Best Tequila: How to drink it, what to look for, and price

Teremana, $32 onwards; 1800 Cristalino, Rs 15,000; and Tequila Fortaleza, $95

Tequila has been booming globally for a while now. It has rid itself of its tacky party drink image, and people are paying a fair bit of money for the premium stuff. Famous people, from Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson to Adam Levine, have launched their own tequilas; while George Clooney’s Casamigos, a tequila brand the actor co-founded with two friends, was bought by Diageo in 2017 for $1 billion. The spirit is gaining followers in India as well. Bars stock top-shelf tequilas; many single malt drinkers are switching to ultra-premium tequilas; and Monika Alcobev, among the country’s largest importers and distributors of spirits, has seen a massive jump in tequila sales since 2020. Two years ago, Desmondji, launched in 2011 and for long India’s (and Asia’s) only agave spirit brand, had company in the form of Pistola. With World Tequila Day around the corner, here is a snappy 101 on the world’s hottest spirit.

A few things about tequila

– Tequila is a distilled spirit made from the Weber blue agave plant that is native to Mexico. Tequila is a type of mezcal, which is a broad category of spirits made from agave. So, while all tequilas are mezcals, not all mezcal is tequila. (Think of it like whisky and bourbon.)

– Tequila is geographically protected and can only be produced in five regions of Mexico: Jalisco, Guanajuanto, Michoacan, Tamaulipas and Nayarit. The spirit must be made with at least 51 percent blue agave in order to be considered tequila.

– There are several tequila styles. Blanco is tequila that is usually aged for around two months; reposado is aged for 2-12 months; and anejo is aged in oak barrels for 12-36 months. You also have joven that is a blend of aged and unaged tequilas and extra anejo which has been aged for over three years.

Tears of Llorona

How do you drink tequila?

The Mexicans drink it neat (and no, no lime, no salt). And that’s the best way to have it, especially if we are talking about anejos and extra anejos, says Sarath Nair, beverage manager at Copitas, at the Four Seasons in Bangalore. Copitas was recently ranked 38th on Asia’s 50 Best Bars list. “You wouldn’t want to mix your anejos or extra anejos with anything. Just chill it and sip it,” says Nair. Blancos and reposados are ideal for cocktails, he adds. “Besides the Margarita, you could do a Paloma or an Old Fashioned. A nice tonic like, say, a rhubarb tonic water, works pretty well, too,” says Nair who counts Tears of Llorona, an extra anejo tequila, among his favourites.

Dwayne Johnson's Teremana tequila is distilled in the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico.

Tequilas worth checking out

Tequila Fortaleza

Guillermo Erickson Sauza comes from an illustrious lineage. His great-great grandfather, Don Cenobio, who founded his first distillery in the town of Tequila, in Jalisco, in 1873, was the first person to use steam to cook the agave. Cenobio’s grandson Eladio Javier fought hard and long to establish the Denomination of Origin for tequila. In 1968, he set up La Fortaleza, a small distillery, which ran for about a decade before Javier sold off the family business. The distillery was revived in the early aughts by Javier's son Guillermo and has since then produced some of the world’s best tequilas. Their anejo, aged 18 months in American Oak, comes in a hand-blown bottle, and is described as rich and complex.

$95

Teremana

Launched by actor Dwayne Johnson in 2020, Teremana, which is distilled in Jalisco, is the fastest growing tequila brand in history. Teremana sells over a million cases annually. Teremana 's range includes blanco, reposado, and anejo.

$32 onwards

1800 Cristalino

1800 tequila, named after the year it was first distilled in Mexico, is owned by the Beckmann family which also owns the Jose Cuervo tequila brand. The super premium Cristalino is made from 100 percent Weber blue agave and aged in French and American oak barrels before being married in port wine casks.

Rs 15,000