Changing the way we think about tequila
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Love it or hate it, tequila conjures up strong feelings in many drinkers.
鈥淔orgive us for the old memories of bad quality tequila!鈥 joked Antonio Rodriguez, director of production at Patr贸n Tequila. 鈥淲e cannot hide that we come from a history when usually tequilas were not as premium as they are right now.鈥
Deano Moncrieffe, founder of the London tequila and mezcal bar Hacha, lamented: 鈥淧eople always blame tequila for a bad hangover when really the fact is that they probably started the night drinking wine and then beer and then champagne and then at some point, maybe 2 or 3 in the morning, someone said, let鈥檚 have tequila!鈥
And Steffin Oghene, vice president of global marketing and sales for El Tequile帽o Tequila, agrees tequila used to be seen as 鈥渢he party, smash-it-down, get-wasted kind of spirit.鈥
But, he says, 鈥渙ver the past 10 years, there鈥檚 been a lot of effort put into educating people and making them understand that tequila isn鈥檛 just the spirit to shoot. It鈥檚 a really complex spirit鈥 that takes time and expertise to produce.
These re-education efforts appear to be working. Tequila is one of the fastest-growing alcoholic drinks in the US, with consumption up 40 percent over the past five years, according to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis.
Hamish Smith, editor of the bartending magazine Class and bars editor of Drinks International, says there鈥檚 growing understanding of tequila鈥檚 different qualities, with 鈥100 percent agave鈥 now the star performer, in the way single malt is for whisky.
鈥淭his awareness is set against the craft spirits movement, the appreciation of provenance, celebrity endorsement and a cocktail industry that has been showcasing quality tequila for years,鈥 Smith said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not quite a perfect storm, but it鈥檚 carrying the category forward to year-on-year international growth.鈥
Despite its old reputation, experts say tequila is not in fact a great choice for people looking to get drunk. While many spirits contain glucose, which causes a rapid increase in blood sugar followed by a crash, adding to a hangover, tequila contains fructose from the agave plant, which they say is broken down more slowly.
For a premium tequila, don鈥檛 use a shot glass, says Nitzan Podoswa, founder of Satryna Tequila. 鈥淵our nose is too close to the liquid so you cannot really smell the notes right. It just makes it easier to drink. But if you are having a very nice tequila, you need to have a flute cup.鈥
And rather than down it in one, swish the liquid around the mouth to taste.
There are three types of tequila, based on the time spent in oak barrels before bottling. Blanco is aged 0-2 months, reposado 2-11 months, a帽ejo 1-3 years and extra a帽ejo 3-plus years.
Moncrieffe starts by asking his customers what they usually drink. If it鈥檚 a white spirit, he directs them to a blanco; for bourbon or whisky drinkers, he recommends a reposado; and for cognac drinkers, something more complex like an a帽ejo or extra a帽ejo.
An agave plant takes around seven years to mature, and once harvested there are many ways to cook the plant and ferment and distil the alcohol.
鈥淲hat you鈥檙e drinking is actually very, very special. It鈥檚 very special how many years the plant has been in the earth and it鈥檚 very special how many people and how many agents are involved in the process,鈥 Podoswa said.
Rodriguez says current trends center on aging, experimenting with time, temperature and barrel types.
鈥淲e are not talking about whiskies in which the main flavor is coming from the wood,鈥 he said. 鈥淭equila by itself in a blanco expression has already a big personality. So when you age tequila, you are not looking to get over that. You鈥檙e looking to complement that.鈥
鈥淭here鈥檚 also the cristalino category, which I guess was, for tequila purists, controversial,鈥 Oghene added. Popular in the US and Mexico, a cristalino is an aged tequila that has been filtered to remove the color and tannins, making it crystal-clear.
Growing US sales are creating interest in other countries, Rodriguez says.
鈥淢ost of the rest of world has had sort of bad, cheap tequila,鈥 said Jenna Fagnan, co-founder of Teremana Tequila with Dwayne 鈥淭he Rock鈥 Johnson. She says that for Johnson, tequila is about 鈥渢ogetherness.鈥
鈥淔or him, he said, when I was growing up, for our family, if something great was happening, we鈥檇 get together and people would have tequila. But also if something bad happened, we still get together and have tequila,鈥 Fagnan said.
Johnson joins a list of celebrities including George Clooney, Nick Jonas and Kendall Jenner with their own tequila brands. That鈥檚 been greeted with mixed feelings in the industry.
鈥淎lmost every week you have a new celebrity tequila brand coming out,鈥 Rodriguez said, 鈥渨ith only roughly 160 distilleries to produce tequila for thousands of brands.鈥
That means multiple brands might be produced in the same place; while many are doing it right, he says others are just buying the liquid and putting it in a different bottle.
Podoswa advises consumers to research before buying: 鈥淎re they making a good product? Are they taking care of their agave? Are they doing it the artisanal, traditional way?鈥
Fagnan says she and Johnson work with one of the few family-owned distilleries left in Mexico. She says Johnson 鈥渃ares about the people, the story, the sustainability.鈥
For new brands, star endorsements bring positive attention and make consumers question old assumptions, says Paul Hayes, British founder of Vivir Tequila.
鈥淚f these people are willing to drink tequila, these major celebrities, they鈥檙e not just doing shots of it in a bar. They must be drinking in a different way. How are they doing and why are they drinking it?鈥 he said.
And Rodriguez welcomes the competition: 鈥淭he way I see things, is not that we鈥檙e fighting among tequilas.
鈥淲e are fighting to show the world what tequila is.鈥
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