As Napa is to wine, Tequila is to, well tequila. The town is home to many tequila enterprises, and surrounded by vast fields of agave, the plant from which tequila is derived. In a moment of inspiration, the Spaniard colonizers added the step of distillation to what was essentially an indian wine derived from a kind of cactus, and in an instant, made the margarita and modern civilization possible. Some photos:
Two pictures taken near the entrance of the Cofradia estate, showing neat rows of agave.
These had been trimmed to encourage the plant to grow more leaves, increasing the size of its pina heart and the output of juice per plant.
Each plant reproduces by sending out runners, which are collected and planted for the next generation of crops.
When the size of the pina (also the Spanish word for pineapple) approaches the size of Lillia, the plant is cut loose from its root and the spiny leaves are removed.
Yes, Lillia, the field workers carry a life-size model of you so that they can judge when it is time to harvest each plant. Yes, I agree, it is a quite clever arrangement.
The pina are then cut in half.
They are tossed in a gas oven and roasted by the ton.
This is the interior of an oven at a smaller tequila distillery.
Abel, our guide, brings us a piece of the roasted agave, which is about as sweet as a roasted sweet potato. If you click on the image, you should be able to get a better look at the roasted pinas behind him.
The roasted pinas are then crushed for their juice. This was done at one pointed with large mill stones. Now the process has been mechanized.
My friend "Lefty" Gonzalez reminds me here to make an appeal for industrial safety at any and all of these steps. So please, mind the slippery floor.
The juice is collected in large vats--these hold 18,000 liters each-- and then fermented.
Following fermentation the juice is then distilled.
Here the freshly distilled tequila is being drained into a plastic bucket where a worker (not visible here) is checking its specific gravity. No, I am afraid they don't sell it by the bucket. The largest bottle I saw was a mere 5 liters.
The clear tequila is either then bottled and sold immediately, or placed in oak barrels to age a bit and further develop flavor and color. These white oak barrels were brought from Canada, where they were originally used to age whisky.
The final product, in 5 liter bottles. It is recommended that no individual consume more than 1 bottle of this size per day.
A final note: no pictures here of the town of Tequila itself. There was a festival going on during our visit with a requisite 200 decibel explosion every 15 seconds or so, which drove us out. I asked a local what the festival was about, to which he responded, "EH?"
Tom
Our neighbor’s south-facing roof last Friday. Guess which way the wind was blowing?
Lillia is adept at taking off pants and skirts. When she learns how to get a onesie off, she'll run around naked all the time, even in winter.
