Tequila and Mezcal Flashcards
What is tequila and mezcal made of?
Agave
where does the agave plant store its carbohydrate reservs and what is it called?
The core, the Pina
When do you harvest the agave plan?
Just before it flowers when the core has the greatest quantity of fructans
Describe the aromas of agave:
herbaceous, bell pepper, vegetable, olive, black pepper.
what do you do with the Pina after harvesting?
Cut it, cook it to convert the fructans to fermentable sugars as well as develop flavors.
What are the two traditional methods for cooking agave?
steaming and roasting
Which cooking technique is used for Tequila?
steem cook in pressurised steam ovens (autoclaves) that speeds up the process or brick ovens
which cooking technique is used for Mezcal?
steaming but also roasting the Pinas in stone-lined pits.
What character gives stone-line pits to the style of mezcal?
smoky aromas from the roasting from the heat from the stones.
How do you process the pinas after steaming/cooking?
They are crushed to release the sweet juice (some mezcal producers still crush them by hand)
what is a tahona?
Large mechanical stone wheel (most common for Mezcal)
what is a diffuser?
a machine that maximize the yield of fermentable sugars from each whole Pina when its still uncooked
must tequila come from agave sugars only?
No, 49 per cent can of the sugars can come from non agave sources but that also results in a less intense agave character
How can complexity be added to the final spirit
add the agave fibers from crushing to the fermentation vessel, also abeyant yeast (naturlig jäst som finns i omgivningen) (typically Mezcal)
How can agave spirits be destilled?
Pot or column stills
