happy valentine's day! try agavero tequila

There are two things that Mexico is most famous for. The world's finest tequila and a culture that is known for its love of passion. Today our quest brings us to an amazing bottle of tequila liqueur that we must share as a Valentine's Day treat for all of you. Agavero. This unique blend was created as long ago as the 17th century by Lazaro Gallardo, a well known figure in the history of tequila. He created a distillery in Jalisco called Los Camichines that to this day still produces this unique blend and is also well known for its Gran Centenario brand.
Agavero is a simple blend of either Repasado or Anejo tequila with the essence of Damiana flower. Damiana is a plant that has long been known and sought after for its aphrodesiac qualities. Apparently this liqueur has a neon-green hue and is quite thick and sweet. It is said to taste very good. We recomend that it be consumed during social occcasions and most importantly with intimate friends.
It may be hard to find in the US and abroad but can be ordered directly from Mexico. It is not very expensive, so get a bottle and keep it on the shelf for Valentine's Day or any other occasion when you may want to induce more passion.
We hope you love it!

distiller of the year:2007

According to a November issue of Wine Enthusiast Magazine, Casa Herradura is the 2007 distiller of the year. It is one of the oldest and most respected Tequila distilleries in all of Mexico. Herradura was founded by Ambrosio Rosales and Aurelio Lopez 138 years ago in Jalisco, the heart of Mexico’s Tequila region.
As featured in Wine Enthusiast, Tequila Herradura is 100-percent blue agave Tequila, carefully crafted using traditional methods, such as using clay ovens and fermenting the cooked agave hearts naturally with wild yeast. Tequila Herradura is all natural, estate grown and estate bottled. The distillery introduced the first Reposado Tequila in 1974, and later launched the first Extra Añejo, Seleccion Suprema.
In 1994, Casa Herradura released El Jimador Tequila to honor the men who harvest agave plants. Today, El Jimador is the No. 1 Tequila in Mexico.
Purchased in January 2007 by Brown-Forman of Louisville, Kentucky, a company that has the highest respect for quality and tradition, expect Casa Herradura to prosper despite the change in ownership

2008:agave surplus high

Our quest today brings us to a very enlightening story about the current glut in surplus of Blue Weber Agave in Mexico. Just like the photo we chose says, "Mucho Tequila" is what is in store for this new year. Just seven to eight years ago at the turn of the new millenium there were armed guards protecting blue agave crops. There was such a shortage at that time that farmers and distilleries had to be very weary of potential theives. According to an article we found at tequilasource.com some 1.5 million metric tons of ripe agave came onto the market in 2007 and the tequila industry will use only half of it. A similar surplus is expected in 2008. Tequila makers aren't complaining, of course, but the thousands of farmers who grow agave are seeing red.
Millions of dollars in federal money to bail out farmers hasn't been distributed. Some farmers reportedly burned their agave in desperation and planted corn used for ethanol production instead. Farmer protests could be a fixture of tequila-country visitor tours through 2009.
Industry observers saw the glut coming as long as a decade ago. On a very basic level, the shortage up to 8 years ago caused too many people to begin farming Blue Agave. People who were not even farmers were buying land and planting agave. It seems that things are way out of balance right now. Considering agave grows in 7 year cycles, the year 2014 is already at risk for shortages and increased prices. Experts say that we, as consumers, will not see a drop in tequila prices due to the high cost of transportation these days.
We are keeping our fingers crossed for the agave farmers right now. If they do not get sufficient aide from their government, they could face very hard times for some time to come. Just think..... drinking your favorite tequila more regularly could help feed hungry farming families in Mexico. Go ahead, have a glass for the sake of good people.

frida kahlo tequila

Today our quest brings us to an interesting yet controversial brand of tequila. Frida Kahlo Tequila. It was created by Isolda P. Kahlo, the niece of the influential Mexican painter. She is the founder of "The Frida Kahlo Corporation" who markets the brand. She also claims the right to license products using the artist’s name and image.
As you can see above the bottle design was done in a style that seems to capture Frida's true essence. Lorenzo Bustillos Galavis a 32 year old industrial designer originally from Caracas worked with JuanCo to artfully design the label. Unfortunately when we went to the JuanCo website it would not open any further than the front page.
The controversy around this issue was brought to our attention on a blog by Mark Vallen called "Art For A Change". Mark insists that we all boycott Frida Kahlo Tequila. He claims that "turning the Frida Kahlo legacy into a brand name tequila is the final straw when it comes to the "Fridamania" cult promoted by the unscrupulous capitalists the artist railed against her entire life".
Vallen's blog post goes on to argue his case by mentioning how art critic and author Raquel Tibol, who befriended Kahlo at the end of the artist’s life, displayed outrage over the painter’s niece exploiting the legacy of Kahlo. Tibol is quoted as saying "This is a dirty shame! Who gave them permission to use her name? Isolda has gone mad in her desire to make money from her family name. This time she’s stepped over the line, it’s a total lack of respect!"
Apparently Tibol’s criticism is well founded. In 1955, just a few years before his death, Diego Rivera established the Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, an institution run by the Banco De Mexico. The trust was created to hold the works, possessions, and homes of the two artists as a public treasure. It would appear the trust is the only organization authorized to legally give permission to use Kahlo’s name for commercial purposes, or as Tibol put it, "According to the will of Diego Rivera and the establishment of the Foundation, all profitable use of Frida Kahlo must go to the Foundation."
Isolda P. Kahlo and her Frida Kahlo Corporation are marketing lies when they equate Frida’s consumption of tequila with "her love for Mexico, her strength and her passion for life. Tequila, her favorite drink, accompanied her in the greatest moments of her life." The idea of the artist’s alcoholism being somehow romantic could not be further from the truth. It was not a sense of romanticism that led Kahlo to drink a bottle of tequila a day, but the debilitating pain she endured from the accident suffered in her youth. Add to that the grief she experienced with husband Diego, and it’s plain to see that drink was not so much a pleasure for Frida as it was an escape.
So..... We would encourage all of you to think carefully before buying and consuming a bottle of this tequila. It is our job to promote the conscious consumption of tequila, not to tell you what to do.
If you do choose to drink Frida Kahlo Tequila, please do it with reverence for Frida's art and her legacy. At the very least, raise a glass to her.
Salud Frida!

pulque: the original drink of mexico?

Today our quest brings us to an interesting story about pulque, one of tequila's cousins. We have been searching all over the internet in an attempt to discover the truth about this Mesoamerican beverage. According to Wikipedia, pulque goes back as far as 200 AD and was consumed at religious ceremonies prior to the Spanish conquest of Mexico. On a very basic level, Pulque is made by fermenting the aguamiel or juice of the agave until it becomes a beer-like beverage. Until recently Pulque was only found in Mexico and parts of Central America. After 2,000 years,companies like Pulque La Lucha brand by Boulder Imports and the Nectar del Razo brand finally figured out a way to can and bottle pulque so that it can be exported to the United States. Previously it was not possible to ship pulque long distances because it kept fermenting, and ultimately became undrinkable. Thanks to the younger generations in places like Mexico City and these improvements in packaging technology, pulque is experiencing a new found popularity. In the end, the truth is that pulque & tequila are very different, but we can not argue that pulque is older and now has its rightful place in our modern world.

vintage jose cuervo

The year 2008 is now 18 days away. Forty years ago, distilleries like Jose Cuervo were already setting the pace for many others to follow. This ad from the late 1960's was found on a blog written by Paula Zaegaj-Reynolds called "Advertising is good for you". The colorful background and the sophistication portrayed in this image was enough to make us want to run right out and buy a bottle of Jose's timeless tequila. We hope you enjoy this ad as much as we do.

itequila.org

We have had a link to itequila.org on our sidebar for a while now and it's finally time to feature them. Any of you who have a thirst for tequila information like we do will know that there are many resources out there. itequila.org seems to us to be one of the most user friendly and informative. They go through it all. Anything from the Tequila region of Mexico, to how tequila is made, to myths about tequila, to tequila brands and websites. There is far to much to mention it all now, but we highly recommend that you visit the site right away. The "Myths About Tequila" section was a favorite for us. Viva Tequila!

¡Tequila! A Natural and Cultural History

Interested in the botanical descriptions, production and processing of agave into tequila? A must read is the book by Ana Valenzuela-Zapata and Gary Paul Nabhan, called ¡Tequila! A Natural and Cultural History. The two writers were brought together by a common mentor, the late Dr. Howard Scott Gentry, a pioneer in the study of agave biosystematics. The book offers wonderful information about propagation, cultivation, harvesting and processing of agave. Inside is a 'folk vocabulary' describing agave production/processing and in depth botanical descriptions of agave species. The book also explains a dilemma of mono species agriculture: with contemporary agribusiness and a growing demand for tequila, vast new fields with little genetic diversity have been planted. This cloning of the same species of blue agave leads to demographic vulnerability from new plant diseases. This book reinforces the need idea of permaculture in farming as well as issues of species biodiversity and companion planting. Mixing species assists in pest control in a number of ways: it influences the availability of light, creates barriers, influences the microclimate, increasing resistance genes and can act as alternative hosts for natural enemies. Intercropping allows each plant to supply a different nutrient to the soil, less or no fertilizers are added to the soil.
If you plant vast fields of the same species, a decrease in bio-diversity occurs where animals lose their habitat and either relocate or become extinct. After harvesting. the plot is empty leaving the soil bare and prone to soil erosion. The use of insecticides and pesticides pollutes the environment on many levels: the soil, streams, creeks, rivers, underground water sources, well water, the ocean, and even the air. Drink organic tequila!-to preserve agave biodiversity.

jalisco: world heritage site

Mexico is ranked first in the Americas and eighth worldwide in UNESCO sites, a distinction given to places of historical, cultural and natural relevance to the world. The Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities in Tequila, Jalisco, were declared a World Heritage Site in 2006, becoming the most recent addition to Mexico’s impressive list of notables.

tequila factory tour

Informative video about Jose Cuervo tequila--who makes 100% as well as Mixto tequilas. Good video for the history of tequila--Jose Cuervo does make high quality tequilas such as the Reserva. Each bottle is handmade, numbered, dated and sealed in wax. Every year the Cuervo family commissions a different Mexican artist to design the new collectible box.

a must read - 'tequila': the book

Looking for a fun read? 'Tequila' by novelist Alberto Ruy-Sanchez and his wife, historian, Margarita de Orellana is a complete guide to all things tequila. The book has great vintage illustrations and photographs and takes you through the history of tequila, its manufacture and even guides you through recipes that utilize tequila. Check it out here.

debut of tequila savvy

This blog is dedicated to the history of Tequila. To all those who have ever given their time and energy to making the industry of Tequila what it is today. It is meant to be a place where anyone can share and learn about Tequila culture. We invite you to read what we post and to feel free to add to our adventurous quest for the perfect Tequila.
Vamanos!

Tequila Wikipedia