¿Donde Esta Mi Tequila?
For the next few minutes, it's still Cinco de Mayo on Frost Street (link via Gothamist). Today is the only day of the year I drink tequila. I believe I drank to within a few ounces of my lifetime quota during my freshman year of college; for years I couldn't even smell the stuff without gagging. Like this lively Mexican spirit, though, I mellow with a little aging.
Everything you could ever want to know about tequila has been ably documented by Ian Chadwick. The most important points:
- To really appreciate tequila, you have to appreciate real tequila. You should avoid the Montezuma Gold variety of spirit that we used to vomit up by the quart in college. Buy tequila that is labeled "100% de Agave": this tells you it is made from the distilled spirits of the blue agave plant, with no other distillates. Anything not labeled "100% de Agave" is "Mixto", containing as little as 51% agave spirit (with the remainder made up by corn or cane spirits). You might as well buy a 100% agave tequila and mix it 50-50 with bourbon or rum.
- Gold does not mean "one better than silver". "Gold" tequila is usually just artificially colored with caramel to simulate the patina of wood-aging. Sometimes caramel or oak essence is also used to flavor young tequilas. If your tequila is labeled "Gold" but does not have one of the age-identifying labels listed below, you're paying extra for food coloring.
- 100% de Agave tequila is further classified by its age. Young distilled agave that has never touched wood is "Blanco" (white); it may be aged in stainless steel for up to 60 days. After two to twelve months aging in oak barrels, it becomes "Reposado". Past the twelve month mark, it becomes "Añejo". The benefits of aging tequila significantly longer than a year are disputed, and there are no official appellations for longer aging periods. Each level of aging has its own balance of aromas and flavors; they each have their merits and their shortcomings, but each is worth trying.
So, next year when Cinco de Mayo rolls around, you'll know everything you need to know to celebrate in style. ¡Viva!
Comments
Interesting. Never learned about the distinctions between tequila before, other than good (expensive) and bad (cheap, makes you puke).
Any exciting food recipes using tequila?
Posted by: Minsane | May 6, 2004 11:26 AM
There are probably some decent tequila recipes, but I don't generally go hunting for them given my general aversion to the spirit. The best use of tequila I ever made in a recipe was a tequila and orange gastrique (vinegar-and-sugar reduction) which I used with a cold duck breast salad.
Posted by: Jeremy | May 6, 2004 12:16 PM
How'd that work out for you?
Also, where are your duck recipes? I don't see a lot of duck, other than at restaurants. Is it particularly difficult to prepare?
Posted by: Minsane | May 6, 2004 12:44 PM
Interestin'. I recently accidentally bought (as in, for a given group of people, we had a joking tradition of tequila with every gathering we had, and it was my turn to by the tequila, and I know nothing about tequila) a bottle of Milagro Reposado. The Mexican at the cash register looked at the bottle, looked at me, and said "Good choice, man, you realyl know your tequila" to which I smiled and nodded, as really, I had no clue. But my god it was quite fantastic - citrus, eucalyptus, juniper, vanilla, and more. And not terribly expensive.
Posted by: redbeard | May 6, 2004 01:15 PM
Feh, duck ain't difficult to prepare. What you need to do is make friends with a butcher that moves a fair amount of it and can help you along. Recipes will follow. If you can find some good duck fat, it is wonderful to cook with. I'm never without lard or good duck fat.
I founds me some anejo tequila the other day, mostly because it wasn't 40 dollars a bottle. The price has come WAY down. I'm not a tequila fan either, but my wife loves it. We have two chillins because of tequila. Therefore, it's fine with me. See.
Posted by: Dr. Biggles | May 7, 2004 08:43 PM