Tequila History

The drink tequila is a relatively new invention. While pre-Columbian Indians consumed various drinks made from agave plants, most notably pulque, the process did not include distillation. When the Spanish arrived they distilled the agave juice, naming the product mezcal. The mezcal produced in the town of Tequila enjoyed wide popularity, it assumed the special name of "tequila" by the end of the 19th century.

Commercial production was started in 1795 by a Spaniard,Don Jose Maria Guadalupe Cuervo, and it is now one of the most popular alcoholic drinks in the US. Today mezcal is made from many varieties of agave, while tequila may be made only from the blue agave grown in the state of Jalisco. The blue agave, although often called a cactus, is actually a close relative of the lily. More than 100 million agaves cover the hills of the Sierra Madre, west of the Mexican city of Guadalajara. When the agave is between eight and 10 years old, it is harvested, with its spiky leaves chopped off with a machete to get at the pineapple-shaped heart. This is boiled for 48 hours to convert the starches to sugars. The heart is then crushed and rinsed with water. The run-off is fermented, using yeasts, and distillation results in a spirit that tastes of resin and artichoke. If you double distil, filter and then age the spirit in old sherry, cognac or bourbon casks, you have a gourmet tequila with all the smoky and salty flavours of a single-malt whisky and a price tag to match.

Tequila is graded according to the amount of time it is aged. Standard tequila is not aged, reposado spends between two and 12 months in oak and anejo is aged for at least a year. The acme of mezcal is the Gran Reserva Beneva, which won a gold medal at this year's World Spirit Championship. Aged in oak barrels for four years and presented in a hand-blown bottle shaped like a pumpkin, this is no swill for university students. At $350 a bottle, clearly not.

So what is it with the worm?
Mezcal is famous for the dead agave worm rolling around at the bottom of the bottle. The alcoholic strength of the contents is proved by the state of preservation of the worm, which is considered a powerful aphrodisiac for Zapotecan Indians. Alas, like most aphrodisiacs, it's all hype and the worm is really just a marketing gimmick.