Living Information

JIM FORBES, CNN Correspondent: The sights and sounds of Mexico, it’s a culture brimming with bright colors, passion and the unofficial refreshment of the land, tequila. The spirit began its commercial life here more than 200 years ago. Its reputation is legendary.
Tequila is located in the southwestern Mexican state of Jalisco and it’s here that 98 percent of all tequila is manufactured. And the residents of this region are just as proud and protective of their product as are residents of Champagne and Bordeaux.
These fields are where tequila is born, in row upon row of blue agave plants. While they look like cactus, they’re actually a member of the lily family. Yet they’re hardy, growing eight to 12 years before they can be harvested.
One company enjoying this tequila explosion is the granddaddy of the business, Jose Cuervo, which has been around since 1795. Today, it produces almost half of the tequila Americans drink. Cuervo’s Enrique Legoretta walked us through the manufacturing process. First, the blue agave hearts are brought back to the distillery to be steamed in huge ovens.

FORBES: So what happens here?

ENRIQUE LEGORETTA, Jose Cuervo: Well, here is where we convert the starch in the agave into a sugar.

FORBES: From there, the liquid extracted from the plants is fermented, distilled, tested and finally bottled. Every premium brand has its own secret distilling recipe, yet the end result is all the same, 100 percent pure blue agave.
From here, the pure blue agave can be blended with sugar cane and other elements, diminishing the agave content to no less than 51 percent. That mixture is the basis of the popular Cuervo Gold label and other similar products.
Or, the liquid can remain in its pure form, 100 percent pure blue agave, and become the sophisticated drink everyone is talking about. A clear blanco or silver tequila is simply bottled after distillation. If it ages for at least two months in an oak barrel, it’s called a reposado and starts taking on the golden color of the oak. More than a year of aging and it earns the name anejo. And unlike wine, once tequila is in a bottle, it doesn’t change much.

FORBES: Learning about these new premium tequilas is a challenge, though. Ground zero in San Francisco is Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant, where they sell more brands of 100 percent blue agave tequila than anywhere else in the U.S. ? 205 different labels.

BERMEJO: That’s one of the things that I believe, tequila is the last undiscovered great spirit.

FORBES: If there were such a thing as a Ph.D. in tequila, Bermejo definitely has one. Ask him to list a few tequilas and stand back.

BERMEJO: Tequila is still a little bit of a mystery. It’s going to be a beautiful thing in the next coming years. I mean, as people discover this, they’re going to fall in love.

FORBES: And while love, as tequila, may sometimes bite, it’s most often a beautiful thing. Jim Forbes for CNN, Tequila, Mexico.

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