How It's Made: Tequilla
Vocab level: C2
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The origins of tequila can be traced back many centuries.
Mexico's Aztecs fermented the juice of the agave plant
to produce a low-alcohol drink called pulque.
When the Spanish conquistadors arrived,
they added distillation to the process for a much stronger drink,
and tequila was born.
Pass the salt and lime!
Tequila is to Mexico as champagne is to France.
Tequila is only made in this part of the world,
and Mexico has claimed exclusive rights to the word tequila.
For centuries, workers called jimadores have grown and harvested the agave plant for tequila.
It takes seven years on average for a species called Weber Blue Agave to mature.
Even today, it's harvested entirely by hand,
Using a razor-sharp hoe-like tool, the jimidores chop away the greenery
until all that's left is a huge core called the pina.
Filing the round blade frequently keeps it sharp,
allowing them to remove most of the bitter-tasting leaves from the pina.
The tequila distilled from this crop will be a premium grade,
made from 100% agave juice.
The jimidores routinely remove a small piece
and measure the starch content of the crop.
Only if it's deemed to be sufficient is the agave pina sent to the distillery.
Workers wield special hatchets to carve the huge pinas into quarters
to make them more manageable for baking.
They transfer the chopped pina to a brick oven,
where it's steam-baked for 79 hours.
This thorough cooking converts the agave starch to sugar.
In the process, the flesh softens and the color turns from white to reddish-brown.
The baked agave pina now spills onto a shredder
that rotates to tear the fruit into long, thin fibers.
These fibers exit onto a conveyor.
The shredded pina lands in a pit
where a worker forks it up and moves it into the path of a huge stone wheel called a tahona.
Operated mechanically, the tahona wheel turns to crush the fibers
and squeeze out the precious agave nectar.
It takes two hours of crushing to extract all the juices.
They pipe the juicy mash into wooden tanks and add yeast.
The yeast causes fermentation, a process where sugar is transformed into alcohol.
After 72 hours of fermentation, the alcohol content reaches 5%.
The fermented pulp and juices have an earthy, acidic bouquet and the aroma fills the air.
They transfer the fermented mash to small copper stills.
Inside the stills, the alcohol is boiled off
and the vapor condensed into a more potent liquid.
This is called distillation.
After two distillation cycles, they have tequila.
A technician measures the alcohol content and it's 55%.
After straining out the pulp, they transfer the tequila to steel tanks.
They add purified well water to dilute the alcohol content
and bring it down to 40%.
The tequila is now ready to drink, so it's over to the bottling line.
With the bottles upside down on a revolving carousel,
they spray the inside with tequila for a quick rinse.
The grippers flip them right side up so they can be filled.
This automated system maintains a precise filling level.
An employee corks the bottles and then sends them down the line.
The next worker presses adhesive-backed transparent labels onto them.
The see-through labels showcase the clarity of this fresh, premium tequila.
For a drink with a little more complexity,
they age the tequila in oak casks for two months or more, depending on the grade.
During aging, the tequila takes on a woody flavor and turns a warm shade of amber.
The master distiller personally approves every batch.
He checks the color, inhales the aroma,
and puts his observations down on paper.
He also takes a little sip.
No longer just a rough swig for banditos,
tequila has gone upmarket and is a key ingredient in many popular cocktails.
The end result is still the same though.
Cheers.
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