TEQUILA!

What fun we had on our one day tour of Los Tres Toñas tequila distillery, a small family owned production on the outskirts of the town of Tequila, 90 minutes from Ajijic. Though I’m not accustomed to drinking tequila by the shot, I am a lover of margaritas. When some of my classmates from Spanish class invited us to tour with them, we did not hesitate.

What does the word “tequila” mean? According to our guide Marcos it means “you’re working on your drink”. Funny guy. To us it meant a delightful circuit of visiting the field of blue agave/agave azul (grown only in 5 states in Mexico), learning about the family, touring the production facility &, of course, doing the obligatory taste testing which in this case included about 12 different flavors.

Turns out that the mother plants have to be in the rich, volcanic dirt for 7-12 years to make it all work. Baby “sprouts” are dug up so they won’t “eat the mother” and put in pots for a year before they’re taken back to the field for planting. The hardest part to hear about was the jimadores, the men who do the back breaking work of cutting off the leaves, creating a “piña” that looks somewhat like a pineapple, then chopping away at the stalk with a sharp rounded blade (coa) to harvest the heart of the plant. Some piñas weigh over 200#. 100-300 piñas per man are expected per 7 hour morning shift. For 100 pesos a day. 5 dollars a day. 5 dollars. Unbelievable. For highly skilled, dangerous work (the sharp coa blade, rattlesnakes and tarantulas) that is passed down to generation to generation. A very different work ethic.

It was fascinating to see the equipment that is used to squeeze every possible drop of liquid out of the agave hearts, the stainless steel containers they are distilled in, the oak barrels they are aged in, the quality checks and labeling/packing of the bottles by individuals (in this small distillery about 1000-2000 bottles per day).

The tasting was entertaining and educational. Really. Who knew there are so many tastes to one “spirit”. Blanco, reposado, añejo, extra añejo, fruit flavors, chocolate, tamarind and chili. Aged a few months to 5 years or more before most, of course, is exported. Our guide complained that “they no longer use the old ways”. Technology is king, streamlining and speeding the process to increase profits. The ultimate goal of sharing of multiple bottles to multiple people, of course, is to sell, sell, sell. And that they did. We all left with 1-2 bottles. Hope they taste as good back home! Learn more about tequila from the following website: https://www.decanter.com/spirits/learn-about-tequila-403851/

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Afterwards, our guides took us to a restaurant (complete with playground) propped on the side of an arroyo for a delicious all-you-can-eat buffet of Mexican specialties where we soaked up some of the alcohol we’d just sampled before heading off to town.

OK, off to town we go. At this point we were all pretty exhausted but wouldn’t admit it so we were dropped off by the Tequila plaza for an hour of exploring. Mostly it centered around, what else, the history and sales of tequila. But the church on the plaza was built in the 1600’s and, to me, gorgeous in its primitive simplicity. We enjoyed a cool drink inside a lovely hotel restaurant, escaping the 91 degree heat. Classmate Claire ordered a “smoky margarita” and we were all instantly jealous as the waiter explained the use of smoked black salt on the rim of the glass, lighting the sprig of fresh rosemary and dropping the smoky twig into the glass at the last minute. No idea what tequila they used, but boy was it good! Thanks for sharing, Claire.

The town museum was quite interesting, even in the heat. We wandered for awhile, soaking up the history, amazed at the amount of work and creative marketing involved.

The ride back to Ajijic was the quietest part of the day as we all crashed from the day’s activities. I was captivated by the similarity of the toll road to US highways, the fertile valleys in the midst of a dry season, the sight of the volcanic (inactive) mountain Tequila and miles of railroads used only for transportation of goods.

It was a long day, but a good one. Lots of laughter, learning and enjoying life! Thank you Claire, Jeanne, Brad and Debra for asking us to come along!