Tequila

Patrimony of Mexicans

Tequila is a regional alcoholic beverage obtained from the Blue Agave Tequilana Weber plant which production and commercialization are subject to the Official Mexican Norm. Tequila must be verified and certified by the CRT and it is protected by an Appellation of Origin.

hat is an Appellation of Origin?

It is the name given to a specific geographical region of a country generally used to designate a product typical of such region which quality and characteristics are due essentially and exclusively to the geographical environment, including natural and human factors, in which it is produced.

STATES INCLUDED IN THE APPELLATION OF ORIGIN OF TEQUILA

The Appellation of Origin (known as DOT) comprises 181 municipalities within five states of the Mexican Republic, divided as follows: Jalisco 125municipalities, Nayarit 8, Guanajuato 7, Tamaulipas 11 and Michoacán 30.

These are the only municipalities where the Blue Agave Tequilana Weber plants may be harvested and used as raw material to produce Tequila.

No other alcoholic beverage produced in or outside the country may bear the name Tequila.

The Blue Agave Tequilana Weber is the heart and soul of Tequila. It is a plant from the amarylidacea family. It has long and fibrous blue greenish leaves and a core or pineapple which is the only part of the plant used in the production of Tequila..

Tips to Identify Authentic Tequila

Purchase Tequila at a formally established facilty (not at a flea market or on the road).
Look for the brand on the bottle.
Identify the Official NOM Code which is made up of four digits: unique unrepeatable number for each tequila production company.
Do not purchase tequila at establishments of dubious reputation.
Never purchase a product without a label. Remember, IF THERE IS NO LABEL, IT'S NOT TEQUILA.
The bottle must be labeled for domestic market (in Spanish). Look for the word "Tequila" on the commercial information.
Check that the container or bottle does not show any sign of having been tampered with (especially the cap).
The label should be original, in good condition and the product should bear the sticker corresponding to the SHCP. [Spanish abbreviation for Ministry of Finance and Public Credit]
Check if the tequila does not have any particle, foreign material, sediment or any foreign element floating in it.
Do not purchase tequila offered at a price so low that it makes you question its authenticity.
Agave Distillation, Agave Liqueur or any other similar products are NOT TEQUILA..
Beware of alleged tequilas served at "open bars" and those bar promotions "2X1" and all inclusive establishments.
Check the list of certified brands issued periodically by the CRT, also published on its web page www.crt.org.mx, with the purpose to avoid purchasing a non-certified or apocryphal product.
DESTROY THE CONTAINER OF ANY ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE YOU HAVE DRUNK, EVEN THOSE CONSUMED IN THE PRIVACY OF YOUR HOME.
In an establishment, ask the waiter to bring the original bottle to your table.

TEQUILA JALISCO

Tequila is a municipality and town in the State of Jalisco, Mexico. The name Tequila comes from a Nahuatl word Tecuilan orTequillan, which means "place of tributes. Tequila is a "magical town". Tequila is known because it gave the beverage Tequila its name since it is one of the territories where Tequila is produced.

Its first inhabitants were the Chichimecas, Otomies, Toltecs and Nahautls. The town, at its beginning, was nestled in a place called Teochichán or Techinchán: place of the Almighty God or place of plenty lassos and traps.

The municipality of Tequila is made up of different levels. It has very few flat lands to the exception of a few small valleys. Its orography is very irregular. 700 meters above sea level on the banks of the Santiago and Chico river, 2,900 meters on the Southern part of the municipality (Tequila mountain), to the North, 1,700 and 1,800 meters altitude but to the East, the Sierra de Balcones is 2,300 meters high.

Tequila has a semiarid subtropical climate with dry and temperate winters and springs. The average temperature is 23.2 degree Celsius, with an average rainfall of 1.073,1 millimeters. It usually rains during June and October. The first settlers of the region known today as Tequila were the Chichimecas and the Otomis.

Cristobal de Oñate annexed the region to Nueva Galicia in 1530. The locals rose in arms around the hill of Teochtinchán, but the siege was short lived since they finally decided to surrender peacefully.

The village of Santiago de Tequila was founded on April 15, 1530 by the Franciscans under the order of Friar Juan Calero by bringing in natives from the Chiquihuitillo mountain.

Despite the village peaceful beginnings in 1541, several monks were executed, Friar Juan Calero was among them, during a rebellion that broke out in several villages including Tequila.

In October of the same year 1541, Antonio de Mendoza, the viceroy o f the New Spain, went personally to Nueva Galicia with the purpose of quelling the rebellion. One of the leaders of the rebellion, Diego Zacatecas, appeared before the viceroy to parley but he was taken prisoner to the village of Etzatlán. The price for his release was to surrender and go back to his native village.

In 1600, Pedro Sánchez de Tagle established the first agave distillery. The juice of the agave was previously consumed but without being distilled, thereby, Pedro Sánchez de Tagle created the first Tequila factory as such. At the beginning of the XIX century, José Fernando de Abascal y Souza, the governor of Nueva Galicia, quelled an uprising in Tequila and was promoted viceroy of Peru.

Shortly after achieving its independence on March 27, 1824, Tequila was appointed head of one of the 26 departments in which the State of Jalisco was originally divided, and obtained the title of town.

The TEQUILA REGULATORY COUNCIL

The Tequila Regulatory Council (CRT, Spanish abbreviation for the Tequila Regulatory Council) is a non-profit civil partnership constituted to protect the Tequila Appellation of Origin in Mexico and around the world. It has five offices in the Mexican territory and four international offices located in the United States, Belgium, Spain and China. These offices ensure that only certified Tequila brands bear the name TEQUILA.

http://www.crt.org.mx