Saturday morning we went to Tequila in the state Jalisco -- where they're know for (surprise!) tequila.
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| Statue of a man with agave -- used to make tequila |
We took a tour of the Jose Cuervo fields and distillery.
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Blue agave plants. These are the only plants tequila can be made from.
They're mostly found in the Mexican state of Jalisco, with some also in
Guanajuato, Michoacan, Nayarit and Tamaulipas |
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| Posing with the agave plant |
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Lilian playing the role of a Jimador and
planting an agave plant |
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The Jimador (one who harvests agave plants) demonstrating
the various cuts the agave plants receive, depending on the year |
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| Tobias trying his luck cutting the agave plant |
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Once the agave plant is ready to harvest, all the leaves are
cut off and the piña ("pineapple" for the apearance)
is what is used to make tequila |
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| At this point the agave is starchy, kind of like a raw potato |
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| with the Jimador |
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| Our tools -- to harvest agave and hide from the blazing sun! |
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| Casa Cuervo |
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| Trying to win some tequila! |
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| Ready for the tour (love the hairnet, no?) |
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| Original cars used to transport agave and workers |
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| The agave "piñas" are cut and cooked |
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| Various tools for harvesting the blue agave |
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| Where the agave "piñas" are cooked |
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| Once the agave is cooked it becomes very sweet |
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| Cooked agave we sampled |
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After it is cooked, it is shredded and the juices are pressed
out to be fermented. |
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Barrels to store tequila. The tequila is distilled 2 (3?)
times. From there, some is diluted to legal levels and
becomes silver tequila, while other is put in the barrels to
ferment (for reposado, añejo and extra añejo) |
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| Mural at Casa Cuervo |
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| Mural at Casa Cuervo |
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| Mural at Casa Cuervo |
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| Coleccion Reserva de la Familia |
From there we went to Don Kiko Destiladora to sample some tequilas from less commercialized distillery.
Pretty landscape on the drive back to Guadalajara.
