{"id":4619,"date":"2018-06-19T07:29:49","date_gmt":"2018-06-19T07:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/allthingsnice.in\/blog\/?p=4619"},"modified":"2018-07-13T08:32:05","modified_gmt":"2018-07-13T08:32:05","slug":"business-traveller-the-mexican-spirit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allthingsnice.in\/blog\/?p=4619","title":{"rendered":"Business Traveller – The Mexican Spirit"},"content":{"rendered":"
Business Traveller – <\/span><\/strong>The Mexican Spirit<\/strong> <\/span><\/div>\n
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Nikhil Agarwal decodes tequila for what it really is.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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If tequila conjures up images of drunken nights, shots and generally decadent behaviour, you wouldn\u2019t be wrong. Most people consume it that way globally, and movies and TV shows have\u00a0done their bit to promote this side of tequila in\u00a0popular culture.\u00a0What most of us are not aware of is that there is so\u00a0much more to this complex drink than what the world\u00a0gives it credit for. Before I continue, let\u2019s first address\u00a0the fact that the worm we associate with tequila isn\u2019t\u00a0entirely exclusive to the spirit, and is put in the bottle\u00a0more as a marketing gimmick. In fact, the worm relates\u00a0to mezcal, which is distilled from any agave plant (native\u00a0to South America). There are over 200 types of agaves in\u00a0Mexico used to produce alcohol with similar properties.\u00a0Needless to say, tequila is the most internationally\u00a0famous of them all. It is made from a certain blue agave\u00a0plant, which gives it a smokier flavour and aroma. Knowing this, we can safely say that all tequila is mezcal\u00a0but not the other way round.<\/div>\n
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PURPOSE
\nThere is another side to tequila that most people are unaware of. Rather than being gulped, it is meant\u00a0to be sipped on and savoured, where its complexity,\u00a0incredible flavour and aroma take centre stage. Don\u2019t\u00a0get me wrong. I have enjoyed the good old \u201click salt,\u00a0shoot tequila, squeeze lime\u201d protocol many a time (the\u00a0Mexicans too drink it neat, but without the fanfare). And\u00a0I\u2019ve enjoyed it as part of margaritas and other classic\u00a0tequila-based cocktails too that drown out the pungency\u00a0of its cheaper version.\u00a0Just like vodka or other spirits, tequila too caters to\u00a0every level of the alcohol spectrum, from the foul and\u00a0potent to the sublime and complex. Top-end tequila\u00a0can be just as pleasurable as top-end whisky, cognac,<\/div>\n
Top-end tequila can be just as pleasurable as top-end whisky,
\ncognac, armagnac or in some cases, even great wine.\u00a0armagnac or in some cases, even great wine. Artisanal\u00a0tequila is the fruition of craftsmanship and tradition\u00a0rather than industrial production. The knowledge has\u00a0been passed down generations, right from how to cultivate it, to tend to it and finally yield the returns.<\/div>\n
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PRODUCTION
\nThe blue agave plant from which tequila is made thrives in specific Mexican regions, where millions of them are harvested each year. Depending on the region in which\u00a0it is produced, the blue agave offers different aromas\u00a0and flavours. It takes about eight to 12 years to reach\u00a0maturity. After this, the juice is sucked out from its leaves, and fermented before being distilled twice. It is\u00a0then immediately bottled as tequila or aged further in\u00a0wooden barrels for a stronger flavour. I love how people\u00a0way back in the Aztec ages came up with the recipe for\u00a0this from a plant that looks and feels incredibly hostile.
\nTequila is a region specific name for the distilled spirit\u00a0that, according to Mexican laws, must be produced in\u00a0Jalisco, and in certain areas of Guanajuato, Michoacan,\u00a0Nayarit, and Tamaulipas. It is in Jalisco, where the\u00a0on the bottle better. Blanco or white tequila has either\u00a0not been aged at all or has been aged for less than two
\nmonths in wooden barrels. It is definitely not a tequila\u00a0that can be sipped and savoured by any standards. The\u00a0texture is more harsh.
\nThe joven or oro variety of tequila is not aged. They\u00a0are coloured and flavoured with caramel. Reposado or\u00a0rested tequila is aged from two to 12 months in\u00a0oak barrels. Here, the barrel infuses the spirit with\u00a0additional flavours and complexity. Anejo tequila\u00a0is obtained when it spends a minimum of one to\u00a0three years in an oak barrel. Extra anejo is aged for a\u00a0minimum of three years. Personally, I prefer tequila\u00a0that has spent a good amount of time in an oak barrel, such as extra anejo. It is simply because it takes on a\u00a0smoother, creamier texture, and the aromas are\u00a0more alluring.\u00a0In India, we have a plethora of tequila brands mixed\u00a0into cocktails, and gulped down without really having to taste their flavours. In some cases, this is probably\u00a0a good thing because they\u2019re more likely to be joven\u00a0or oro. We also have a few fine tequila brands such as\u00a0Don Julio Anejo (donjulio.com\/our-tequilas), Patron\u00a0\u00a0Silver\u00a0 patrontequila.com) and Corralejo Anejo\u00a0(tequilacorralejo.com.au). It would be absolutely\u00a0sacrilegious to have them in any way that doesn\u2019t\u00a0involve being sipped and savoured. For such brands, I\u00a0would do away with the shot glass completely and pour\u00a0it cold, or put one cube of ice into a brandy balloon and\u00a0enjoy it slowly. If you\u2019re ordering shots of any of these\u00a0three brands, and plan to drink them without actually\u00a0tasting their flavours, let me remind you, it would be a\u00a0waste of good tequila.<\/p>\n

Cocktail culture is beginning to take off in India. We have already started to understand that the quality of\u00a0any cocktail depends on the quality of its ingredients.\u00a0As we become more aware as consumers, we want the\u00a0taste of the spirit to be highlighted rather than muted\u00a0in our cocktails. This is why drinking quality tequila\u00a0will become more important to people in the know,\u00a0and the notion that tequila too can be a fine spirit will\u00a0finally catch on.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Business Traveller – March Issue – Authored Artcile – March Issue<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Business Traveller – The Mexican Spirit Nikhil Agarwal decodes tequila for what it really is.\u00a0 If tequila conjures up images of drunken nights, shots and generally decadent behaviour, you wouldn\u2019t be wrong. Most people consume it that way globally, and movies and TV shows have\u00a0done their bit to promote this side of tequila in\u00a0popular culture.\u00a0What … Continue reading Business Traveller – The Mexican Spirit<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[2178,2179,873,681],"class_list":["post-4619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-business-traveller-the-mexican-spirit","tag-decodes","tag-sommelier-nikhil-agarwal","tag-tequila"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allthingsnice.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allthingsnice.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allthingsnice.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allthingsnice.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allthingsnice.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4619"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/allthingsnice.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4621,"href":"https:\/\/allthingsnice.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4619\/revisions\/4621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allthingsnice.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allthingsnice.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allthingsnice.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}