(Even
though we have moved on to Guanajuato, we still have a few blogs from our life
in Tlaquepaque to post. Enjoy!)
Living
in Tlaquepaque, we were less than 50 miles from the birthplace of tequila, the
town of Tequila. So of course we had to visit and become acquainted with Mexico’s
most famous alcoholic beverage!
What is
Tequila, Anyway?
Tequila,
a type of mescal made from the blue agave plant, was first made in the 16th
century. Mexican law states that tequila can only be produced in the Mexican
state of Jalisco and in limited number in three other states. Tequila must be
40% alcohol (80 proof) in the US, but in Mexico it’s usually 38%.
There
are over 100 distilleries producing over 900 brands of tequila, and many conduct
tours and tastings at their haciendas.
We
decided to splurge and signed up for a day trip on the Herradura Express, a
special train leaving from Guadalajara to the Herradura Hacienda in Amatitan, a
town adjacent to Tequila. There were three classes of seats on the train. We
selected the middle-class ticket which cost $2400 MXN pesos each, or about $125.
We
Ubered to the train station, checked in and selected our seats. Even though we
had been told the train had been sold out, we had four comfortable seats and
a table to ourselves. There was a bar in our car, which was kept busy the whole
day.
 |
| Carlos, our bartender |
Tequila on
the Train
We
were immediately served water, juice and a box breakfast. But once the train left
the station, at 10 in the morning, they switched to serving tequila-based
drinks. I can’t even remember what they all were or how many we had, but the
drinks were definitely flowing, including Margaritas, Tequila Sunrises, Horchatas
(a Mexican rice-based vanilla drink), White Russians, a coffee-based drink
called The Bull, and many more.
After
about 90 minutes or so of traveling amid a breathtaking landscape, including fields
upon fields of blue agave, we arrived in the tiny pueblo of Amatitan and
transferred onto buses for the short ride to the Hacienda Herradura. We got
into the English-language tour and were off.
 |
| The Tequila Volcano |
 |
| Agave plants |
The Tour
First
stop was walking by some blue agave plants, which we learned take 8 years to
mature to the point they could be used for tequila. Next, we watched a Jimador use
a coa (a wooden-handled cutting blade) to strip the leaves from the plant to get to the heart,
also called a pina because it resembles a pineapple, which is used in the
distillation process.
 |
The Jimador with his coa chopping off
the leaves of the blue agave plant |
We saw the row of ovens where the pinas are baked. Next, they are squeezed repeatedly to get the agave juice, which is distilled and then fermented in giant barrels. The pulp is removed and used for other things such as candy and even furniture.
 |
| The ovens |
 |
| A pile of pinas |
Tasting
Next
we walked through an ancient section of the facility that is no
longer used, and led to a tasting cellar. Tasting glasses were neatly laid out on
tables.
A bilingual talk was given on the “correct” way to drink tequila:
Swish the glass in a circle to check out the “legs” of the liquid. Breath in
the scent. Breath in through your nose, hold it, sip tequila onto your tongue.
Swallow. Breath out through your nose. Finally, emit an “Ahhh” and empty your
lungs. We started our tasting. To the best of my recollection, we tried 5. We
could taste the differences, particularly the smoothness, between the various categories
of tequila:
- “Blanco”
or “plata” is a white spirit, unaged and bottled or stored immediately
after distillation, or aged less than two months in stainless steel or
neutral oak barrels. It is used in cocktails.
- “Reposado” is aged two
months to a year in oak barrels of any size
- “Añejo” aged one to three
years in small oak barrels
- “Extra Añejo” is aged a minimum of three years in oak barrels.
Our favorite was
reposado.
The Barrel Room
After the tasting,
we were led into a huge room in which they kept empty barrels in which tequila
had previously been aged. Herradura has a program where a restaurant or bar can
come to the distillery and purchase an entire barrel for $10,000 USD.
This yields 240 bottles at a per bottle price of $40. The distillery will then
customize bottles of the tequila from the barrel for the purchaser, and the
purchaser gets to customize the top of the barrel.
Lunch … and more
Tequila
By this time we were
ravenous and finally made it to lunch, where we sat at a long table and they served us even more tequila. I sat next
to a guy from St. Louis who had been doing work in Las Vegas and on a whim
decided to fly down to Guadalajara for a few days. He knew a bit about tequila
and told me to ask for a specific high-quality tequila. I did. It was the good
stuff and very smooth. He was asking for them two glasses at a time. They
served a delicious lunch of chicken, potatoes and vegetables, and we were
entertained by a Mariachi band and some folkloric dancers.
 |
| Mariachi |
 |
| Folkloric dancers |
Of course, we needed
a souvenir, so we went to the tequila stand they had conveniently set up and
purchased 950ml of one of the Reposados for about $25 USD. We had been told
that they would engrave our bottle for us, but unfortunately, the engraver
called in sick that day. That was probably a good thing; otherwise, it would
have been difficult to part with the engraved bottle and we definitely don’t
have room for it in the truck. (Later note: It does fit in the truck and we are
saving it.)
The Trip Home
It was time to go,
and we loaded onto the buses for the trip back to the train. Once on the train, the cocktails continued to flow until we arrived back in Guadalajara at around 8 PM.
To our complete surprise, neither one of us were feeling any effects of the
non-stop day of drinking, although there was one group on our train that was
definitely loud and raucous on the ride back.
 |
| Cocktails on the trip home |
All in all, we had a
great day. It was pricey but the experience was worth it!
