The best way to care for your barrel is to keep it form drying out.

• When you are not aging anything, keep water in the barrel at all times. Barrels should always be stored full with spirits or water.
• Keep the barrel away from the elements (humidity, dryness, AC vents blowing cold air into it, the sun’s rays, rain), keep your barrel indoors and if possible store in cool damp conditions.

The porous nature of an oak barrel and because tequila is distilled with water, some levels of evaporation will occur.

I left my barrel dry for an extended time. Now it leaks, what should I do?

Submerge the barrel in water for a couple of days. After it’s been submerged, dry the exterior with a towel and fill it with water to see if it continues to leak. If you can’t stop the leaking, cut in half and use as planter.

How long do I age tequila?

There’s no formula for the perfect time to age your spirits.
Taste your tequila every week and once aged to your taste, start drinking or move it to a glass bottle to stop the aging process. Five years is the recommended maximum for aging.

Do smaller barrels age tequila faster than larger barrels?

Yes, due to the greater surface or contact area ration, small size barrels will age 5 to 10 times faster then your standard 55 gallon (208 liters) barrel. These means that one month in a small barrel will produce the equivalent aging to 1 to 1_1/2 years in a full size barrel.

How often do I clean my barrel?

When aging Tequila, clean the barrel after two or three batches (or every 1 to 2 years)
Always keep the barrel filled with a sterilized water solution. This will keep your barrel from drying out and keep bacteria from growing in the barrel.
To prevent the barrel from drying out and minimize the possibility of contamination, barrels should always be stored full with spirits or water.

How should a barrel be stored?

Barrels are best stored in a cool damp environment such as a wine cellar. This will keep the exterior from drying out and minimize evaporation.

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©2011 The Tequila Factory. All Rights Reserved.

Consumption of agave (the plant used to make tequila) topped the 1-million-ton barrier for the third time in Mexico’s history, the CRT said.

During the economic crisis of 2009, consumption of the plant – on which thousands of Mexican farmers depend for their livelihoods – fell to 924,800 tons.

According to the CRT, 2010 was a year of “recovery” for the tequila industry after a “critical” 2009, with tequila exports climbing 11.58 percent to 152.2 million liters (40.2 million gallons).

The biggest increase was seen in 100-percent-agave tequila (the purest form of the beverage), exports of which climbed to 47.8 million liters (12.6 million gallons) last year, up 27.8 percent from 2009.

The main foreign market for Mexican tequila continued to be the United States, which imported 118.4 million liters (31.3 million gallons) in 2010, an increase of 9.42 percent relative to the previous year.

After the United States, the biggest importers of Mexican tequila by country were Germany, 7.8 million liters; Spain, 3.5 million liters; France, 2.6 million liters; Canada, 2.3 million liters; and Britain, 1.3 million liters.

The CRT said Mexico currently has 253 million blue agave plants, which take eight years to reach maturity and are the only ones used to make tequila.

Made up of agave growers and tequila producers, bottlers and marketers, the CRT is a non-governmental organization founded in 1994 to verify and certify tequila quality and promote a culture of consumption and production of that alcoholic beverage. EFE

Source: Latin America Herald Tribune

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Caballito

Tequila is traditionally drunk out of a small, cylindrical glass with a wider mouth than base, known as a caballito (“little horse” in Spanish). Its origins are unclear, but it appears to be a direct descendant of the hollowed-out bull’s horns used in tequila factories in the past to taste the liquor right out of the still. The caballito is a simplified glass version of a horn with a sawed-off tip that allowed it to be set on a bar or table.

The Consejo Regulador del Tequila (Tequila Regulatory Council) approved an "official tequila glass" in 2002 called the Ouverture Tequila glass, made by Riedel.

More recently, the Swiss glassware manufacturer Riedel brought together a group of tequila distillers to develop a glass that would allow the tequila to be savored without losing any of its robust flavor or aromatic qualities. These meetings resulted in the so-called Riedel glass, which enhances the subtle notes of this fine spirit.

©2011 The Tequila Factory. All Rights Reserved.

©2011 The Tequila Factory. All Rights Reserved.

An experience jimador says:

“To be good at this job, you need to have a sense of how to cut the leaves off the heart. It should be done with a single blow, and at just the right spot, because if you’re inexperienced and cut the leaf off to high, then you need two more blows to get it right”

©2011 The Tequila Factory. All Rights Reserved.

“Tequila” is a product of the fermentation and distillation of only one type of agve plant, the Agave tequilana Weber, blue variety. It is known as the state drink of Jalisco (Where the city of Tequila is located).

Mezcal

A typical earthen oven for roasting maguey hearts.

It is known as the state drink of Oaxaca.
A mezcal is generally considered to be a finished product after a single distillation, whereas tequila requires at least two distillations and careful filtration to remove any impurities and give it a smoother flavor.

This process results in a clear, pure beverage, unlike mezcal which usually has a deeper color and more aggressive taste. Mezcal often has a smoky flavor resulting from the practice of roasting the agave hearts in a pit oven. This is often considered to be a desirable feature in a mezcal.

Bacanora

Bacanora was illegal until 1992. Previously, it was just made and sold by bootleggers.

It is known as the state drink of Sonora (Where the city of Bacanora is located).
It is made from agave plants that grow wild in Sonora state. Producers just call the plant “yaquiano” agave, but in fact there are at least four different species of agave that are used.

It takes about 60 agave plants to produce 5 gallons US (20 liters) of Bacanora.The piña (heart) from the agave plant is harvested, then baked for about 2 days. Some producers use a covered pit; others use an above-ground oven.

Sotol

It takes a Sotol plant 10-15 years to mature, and it produces only one bottle of the spirit.

It is known as the state drink of Chihuahua.
Sotol is a distilled spirit made from the Dasylirion wheeleri (commonly known as Desert Spoon or, in Spanish, sotol),

The manufacturing process is very similar to the one used for mezcales; the plant’s core is cooked, fermented and the liquid is then distilled using more or less the same technique described in the making of mezcal, but is aged six months before bottling.

Sotol can only be made from 100% Dasilyrion sugars. The plant lives in high, cold altitudes and takes 10+ years to mature. The piña is a third smaller than tequila agaves.

©2011 The Tequila Factory. All Rights Reserved.

Blanco tequila is crystal-clear. It is obtained from the second distillation. Many connoisseurs prefer it for its pure flavor.

Reposado tequila is produced from blanco tequila which has been aged in barrels for no less than two months. It has a woody color and a slightly smoother flavor than blanco, and is the most popular kind of tequila.

Añejo tequila is aged at least one year in wooden barrels. It is widely recommended as the best tequila for first-time drinkers.

Antiguo tequila is aged in barrels for three to five year, resulting in a woody flavor which predominates over that of the agave.

Triple distilled tequila is more refined with a much smother boque, for those who are new to tequila tasting. Normally tequila is twice distilled, but a triple distilling gives it its unique properties, thou many say it looses the agave flavor. It can also be rested in barrels. From a triple distilled tequila you can have blanco or reposado triple distilled.

Oro or Gold tequila contains artificial color and burnt sugar, which gives it a smoother flavor.
Note: don’t start your tequila tasting journey with this tequila because it is not 100% agave, in its fermentation process at least 51% of its sugars that will be turned into alchohol come from the agave plant and 49% of cane or other sugars, and if you drink to much of this kind of tequila it will give you a nasty headache in the morning or even worse make you hate tequila for life. Many cheap commercial tequilas (cuervo for example) will not tell you but there actually Gold, not 100% agave.

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Tequila is obtained from the distillation of Agave tequilana Weber, blue variety, whose fibrous spiky leaves are blue-green in color. It is one of the 273 identified species of the Agavaceae family.

Agave tequilana Weber, blue variety, grows at 1500 meters above sea level, in a clayey, permeable, preferably volcanic soil with a high content of basaltic elements and iron. This plant thrives in semiarid climate, meaning that there should be no more than 100 cloudy days a year (though ideally, this number should not exceed 65) with and average temperature of 20 degrees Celsius.

It takes seven to twelve years for a Weber’s blue agave to mature. It flowers only once in its life, with a stalk that can grow up to ten meters high. Reproduction is by means of basal offshoots.

The plant got its name from the German naturalist Franz Weber, who arrived in Mexico around 1896. He devoted himself to the study of the flora of western Mexico, and spent a full six years investigating the best agave species for the production of tequila. In 1902, he settled on Agave tequilana Weber, blue variety, wich now bears his name.

Weber blue agave takes the shortest amount of time to mature, has the highest carbohydrate content, and usually the largest amount of pups for replanting.

©2011 The Tequila Factory. All Rights Reserved.

If a tequila label does not bear the 100% agave label, it is a blended tequila, meaning that the agave juices have been combined with sugars from other sources.

For many years, Mexican regulations allowed tequilas to contain a minimum of 51% agave and a maximum of 49% other sugars. But the regulations were modified some time ago, and now, in order to be considered tequila, a distillate must contain a minimum of 60% agave.

©2011 The Tequila Factory. All Rights Reserved.