Tequila (In honor of the eponymous town of Tequila, Mexico) is a Mexican strong drink. According to the standards of preparation established by the Council regulatory tequila (Tequila Regulatory Council; Mexican standard NOM-006-SCFI-1994), the production of tequila is restricted to the areas of the States of Jalisco, Guanajuato, Michoacan, Nayarit and Tamaulipas. Fortress 38-40 degrees. It is made from fermented juice of agave core. In Mexico, 136 species of agave grow, only one of them-blue goes to the preparation of tequila.
Tequila began to produce in the XVI century near the town of Tequila, which was officially founded in 1656. Aztecs made from agave fermented drink, which is called octli (later received a more popular name pulque), long before the arrival of Spaniards in 1521. When the Spanish conquistadors ran out of their own brandy, they began to surpass the pulque and produce the first native North American alcoholic beverage.
For making tequila is the core of the agave (piña). Pigna (Spanish pineapple), outwardly is a keg weighing from thirty to a hundred pounds, in appearance resembling a large pineapple. On top of it sticking out a few over six feet tall and needle-like leaves. The small shoots obtained from Mature plants before the rainy season are planted in rows of cultivated orchards (potreros) 3-4 thousand per hectare. Before Pigna will Mature and fill with juice, it should take from 8 to 12 years. To make it more massive, during flowering flower shoots are cut off — so nutrients are not spent on the formation and maturation of seeds.
After maturation of Pigna dumped into the factory where split in half or quartered Pigna placed in the furnace. They languish from 12 to 72 hours at a temperature of 60-80°C. this process is necessary to split inulin into fructose and glucose, which are easier to fermentation, dissolved in water and, therefore, easier to remove from the fibers. After that, the agave pieces are allowed to cool down, they are ground on special mills, the pulp is pressed, and then the juice containing about 12% sugar is placed in steel fermentation tanks.
Week fermentation at a temperature of 30-40°C turn the sweet mass into a kind of bitter with an alcohol content of 4 to 7 degrees. Tequila, unlike mescal, is a mandatory double distillation, and from the second distillation in the production is only the middle part of the distilled product-the so-called" El Corazon " heart. Sometimes triple distillation is carried out, but many experts oppose "overtreatment", believing that it leads to thinning of the aroma of agave.
Tequila can be of two types:
Mixto — containing alcohol from the agave plant with 51%. The rest-alcohol from other raw materials (for example, maize or sugar cane).
Tequila "premium" — made solely from the juice of the agave. On the bottle of this tequila should be the inscription "100% AGAVA".
There are five varieties of tequila:
Blanco (Blanco) (Plata) — unseasoned young tequila. Bottled immediately after distillation.
Oro (Gold) or Joven (Joven) — tinted dye and flavored flavored tequila Blanco.
Reposado — only"100% AGAVA". Aged in oak barrels for two months to a year. Can be used with chocolate.
Anejo (Anejo) — 100% agave, aged in oak barrels from 1 to 3 years.
Extra Anejo (Extra Anejo) — 100% agave, which languishes in barrels for more than three years. The cost of the bottle sometimes reaches an indecent amount with a large number of zeros.
The most famous manufacturers of tequila: Jose Cuervo, Sauza, Olmeca, Sierra, Milagro, Patron, Herradura, Herencia, El Charro, Don Julio, Cazadores.
Traditionally in Mexico, this drink is served in a caballito, a narrow, tall glass with a volume of approximately 60 milliliters. There are several rules that say how to drink tequila. First, you can drink it in its pure form with a classic snack — lime. Sour taste with bitterness of this fruit is best in harmony with this drink. In the same way Mexicans use it in various mixtures — a kind of traditional prototypes cocktails.
Do not forget that tequila is an alcoholic beverage, the use of which causes irreparable harm to health.
Other strong alcoholic beverages
