Tequila is a spirit made exclusively in the area surrounding Tequila, a town in the western Mexican state of Jalisco, 65 km northwest of Guadalajara and in the highlands of Jalisco, 65 km east of Guadalajara. The best agave is grown in the highlands of this region, and is grown 8-9 years prior to harvesting, thus reaching the ideal sugar content for the best tequila.  It is made 100 % from blue agave. Tequila was first produced in the 16th century near the city of Tequila which was not officially established until 1656. The Aztec people had previously made a fermented beverage from the agave plant which they called octli (later and more popularly called pulque), long before the Spanish arrived in 1521. When the Spanish conquistadors ran out of their own brandy, they began to distill this agave drink to produce North America's first indigenous distilled spirit. The tequila that is popular today was first mass-produced in the early 1800s in Guadalajara, Mexico.

COOKING

Once the agave is harvested, the agave base called a piña is cut into four or five pieces, then cooked in a huge steam oven for hours. This is done to obtain softness and sweetness.

MILLING

The cooked agave is then shredded by cutters and sent to the mill. At this point the agave’s juice is extracted from the agave fiber.

FERMENTATION

This is the biochemical part of the process where the agave juice is pumped from the mill into special fermentation tanks. Each tank is made of stainless steel and has a capacity of 17,000 Lt. Previously, a mixture of prepared yeast is added to the tanks in order to react with the juice. This produces an alcoholic mixture which in the end will be Tequila.  

DISTILLING

The final product of fermentation goes to the tanks to separate tequila from its water components. This process has a double purpose which separates the alcohol from water and separates any toxic substances from the final product. After this process, tequila is treated in different ways to obtain several varieties.