Tequila

We arrived in Guadalajara much later than planned due to a delay in our flight to Mexico City which caused us to be moved to a later flight, which then also experienced technical difficulties. We checked in to our hotel which is in the Centro Histórico and has strong Spanish influences, being built around a covered central courtyard, then immediately headed out to find somewhere to eat. One of the specialties of the region is birria, which is slow cooked meat in sauce - usually goat or lamb. We found a restaurant and devoured a plate of the goat meat with tortillas, onions, beans and coriander. It was very tasty!

The next day we had prebooked a small group tour for tequila tasting and understanding the production process. When our guide turned up at the hotel we found that we were in a very small group tour - just us.

Tequila differs from mezcál in a number of subtle ways. It can only be produced in the state of Jalisco and parts of a few neighbouring states. It must be made from blue agave, although it can be called tequila with only 51% agave sugars used. It is also generally cooked by steaming the piñas, and production today is much more industrialised than that of the vast majority of mezcál.

We headed out into the countryside and could see fields of blue agave growing as far as the eye can see. Our first stop was a lookout to have an even better look at the fields and to view the Tequila  volcano, which provided the fertile soils of the Jalisco region that makes their tequilas so good.

We stopped at the first distillery - Los Tres Mujeres - and the tequila production process was explained. This is considered an artesanal tequila distillery; however, it was on a much larger scale than any of the mezcál producers we had visited in Oaxaca, and the whole process - excluding the harvest - is closely supported with technology. For example, shredders are used to extract the juice from the cooked piñas. One of the ovens was working so we were able to smell the sweat aroma of the steaming agave.

We then moved on to the tasting where we sampled white tequila, which is straight from being distilled without aging, and then several varieties that had been rested or aged in oak barrels for between 8 months and 5 years.

At the second distillery - Los Tres Toños - the process was even more industrialised, with large pressure cooker style steamers rather than the more traditional brick ovens. There was also a large number of different varieties to try,  including triple distilled tequila and varieties flavoured with local fruits.

We headed to the town of Tequila for lunch at a local market. Once again the goat birria was recommended, so we tried that and a chicken mole dish - both were fantastic.

We were shown through one of the museums in town which is about the prominent local Sauza family whose patriarchs pioneered commercial tequila production staying in the latter decades of the 19th century. There was time to look around the main square, the church and a couple of shops before getting some tequila-flavoured ice cream and heading back to Guadalajara to beat the traffic.

In the evening we wandered around the central area of the city, visiting the Catedral and admiring many of the historic buildings, and the four plazas which surround the Catedral in the shape of a cross.