Here’s What You Should Know About Tequilas

Tequilas | Image Resource: liquor.com

Tequila is the pride of Mexico, but it has become more appealing as a drink for many people across the world. A shot of tequila is easy to drink and fun at parties. You may wonder why this tantalizing liquor is popular. Tequila, which is made from the Mexican plant, the Blue Agave, is cooler than any other drink.

A distilled spirit from fermented agave juice, tequila is aged in barrels or filtered and blended. Its production process includes 6 to 7 stages - the Blue Agave harvesting, baking of the agave piña, extracting the juice, fermenting the juice, distilling, aging, and bottling. You will come across two categories of tequila:

• 100% tequila – derived from blue agave without any additives

• Tequila – includes 51% of fermentable sugars from the blue agave plant and the rest 49% from other sugars. This category of the distilled spirit can have several additives and therefore, it is commonly called mixtos.

Get to Know Different Types of Tequilas

A bottle of tequila can be labeled so if it consists of 51% of fermentable sugars from the blue agave plant. However, there are a few types of tequilas, and they include:

1. Silver, Blanco, or White tequila

Silver tequila is mostly freshly distilled liquor that consists of 100% pure blue agave and rested just a few weeks or two months. It takes its name from its silver color, which is due to not undergoing the aging process.

2. Joven tequila

Joven tequila is a mixto that is not rested or aged. Joven refers to ‘young’ in Spanish, for this type of tequila is accessible to everyone. Joven tequila is made by mixing white tequila with the aged one, and then, flavored with caramel color, glycerin, oak extract, sugar-based syrup, and other additives. It gets a gold color by this and therefore, is called Gold or Oro tequila in the market.

3. Reposado tequila

With Reposado tequila, it is aged or rested for at least two months in wooden casks. You can find several distilleries keeping their tequilas for over a year in bourbon barrels, which will make it sweet and give an amber hue. Good Reposado tequila is made from 100% blue agave. You can sip it straight or use it in cocktails.

4. Añejo Tequila

Añejo Tequila is an old tequila that turns into a brown color from amber and white when aged or rested for a year or more in oak barrels. The Spanish word ‘Añejo’ means old or vintage, referring to the resting time in the barrel. For this reason, the tequila is flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, caramel, and butterscotch.

5. Extra Añejo Tequila

For tequila to become Extra Añejo, it should be aged for a minimum of three years in oak barrels. This aged product is relatively expensive.

Tequila is an extremely versatile drink in that aged tequilas are mostly sipped on the rocks. Reposado and Blanco are best used in tequila shots. As for tequila cocktails, there are a few popular ones like Chimayo, Margarita, Sangrita, Paloma, Tequila Sunrise, and Bloody Mary.