Kickstart Your Tequila Education
By Jade Roy
We all know the story, you hate tequila, you heavily abused it as a teenager, and now just the thought of it is a trigger. I know, same. But there is a time when you have to face your fear, find someone to hold your hand instead of your hair, and start over with tequila because the agave is not the enemy, trust me. In this paper, we will dissect every aspect of the tequila business, debunk misconceptions, and hopefully reunite you with this misunderstood agave spirit.
Aside from what I know of tequila consumption in Belgium and Amsterdam, it's in Ibiza that I found two different ways of drinking coexisting: on one hand, nightclubs and their heavy pours of big brands (probably twice what you'd get in Amsterdam, they got no chill). On the other hand, the sipping tequilas we sell in the shop to yoga moms, concerned about what goes into their bodies. With the latter, we notice an interest in additive-free agave spirits, and the only way to keep spreading the good word is through educated shop owners, bartenders, and distributors. They are raising awareness to sip clearer!
Quick History
Tequila started off well as the offspring of its ancestor, mezcal. However, as soon as the American market got its hands on it, the business grew too fast and quality went tits up. Unfortunately, most of us got acquainted with tequila during its trashy era, in nightclubs. What we knew of it was that there was no party without tequila shots! We all did our little ritual with the lime and salt because we were suckers for that, little did we know that this combo was carefully designed to mask the flavor of Mixto tequila.
The problem lies in how we've carried the idea that tequila must taste bad over the years, bringing us to a point where we are too reluctant to try again. "Oh no, just the smell...I can't". As a bartender I can tell you that it takes a lot of patience to try and change someone's mind about tequila; you can start through cocktails and slowly move to neat drinking after explaining how to sip, don't forget, the shooting culture is still very much alive.
As we now know, we start from zero in terms of education but our generation is making tremendous progress! We are so much more concerned about our health, it seems that somewhere along this new hygienist wave, "my body, my temple", people start to care and question what they ingest. That's where agave spirits walk in like the stars of the lesser-transformed spirits as some are just agave-yeast-water based. Moreover, we notice that people cherish their morning routine and so emerged a new selling point: "You could drink a whole bottle of this and feel fresh as a daisy in the morning, it's additive-free!" Because it's true, additives go straight to your head, make you drunk faster and the sugar that might have been added will make you sick.
Break Down Of Those Dreadful Additives
It's time to talk about the different types of tequilas and their eventual additives :
1) The MIXTO: 51% blue agave by law, 49% of whatever sugar-based syrup, usually corn or sugarcane + additives. Look out for the sombrero taps in nightclubs.
2) The 100% Agave: We're almost there. It tastes like cooked agave, it doesn't burn as much but, it probably still contains 1% of additives that brands are allowed not to disclose. Think of all the big brands you know and see in most bars.
3) The clean Shit: 100% Blue agave and 0% additives, basically agave-yeast-water. This makes you feel quite great the morning after.
What Are These Additives?
Glycerin: Used to boost the mouthfeel of a tequila. Body in spirits comes mostly from residual sugars and lipid content that remain after distillation, giving us sweetness, oiliness, or both. You should be able to tell the difference between this added agent and the natural mouthfeel from good tequila making. Tips: glycerin is usually not the only additive used for that type of tequila, if other tasting notes seem odd, then probably you were right about the glycerin. Stay away from tequila sold as "super smooth", they give themselves away.
Caramel Coloring: This one is not new, rather largely used in the spirit industry, yet it poses a big issue when it comes to aged tequila: "Is the color really coming from the barrel or just from coloring ?" In our imagination, darker means longer aging, which means better spirit. It ain’t.
Oak extract: Not very sexy but also largely used in the world of spirits. Very common in the making of cognac that needs that extra tannin while being very secretive about it. For tequila, it is thankfully used less than caramel coloring.
Flavouring Agents: Literally any agent legal for human consumption by the Mexican government. Both natural and artificial flavors. The allowed 1% by volume is a tremendous amount considering how potent additives are these days. The most famous one is the vanilla extract. Trust me on this, if that's all you taste, or cake batter, cotton candy, icing sugar, etc, it's the additive. American oak can give a lot of vanilla, yes, but there's a fine line between a touch of "unsweetened" vanilla and the chemical sweetness that goes with it, pay attention.
Sugar-based syrup: usually found in Mixto tequilas to cover up the remaining 49%. It also balances out the lack of sugar due to the unripe agaves used in big productions.
Now, additives have been used heavily, for ages, and in all categories of spirits, so what's the issue with tequila? Well, as mentioned before, companies aren't urged to disclose that they're cutting corners, even worse, they sometimes lie about it! However, when being a mass-producing company, there are many factors to consider to hit a large market and the expected revenue. I know it's not very hippie to mention it but I'm afraid we'll have to keep debunking a few realities :
The big brands you see in every bar and every ad have been studying you. The party you, the sipping you, your age, wallet, drinking habits, eating habits, palates, job, and more. Using these features they will carefully inject additives to fit your expectations. Year after year they also shape your idea of what tequila should taste like and you keep buying what's marketed as "the best".
Then comes the marketing: hot girls sipping on a beach, celebrities, and a party vibe if entry-level tequila because that's what you must drink when going out. A hushed atmosphere if “premium” (think whatever Cristallino). All these images constantly bombarded on social media make us oblivious to other brands than those showcased. Why do you think you want to order expensive bottles in the nightclub? Because you have seen other suckers do it before, you want to be seen with "the shit", no matter the quality, you want the idea the brand conveys, not its product.
On the other hand, a small-scale company focused on high quality, that always plays by the rules, wishes not to add additives, stays true to tradition, has zero to no chance to compete with the big brands and cover the same market. Usually, they also don't have the budget for marketing and rely on more old-fashioned ways to get the word out. It will be very hard for them to have a share of the market without playing the additive game or cutting corners in general. Can they win people over and beat the big companies? Can they enter nightclubs? No, they will be featured in spirit shops and specialized bars but at least, they will reach the market that suits them, the educated one.
Yet, I understand that ever-growing companies have but no choice to work the way they do: for the quantities the market requires, of course, you need to find the quickest way to get bottles out. They will cultivate infinite rows of Tequiliana Weber, some will harvest them too early, use an autoclave or the dreaded diffuser, add chemicals to balance out inconsistencies, and do what they need to do to fulfill the common crowd's cravings. This industry has gone way too far to go backward now. Over the years, you may have noticed that brands you once loved slowly changed towards a lesser-quality one, the reason might lie in the use of additives.
Let's not forget the cocktail market and the need for a consistent product. Small-batch tequilas usually can't ensure that. Then again, bars don't always care for quality when it comes to cocktails, additive-free tends to be the least of their concern because it usually costs way more and bar owners care about their margins. As a customer, you end up drinking margaritas that taste average or straight-up bad since the main ingredient doesn't even taste like agave. I'm not generalizing because there are tequilas out there that might have additives without losing their cooked agave notes, at an affordable price.
Now, all this would be fine if there were more transparency for the consumer; we could choose whether we care about additives or not, and support smaller-scale producers if there were more space for them on the market as a whole category. They're the "real shit" but somehow they always come second.
How to start over with tequila?
LISTEN TO YOUR BARTENDER! The agave spirit world keeps on growing and as organic mezcales become bartenders' favorites, the interest in additive-free tequilas increases together with them. Go to your bartender, not to the nightclub one. The cocktail Bartender, or the agave bartender, tell them you want to try a TEQUILA BLANCO, ADDITIVE-FREE. Ditch the lime and salt and take your time and sip, taste the cooked agave; notice how it makes you feel (drink a little extra if you want to test-proof the hangover). Also, do forget the bad memories of the so-called "spirit" of your teenage years. You're starting over.
Stop shooting tequila, you're too old for this.
If it's heavy on the cake batter, chemical vanilla, ditch it. You want to taste the cooked agave. Think cooked pumpkin. Vegetal notes are also welcome together with a round mouthfeel, soft on the burn.
DO YOUR RESEARCH! Use the app Tequila Matchmaker to see if your favorite brand is additive-free or at least 100 % Blue agave.
As much as the new generation cares about what goes into their body, booze shouldn't be eluded. Drinking is already not the healthiest of hobbies, if you want to match the yoga mom vibe, drink responsibly and drink organic.
Find the tequila that works for you, and analyze how it makes you feel: is it going straight to your head? Are you getting tired? Out of control? Slow down, change the brand, and find someone to guide you, you might spend an extra euro but you'll feel loads better the day after. And enjoy your drink DUH.
Conclusion
As the agave spirit market grows, so does the awakening of consciences meaning that knowledge is power. The more people will educate themselves on spirits, the better they will drink and that opens many doors to small producers trying to perpetuate the artful and ancestral way of tequila making. Who knows, they might nibble their fair share of the market and set the pace for the bigger companies.
Now, don't get bummed out by my words if I've described your tequila consumption in sad details, that's just the beginning of a better education, now you can show off (too) and be the most educated drinker of your friends.