¡Tequila! (05-01-23)

A trip to Mexico was not exactly on our bucket list at the moment but here is how it all played out:

 

The Background: 

  

A couple of years ago Kirk and Karen discovered an extremely good Tequila called Tequila Fortaleza. Naturally they told us about it and it quickly became Paul’s favorite tequila. At some point recently a conversation was had about visiting the distillery.

All Tequilas come from a small area in Mexico, so we would need to fly down there if we wanted a tour. Paul and I knew we would be in Fresno CA for a fraternity event in mid April so we wrote to the distillery to see if tours would be available around those dates.  They were.  The four of us found some dates that would work and booked flights from Fresno so we could all fly together. 

The flight took us to Guadalajara, which is an hour drive from the small town of Tequila.

The Arrival: 

Looking into flights, we soon discovered that the only flight from Fresno to Guadalajara leaves at 2:10 am.  Of course, it wasn’t our favorite time of day to travel, but we decided to consider it an adventure. And yes, it was an adventure.  We all tried unsuccessfully to nap before leaving for the airport, so we were already tired when we arrived there at 11:30 pm.  We soon discovered our flight was delayed by over an hour- so- in the end we left at 3:30 am and got essentially no sleep that night.

After picking up our rental car, we elected to drive straight to our hotel.  That was also an adventure.  Luckily, Kirk and Karen had a few leftover pesos from their last trip to Mexico because the road to Tequila is a toll road. We made it through the first two toll booths, but doing some quick calculations I informed the group that we did Not have enough money to get through the third and 4th one- we had no choice but to drive through some small towns looking for a bank that would exchange dollars for pesos. Google Maps turned out to be invaluable. People at the first two banks laughed at us, but someone at the third pointed to an ATM machine.  Mind you, there was no where to park, and no one speaks English, so we dropped Paul off  each time, and drove around until he texted us.

We did finally get money, and arrived in Tequila.

The Town

The town of Tequila is not named after the drink, and the drink is not named after the town.  They are both named for the nearby volcano. The word Tequila roughly means “rocks that cut your feet”- Obsidian- a very sharp volcanic glass that is commonly found near volcanos, is abundant in this area.

Arriving at our hotel, we convinced the very friendly people at the front desk that we were exhausted and would LOVE to get into our rooms early to freshen up.  It wasn’t as easy as you think to communicate that- as we found out, very few people in Tequila speak any English.  The “Translate” app became invaluable during our stay.  You can speak words, and they will be translated, you can type words and they will be translated, and you can take a picture of something and the English translation will be superimposed on the Spanish words. It made life much easier for us! As a secondary tool……I do speak some Spanish, and I was surprised at how much came back to me in a short time, so I acted as translator when I could.

All checked in to our hotel, we headed to a nearby restaurant for lunch. It was about a 10 minute walk from our hotel- in fact- we discovered over the next few days, most places were about a 10 minute walk from our hotel. It was very nice not to have to drive anywhere.

Tequila, a UNESCO world heritage site, has a population of about 40,000 and dozens of Tequila distilleries. There is a town square that has a church, restaurants, and shops.  While we were there they were celebrating the anniversary of the town, and all the side streets were full of carnival rides for children. Once you were off the square, the streets became cobblestone, narrow and uneven.

The Distilleries

Once we had booked our tour with Fortaleza, we looked for other distilleries we could tour.  Our first tour was at 3 pm on the day we got there- El Tequileño. Our tour guide was Leo, and I can honestly say we were all blown away by the tour, and everything we learned. In fact, we toured 3 distilleries in all, and each had something to teach us.

Leo first showed us the process of how a Blue Agave plant becomes Tequila. Once the plants are harvested, the leaves are trimmed off leaving the Pina behind- basically a pineapple, ripe and full of sugar. The plants are tested for sugar level and picked when the sugar reaches a certain level, usually when they are 6-8 years old.

The Pinas are put into a large “oven” and cooked for several hours. Once they are done, they are soft, and taste even sweeter. We all tasted a cooked agave and they were extremely sweet.

Once cooked, the pinas are crushed to separate the liquid from the fiber. (of course this is all a condensed version of what they do).

The liquid is then put into a vat, and has yeast and whatever other additives are needed for fermentation added to it. Once fermented- the liquid is distilled. 

Once we had the overview of how tequila is made, Leo took us to a tasting room and lined up some tequilas for us to try. In the process, he taught us HOW to drink tequila, remarking that no one who does a shot of tequila will actually like it, since all they are tasting is the alcohol. Turns out, sipping tequila is like sipping wine.

 First you smell it, getting a sense of it… then you take a breath in, take a sip, and release the breath. The first sip is to set up your mouth for the rest. The second sip is where you actually start to taste the agave, and the nuances of the tequila itself. And it gets better from there.

We left there with a much better appreciation for a liquor that we have enjoyed for years.

The following day we had a tour set up with Tequila Fortaleza.  But first we needed breakfast. We found a “restaurant” near the hotel and headed there. It consisted of a couple of tables set up in the street. It got good reviews and in fact the food was pretty good, but when we asked for coffee, the waitress said “agua”- turns out they give you hot (or warm) water, with instant coffee, dried coffeemate, etc and you make your own coffee. Oh well.

Breakfast finished, we headed to Fortaleza. Although this Tequila is called Fortaleza in the U.S., in Mexico it is called Los Abuelos. As it turns out, internationally that name is taken, so they use the name of the distillery itself, Fortaleza for international sales. 

The owner of the distillery is a retired Microsoft Engineer but his grandmother was a Sauza, a well known Tequila name. Guillermo came to this area to pick up the family tradition of tequila making and has been extremely successful. He named his tequila Los Abuelos (the grandparents) to honor his Tequila making grandparents. Fortaleza is an Artisanal tequila- they adhere to the “old” ways of doing things and are a very small operation, volume wise.  As a side note, the tequila has become so popular that its hard to find in the stores in the U.S.

Our guide, Estrella, showed us the fields where the agave plants grow. Each field is labeled with the number of rows of plants, the date they were planted etc.  The government has strict control over plants used to make Tequila. They can only be Blue Agave plants, grown in certain areas of the country. Interestingly enough, one area of Mexico was added to the approved sites because someone was friends with the president of Mexico.

 

This area is a sprawling ranch type estate. Guillermo, the owner, lives onsite, is often seen during the day and knows the names of all 95 employees. We really wanted to meet him, and in fact, found out his favorite bar in town and spent some time there. Never did meet him though.

After touring the fields, Estrella took us to the inner works of the distillery. She showed us how they hand mash the agave once it is cooked, using the traditional stone to crush the fibers of the plant. From there it heads to the vats to be fermented using only natural ingredients such as yeast.

 

We all got to climb the ladder and taste the tequila during the fermenting process. I wish I had brought my camera up the ladder, but then, maybe not; If I dropped it, it would have been really bad.

Tequila is distilled twice, removing the dangerous and undesirable methanol, and leaving the more pure and safe ethanol  behind. We all tasted “Still” tequila, which is tequila after it is distilled but before it is aged. It has a higher alcohol content, and a lighter taste than aged tequila.

One of the unique things we saw at Fortaleza is their bottling room. This tiny room is where ALL of their tequila is bottled.  Each bottle is rinsed using the tequila that will be going into it.  Once filled, it is inspected for impurities. If it passes, it moves on, where the labels are put on by hand. 

It then moves on to a second room. This is where the corks are produced.  An agave stopper made of resin is created, painted green by hand, and then sanded to leave an agave looking plant.  A cork is glued onto the “agave”, also by hand, and then inspected one more time. 

The corks that aren’t perfect are given out as souvenirs.

The final stop in the tour was the tasting room, which is in a cave. Originally the cave was intended as a space to store  aging tequila, but it is too damp, so now it is a tasting room. As we sipped our tequila, Estrella presented a slide show on the history of the Fortaleza Tequila.

We finished off the tour with an outdoor lunch on the property. It was very relaxing eating tacos while overlooking a man made lake with a miniature replica of the golden gate bridge. We met and enjoyed the company of a newlywed couple who were also enjoying the town.

With the weather being perfect, we found a place for dinner that has outdoor seating and is right near the square.

Our final distillery tour was Tequila Atanasio. The name Atanasio is the name of the original distiller owner’s uncle. He lived to 103. It also means Immortal in Greek.   As a micro distillery, it is even smaller than Fortaleza. We signed up for the Jornalero Experience, one of their more extensive tours.  Our tour guide was the daughter of the Master Distiller. She told us two names we could call her- I can’t pronounce either one. 

After gathering in the courtyard, we boarded our transportation to the agave field. 

We started by learning how to harvest the Hijuelo, which is a small clone of the mother plant.  All of their harvesting is done manually, and she asked for volunteers to show the process. 

Once harvested, the Hijuelo is planted as a new agave plant. From planting to harvest is about a 6 –8 year wait. The test for readiness has nothing to do with the size of the plant- it’s the sugar content that matters.

After getting an idea of the harvesting and planting process, we proceeded to a shady spot to have lunch.  The ingredients were pre-prepped for us to make our tacos over the open fire.  

We also made fresh salsa to go with it.  Kirk was in charge of that.

It was a short drive back to the courtyard for our tasting.

The tastings here were done a little differently.  She prefers to start with the Anejo tequila and work her way back through Reposado, Blanco, and ending with Still tequila. She starts with the tequilas that have “added” flavor from aging, and ends with what she calls tequila in it’s purest form- Still, fresh from the still, without going into a barrel.

She is very proud of her dad, and his abilities to make a tasty drink from the agave plant. He plays with small batches of agave spirits. They can’t be called Tequila or Mescal because those words are reserved for spirits made in a particular area, with particular plants. She shared some of his latest batch with us.

After dinner on our last night in town, we headed to The Catrina Cantina Cafe. the bar frequented by the owner of Fortaleza. Most of the stores, restaurants, and bars in town are actually garage type doors that they open and close as needed.  The chairs here were kept inside the bar and brought outside when it opened.  It was a really cool little cantina, and we enjoyed a couple of drinks, but Guillermo never showed up. Oh well.  

Our visit to Tequila completed, we prepared to head home- and it definitely took some preparation.  Paul had bought inflatable bags to put our tequila purchases in for the flight home.  We had two suitcases with us- a small one for our clothes, and a large one for the tequila.  We were a little nervous about the bottles surviving, and the weight of the suitcase being too much, but there were no problems at all.

We had most of a day to kill, since our flight wasn’t leaving until evening, so we headed back to Guadalajara by way of Lake Chapala, where we enjoyed our lunch at a small lakeside restaurant.  After meandering through a flea market, we headed for the airport, and our flight home.