How is Tequila Made?

Tequila is made from the fermented and distilled sap taken from the "piña" of the blue agave plants. The piña hearts are split open and steamed in 10-ton pressure cookers. The resulting liquids flow into large steel vats for fermentation, which takes 48-72 hours. After a double distillation process that requires two weeks or more, a potent 150-proof tequila emerges. It was the Spanish conquistadors, who managed to distill the sap into alcohol. With their supply of wine and brandy exhausted, they turned to the tequila plant. The conquistadors frequently used hollowed cattle horns as drinking vessels, and this could be the reason why mescal and tequila, when served straight, are traditionally poured into tall, narrow glasses today.

All Tequila is white when it comes out of the still. This white, colorless "silver" tequila is then reduced with distilled water to the desired proof, 80 to 86 proof for the U.S. market. Tequila becomes "gold" from a process of aging a minimum of six months in large redwood tanks. Super premium Tequila is aged longer in oak whiskey barrels. Depending on the aging technique the tequila takes on a different flavor and smoothness.

Although of superior quality, the dark or "gold" tequila is often passed up by consumers who assume that the clear write product is better, a problem long familiar to rum producers.