So that time of year is once again upon us….it’s National Tequila Day for those in the US. We thought we’d pay tribute to our favourite intoxicating drink with a bit of info on the subject. This is one thing I’m happy to adopt from ‘across the pond’.
Tequila has been knocking about since the 16th Century, it wasn’t however mass produced until the 17th Century. Yeah…they’ve always been slow in the part of the world eh!? It’s a fine and complex drink and as such it must be sipped slowly and served at room temperature, although some do like it ice cold. Traditionally tequila is served in a “caballito”, a 2oz glass made exclusively for this purpose.
Quite where the name ‘tequila’ comes from is a bit of a mystery in itself. One thing is more than certain and that’s the the word originates from an ancient Nahuatl term. The Nahuatl were the original people who lived in the area. The particular word is still very much up for discussion.
The agave, also know as maguey (pronounced muh-gay), is cultivated on plantations for eight to 10 years, depending on the species of agave. In the year of 2001 there was a shortage of tequila on the market. Seven years previous to this it was believed that agave was being over produced and the fields were used for other crops. Due to the agave taking so long to mature the effects from these actions were not apparent until it was too late. Let’s hope they don’t make that mistake again.
Tequila in a caballito
The tequila shot with lime and salt is pure Hollywood and few people drink it that way. However, some people do put some lime juice in the tequila or take a bite from various citrus fruits before sipping it. Shooting it back for the pure reason to get hammered is regrettably what tequila has become renowned for over the years, but really that’s not what it’s all about.
Predominantly it’s the ‘Margarita’ cocktail that most people drink when they imbibing tequila, but it doesn’t have to be so. Personally I prefer it straight up. I have much the same feeling for most drinks. Why not enjoy it as it was intended instead of diluting it down?! If straight up is not to your palette’s taste then check out our very own ‘Margarita Recipe’.
Additional Cabo Wabo are trying to beef up the celebrations this year with the introduction of fiery cocktails. Seems a bit dumb to me to go burning all the alcohol off personally, let’s hope it doesn’t catch on.
¡Salud y’all!
Looking forward to sinking a few this evening in celebration – hopefully catchingup with LesMonte and we’ll raise a glass or three in appreciation to all things Tequila and Tequila Town.
Has anyone tried Paqui? It’s a new tequila that is truly authentic.
Am interested in getting info about the train that goes to Tequila Town. Will be going last week of November and when I was there in Guadalajara 5 years ago all I seen were flyers in windows about the train that went to Tequila Town. If you have any info regarding this, it would be greatly appreciated.