Tequila
In Mexico, tequila is often drunk straight. It is popular in some regions to drink fine tequila with a side of
sangrita—a sweet, sour and spicy drink typically made from orange juice, grenadine (or tomato juice) and hot chilies. Equal-sized shots of tequila and sangrita are sipped alternately, without salt or lime.
[22]
Outside Mexico, a single
shot of tequila is often served with
salt and a slice of lime. This is called "tequila cruda" and is sometimes referred to as "training wheels," "lick-sip-suck," or "lick-shoot-suck" (referring to the way in which the combination of ingredients is imbibed). The drinker moistens the back of their hand below the index finger (usually by licking) and pours on the salt. Then the salt is licked off the hand, the tequila is then drunk and the fruit slice is quickly bitten. It is common for groups of drinkers to do this simultaneously. Drinking tequila in this way is often erroneously called a
Tequila Slammer (which is in fact a mix of tequila and carbonated drink). Though the traditional Mexican shot is straight tequila, lime is the fruit of choice when a chaser must be used.
[23] It is believed that the salt lessens the "burn" of the tequila and the sour fruit balances and enhances the flavor. In Germany and some other countries, tequila oro (gold) is often consumed with
cinnamon before and slices of orange after, while tequila blanco (silver) is consumed with salt and lime. Finally, as with other popular liquors, there exist a number of shot-related drinking games and "stunt" drinks such as
body shots.
It should be noted that many of the higher-quality, 100% agave tequilas do not impart significant alcohol burn, and drinking them with salt and lime is likely to remove much of the flavor. These tequilas are usually drunk from a snifter glass, instead of a shot glass, and savoured, instead of quickly gulped.
Harvesting the agave plant remains a manual effort, unchanged by modern farming technologies, and stretching back hundreds of years. The agave is planted, tended, and harvested by hand.
[16] The men who harvest it, the "
jimadores", possess generations of knowledge about the plants and the ways in which they need to be harvested.
[16] The
jimadores must be able to work swiftly in the tight rows, pull out the
hijuelos (Agave offspring) without damaging the mother plant, clear the
piñas (Spanish for pineapples), and decide when each plant is ready to be harvested . Too soon and there are not enough sugars, too late and the plant will have used its sugars to grow a
quiote (20–40 foot high stem), with seeds on the top that are then scattered by the wind. The
piñas, weighing 40 to 70 pounds, are cut away with a special knife called a
coa. [17] They are then shredded, their juices pressed out and put into fermentation tanks and vats. Some tequila companies still use the traditional method (artisanal) in which the
piñas are crushed with a Tahona (stone wheel). The
musto, (Agave juice, and sometimes the fiber) is then allowed to ferment in either wood or stainless steel vats for several days to convert the sugars into alcohol. Each company keeps its own yeast a closely guarded secret.
[16] The fermented product is then distilled once to produce what is called "
ordinario", a cloudy or milky liquid, and then distilled for a second time to produce a clear, silver Tequila. Some distilleries distill the product again to produce a triple distilled product. From there the Tequila is diluted and bottled as a "silver Tequila", or it is pumped into barrels to begin the aging process.
Usually, there is a clear difference in taste between tequila that is made from lowland and highland agave plants. Agave plants that are grown in the highlands often have more sweet fruit flavor, but also more vegetal notes due to the growing process. Though the distinction has become blurred recently due to the agave shortage that arose in 1999/2000. Since then, many of the larger lowland producers have rented property in the highlands and relied on agave from both areas to produce their tequila.
Nevertheless, most agave plants are grown on west-facing slopes, allowing them to receive the most amount of sunlight throughout the day. These plants are taller, wider, and juicier. Agave grown in the lowlands have more earthy flavors, and are typically on the smaller side.[
citation needed]