Tequila is the product of the
distillation of the
ferment of the
blue agave plant. The full plant name is Agave tequiliana Weber var. azul, and tequila
enthusiasts would want you to know that it is not a
cactus.
The source of the
sugar to be fermented is the
piña, or
pineapple, so named because it looks like one. A
jimador harvests the piña and it is cooked in an
horno, a type of oven. It is then crushed on a
tahoma, yielding
aguamiel, the unfermented juice of the cooked agave.
After fermentation and distillation, a
blanco, or
silver,
plata, or
plato tequila exists. This young alcohol is now
aged in wood.
A
reposado tequila has been aged
on wood for at least two months but not more than one year.
An
añejo tequila has been aged on wood for at least one year in
oak barrels.
Tequila comes only from the region in
Mexico called Tequila. Agave distillates from other regions (such as
Oaxaca) are not tequila, but are rather other products, such as
mezcal,
sotol,
bacanora, or others.