a year in oak barrels of any size. Some of 20,000 litres used.

Añejo - aged 1 to 3 years in small oak barrels.

Extra Añejo - aged a minimum of 3 years in oak barrels.

these last three subtler, smoother, more complex.

Question 20

What is abocado?

Answer 20

Process by which tequila or mezcal is mellowed using any of caramel, oak extract, glycerin, or sugar syrup. Non-agave sugar no longer allowed for mezcal.