Chapter 15 Production of Tequila from Agave: Historical Influences and Contemporary Processes

Production of tequila from agave 225 Chapter 15 Production of tequila from agave: historical influences and contemporary processes M. Cedeño Cruz and J. Alvarez-Jacobs Tequila Herradura, S.A. de C.V. Ex-Hda San Jose del Refugio, Amatitán, Jalisco, México Introduction: Agave beverage alcohol white product to which caramel color (generally) products has been added. Rested tequila (Reposado) and aged tequila (Añejo) are white tequila matured Tequila is classically associated with Mexico, in wood containers, preferably oak casks, for at particularly with Jalisco, a state located in the west least 2 and 12 months, respectively, according of the country. This beverage is obtained by to present regulations. In practice, the aging distillation of fermented juice from only the agave period is normally longer and depends on the plant (Agave tequilana Weber var. Azul ) if 100% characteristics each company wants to give to agave tequila is required. Fermentation is carried the final product. The products known as 100% out by inoculated strains of Saccharomyces agave, which are becoming more popular, could cerevisiae or in some cases by a spontaneous be white, rested or aged and are distilled from process. Up to 49% (w/v) sugars may come fermented wort with only agave as a source of from a source other than agave, usually sugar sugars. The labels of these products must indicate cane or corn syrup, if 100% agave tequila is not that they were obtained using only agave and required. This tequila could not be labeled as under Mexican government supervision. 100% agave tequila. Tequila is differentiated from the beverage Different kinds of tequila are produced in 50 known as mezcal by the type of agave used in registered companies in Jalisco. The tequila its elaboration. Mezcal is made from Agave products made by these companies differ mainly potatorum, which grows in the state of Oaxaca. in proportions of agave used, production Most mezcal producers use a rudimentary processes, microorganisms used in the fermentation and distillation process (Sánchez, fermentation, distillation equipment used and the 1991). There is no technical reason for, or any maturation and aging times. The product known improvement in the organoleptic characteristics as silver or white tequila must be distilled to a from, the worm inside the bottles of some mezcal concentration not exceeding 55% alcohol in brands. The worm is primarily a commercial ploy. volume (v/v) and not less than 38% (v/v) from a Worms are grown in agave plants and introduced fermented wort containing not less than 51% manually in the bottling line. sugars from the agave plant. Gold tequila is the 226 M. Cedeño Cruz and J. Alvarez-Jacobs Pulque is another beverage obtained by water would ferment, producing a very fermentation of the juice obtained from several appreciated beverage. In fact, this primitive and species of agave, A. atrovirens and A. salmiana rudimentary method was used for centuries to among others, by a complex succession of yeast produce beverages from agave, considered a and bacteria that produce ethanol, a diversity of sacred plant possessing divine properties. In chemical compounds, and some polymers that other codices, such as Nutall, Laud, Borgia and give a sticky consistency to the final product Florentine, there are many references to uses (Rzedowski, 1978; Sánchez Marroquin and of the agave plant for soap manufacture, a Hope, 1953). Pulque is sometimes mixed with source of fiber, footwear, medicine and sewing fruits or vegetables, but has poor stability as it is needles as well as thread, paper and rope. In neither distilled nor pasteurized. fact, Indians could distinguish the different species Agave plants still serve as food in some states of agave by color, size, stem, leaf width and the of México; and other fermented regional different uses given each plant (Muria, 1990). beverages are produced (e.g., Sotol in the state The great religious importance of agave was of Chihuahua and Bacanora in the state of apparent in those codices, as only warriors and Sonora), but only tequila and more recently priests used fermented drinks in ritual cere- mezcal have reached international recognition. monies. Another difference between tequila and mezcal In prehispanic México the general name for and all other regional drinks is that both are all species of agave (or mezcal as it is also known) subject to an official standard that for tequila is was Metl, which is a representation of the NOM006-SCFI-1993 (Secofi, 1993), and goddess Mayahuel. The alcoholic drink produced production is supervised by the Mexican was called Iztac octli (white wine). The first government. Spaniards to arrive in México referred to the plant as maguey, a name used for an identical plant they had seen in the Caribbean Islands, Origin and history of tequila where they first encountered new world plants and animal life (Bottorff, 1971). It was not until The word tequila is believed to originate from arrival of the Spaniards, who brought knowledge the tribe of ticuilas who long ago inhabited the of distillation techniques, that tequila took its hillside of a volcano bearing the same name present form (Goncalves, 1956). located near the city of Tequila. Another possible There are only two main regions for tequila origin is the Nahuatl word tequitl, which means production in México. The oldest, the Tequila- work or employment, and the word tlan, which Amatitán region that comprises the Amatitán means place. Therefore tequila would mean village, developed at the end of the seventeenth place in which labor or work is done. century. The second region, the Jalisco High- The most ancient information revealing the lands, appeared in the last decade of the 19th existence of agave and its different uses is from century (Luna, 1991). The first tequila production the era before the Spaniards in several codices process with a commercial purpose was preserved to the present time (a codex, from established in the city of Tequila around the end the Latin codex meaning board or writing tablet, of the 18th century. The main consumers were is a manuscript volume, especially of a classic in the mining zones located in the state of Jalisco. work or scripture). The most important is the The Spaniards tried to suppress consump-tion Tonalmatlnahuatl codex, which notes that certain of tequila in order to reduce competition for tribes had learned to cook agave plants and used brandy and other wines imported from Spain them as food and to compensate for the lack of with a decree signed by Carlos III forbidding its water in desert lands. Also, these tribes sale and production under the pretext that its discovered that cooked agave when soaked in consumption was the cause of several illnesses. Production of tequila from agave 227 The results were negative. The governor of the Cultivation and harvest region later issued a decree imposing a tax on tequila in order to enrich the royal coffers, thus The blue agave, as it is known, is the only species permitting its sale in all of New Spain. By the end out of hundreds of Agavaceae with the of the 19th century, expansion of the tequila appropriate characteristics for tequila production. industry, helped by the railway, was evident. These include a high inulin concentration, low However it was not until the first casks were fiber content and the chemical compounds exported to the US that tequila was known present in the plant that contribute to the final beyond Méxicos borders. taste and flavor of tequila to give the beverage its particular character. Some have attempted to produce tequila in other states with other agave The Agave plant species, but without success. The blue agave is cultivated in the state of Jalisco in the two regions According to Granados (1985), the genus Agave, with the right climate and soil composition for which means noble in Greek, was defined by its growth, namely the Highlands and the Tequila- Linneaus in 1753 when he described the plant Amatitán region. The temperature conditions for A. americana as the first agave species known good agave yields are a minimum of 30C, an to science. Agave plants, which are often optimum of 260C and maximum of 47°C. Soil confused with cacti, belong to the family should be fertile but not very deep, 30 to 40 cm. Agavaceae and are succulent plants with spirally- Good drainage is required to avoid effects of arranged leaves forming a rosette. Some have flooding, which are very harmful for definite trunks, but more often they are nearly development of the agave. The plants must be stemless. The leaves are bluish green in color, planted at 800 to 1700 m above sea level where over 1 m long in mature plants, and end in a the annual rainfall is about 800 to 900 mm. The sharpened brown thorn. As Backman (1944) correct planting time is immediately before the pointed out, the widespread distribution of some rainy season, from June to September, so that 300 species, combined with the fact that the the plants do not suffer from water stress during plants require approximately 8-12 years to mature the first year of growth. and hybridize very easily, make the taxonomic Propagation is accomplished by the and phylogenetic study of the genus Agave vegetative route in agave. Sexual reproduction extremely complicated and very difficult. The via seeds is not usual. Asexual bulbils develop in family Agavaceae includes 20 genera and nearly the inflorescence at the base of the flowers, 300 species. Of these, around 200 are found in producing small plants that after some time México. detach themselves from the floral peduncle and Several agave species are important from an fall to the soil where they root.

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