Tequila and Mezcal

Question 1

How and where do the Agave plant live?

Answer 1

It’s a native plant to Central America, it grows into the ground from a hard, central core that is covered in long spiky waxy-textured leaves.

Question 2

What’s the name of the fructans that the distillers are after when talking about the carbonhydrate in agave plants?

Answer 2

Inulin

Question 3

How long can a agave plant live?

Answer 3

15-20 years

Question 4

When do they harvest the agave?

Answer 4

Right before they flower, when the plant core has the greatest quantitys of fructans.

Question 5

Which aromas do you get from agave?

Answer 5

bell pepper, vegetable, olive, black pepper

Question 6

What’s the center of the core on an agave plant called?

Answer 6

a pina

Question 7

To be able to cook a pina, how do you cut it?

Answer 7

into halves, or quarters

Question 8

Which are the two traditional methods for cooking agave?

Answer 8

Steaming and roasting

Question 9

What’s an autoclaves?

Answer 9

a modern pressurised steam oven used for cooking pina’s

Question 10

Which is the modern way of cooking the agave?

Answer 10

steam cook in a pressurised steam oven.

Question 11

which is the traditional way to cook the agave for tequila?

Answer 11

Steaming them in brick ovens. develops aromas that are antive to the agave

Question 12

which is the traditional way to cook the agave for mezcal?

Answer 12

Roasting in stone-lined pits.
gives it a smoky intensity.

Question 13

What’s a tahona?

Answer 13

It’s a large stone wheel that is rolled around a fixed path within a circular stone pit, where the pinas are placed on the path of the stone to crush them.

Question 14

Where is Tahona most commonly used?

Answer 14

Within the production of Mezcal, in the state of Oaxaca

Question 15

What’s a diffuser and how is it used?

Answer 15

It’s a machine where whole uncooked pinas are placed inside and out comes a sugary liquid.

Question 16

What’s fomulation?

Answer 16

Creating the sweet liquid for fermentation is called formulating

Question 17

When is ambient yeast used in Tequila and Mezcal production?

Answer 17

it’s widely used in Mezcal production but only in the highest quality Tequilas.

Question 18

Which still is used in production of Tequila and Mezcal?

Answer 18

It can be distilled in either pot or column stills.
Top-quality Tequila and Mezcal are double distilled in pot stills.

Question 19

How is Tequila and Mezcal stored or matured?

Answer 19

Most agave spirits are stored in inert vessels prior to bottling, but some may be matured in large oak vessels for a short time. It gives a greater smoothness and flavour complexity to develop.

Question 20

What’s abocante?

Answer 20

A typ of caramel colour that also mimic the effect of maturation. Used sometimes in the Agave spirits. Only allowed in stored tequila.

Question 21

Where is the production of agave spirits dominated?

Answer 21

Mexico

Question 22

Which agave species is made for Tequila production?

Answer 22

Agave tequilana Weber, blue agave

Question 23

Which state in Mexico is mot important for the Tequila production?

Answer 23

Jalisco

Question 24

How does the Tequila production look like step by step?

Answer 24

1. the pinas are cut into halvs or quarters
2. the pinas are steamed (brick oven/autoclave)
3. the fermentation of the agave fibers
   double distilled in pot stills and collected at low strengths

Question 25

Which are the two categories of Tequila which indicate the minimum amount of agave suger that was used to make the Tequila?

Answer 25

Tequila 100% - all the fermentable sugers have some from agave
Tequila - minimum of 51% of the sugars must have come from the agave.

Question 26

What’s a mixto?

Answer 26

A Tequila where they’ve used maximum 49% of other sugers.

Question 27

Which five classes of Tequila is there and what do they mean?

Answer 27

Blanco, Plata (silver) - no minimum ageing requirements
Joven, Oro (gold) - no minimum ageing requirements
Reposado (aged) - two months in oak
Anejo (extra aged) - one year in oak
Extra anejo (ultra aged) - three years in oak

Question 28

Which one is the most important state for the Mezcal production?

Answer 28

Oaxaca in Mexico

Question 29

Which agave species are used in the Mezcal production?

Answer 29

They can use any one of all the different species but the one most common used is Agave espadin: Agave angustifolia Haw

Question 30

Which still is used in the production on Mezcal? and what character will it give the spirit?

Answer 30

Both pot and column stills are used, but the best Mezcal can only be made in a small pot still that are directly heated.
These stills produce a low-strength, pronounced distillate.

Question 31

Which three factors combined will give the best Mezcal?

Answer 31

• a pronounced intensity and a unique combination of smoky, earthy, vegetable flavours
• the use of agave fibers in the fermentation
• the distillation in simple pot stills to a low strength

Question 32

Which three categories do they divided Mezcal into?

Answer 32

Mezcal -any production techniques are allowed, column stills are permitted
Artesanal Mezcal - only allowed to use rosting pits, brick ovens, simple milling machinery, hand crushing or tahona. They are required to use directly heated copper, wood or clay pot stills.
Ancestral Mezcal - only allowed to use roasting pits, hand crushing or tahona, directly heated wood or clay pot still.

Question 33

Which three classes of Mezcal is there when it comes to ageing and what do they mean?

Answer 33

Blanco, Joven - unaged
Reposado - two months in oak
Anejo - one year in oak barrels