Tequila is a spirit distilled from blue weber agave plants in the area around the city named Tequila in the state of Jalisco in Mexico. The agave plant is also known as the "Maguey" as well. To produce it, the mature agave plants are stripped of their leaves, and then the the hearts are baked to convert starches in the plant into fermentable sugars. The hearts are then crushed to release the then fermentable juice. The juice is then fermented to make tequila.
Finished tequila is released in a few styles.
Mixto must be at least 51% agave with the remaining percentage allowed to consist of any other fermentable sugar.
Joven or gold is a blend of silver tequila and aged tequilas.
Blanco, white, or silver tequila is tequila that is not aged before bottling.
Reposado tequila is bottled after a minimum aging period of two months but less than on year of aging.
Aņejo is tequila aged between 1 and 3 years
Extra Aņejo is tequila aged longer than three years.
Tequila aromas are often tropical and spicy but they usually retain agave sweetness and can have the classic agave "wet cement" earthy aromas. When aged in wood barrels or used bourbon barrels they can take on a range of toasty, vanilla, caramel, and other oak related aromas.
Blanco/Silver tequilas are clear.
Aged tequilas and gold tequilas can take on anywhere from golden yellow to rich nutty brown colors from barrels. Some addition of caramel coloring is permitted as well.
Tequila can range across a wide variety of styles. I typically group blancos into tropical and fruity styles, spicy and peppery styles, and earthier styles.
Aged tequilas use blanco tequila as a base and the wood aging can impart a wide variety of flavors on top of the flavors that occur in blancos. Wood can impart toasty, oaky, vanilla, smoky, and buttery flavors onto tequila as well as flavor characteristics from any residual liquids previously kept in the barrels.
Most examples are bottled at 40% but Tequila is produced ranging from 35 to 55% alcohol by volume.