La Casa de Santana

I've always been a huge fan of Carlos Santana. And of course I love good tequila. So how lucky am I that two of my favorite things have come together? Yes! Santana has become the official spokes-guitarGod for Tequila Casa Noble. Now, Noble is not my favorite tequila, and the main reason for my apathy is that CN is triple-distilled. I prefer double-distilled tequila. So, if I were advising Santana on which tequila to endorse, I would have gone a different way. On the other side of it, I can think of no better artist to represent a top-shelf tequila than Maestro Santana.



SOUL de agave: Enjoy this video in which the legend Himself expresses his spiritual connection with Mexico, while celebrating music and life with Casa Noble

Now if Guillermo Sauza could promote Fortaleza by recruiting say, um, Shakira!

Yo Papagayo!

Ample Parking: Agave Lovers Line Papagayo Boston's Big Tequila Bar...

Having lived in both Texas and New Mexico, and also being a 20-year tequila aficionado, I have been waiting a long time for this type of place to come to Boston. And the good news is, it's here! Temazcal? No! Papagayo on Summer Street (near Fort Point Channel) has fantastic food, a great atmosphere, friendly staff, and the tequila? Well, 175 bottles and the most agave-knowledgeable barman I have ever had the pleasure to meet. Service overall was excellent. Papagayo has the guacamole cart that rolls up and makes it fresh at your table and it's to DIE for. Prices are not dirt-cheap but you get a really nice experience for the buck. Sampled a few tequilas for the first time: Maestro Dobel Joven tequila, El Tesoro Paradiso, Frida Kahlo blanco, and the exquisite Partida Elegante. Try the Tacos al-Pastor, and a fresh, handmade margarita made with Espolón Blanco. Kudos to the bright, agave-elevated atmosphere and delicious food of Papagayo!

Inbound Tequilas! Coming Soon!

Acquiring some fresh bottles of highlands juice: Chamucos Reposado, Siembra Azul Repo, and Arette blanco suave.


So I look like a bottle of cooking wine from Target's store-brand section. Well y'know what? The money's on the INSIDE of this bottle baby! Now stop looking at my screw-top!

I also want to do a blanco shootout soon with Siete Leguas, Don Julio, and another player to be named later.

Mules + Tahona + Highland Agave = 7 Leagues of Love!

Pancho & Zapata, Los Mulos Agaveros, drive La Tahona at 7L

This picture is just cute. That's all.

LiLo Skull-Rocks with Kah!

U R SOOO KAAAHHH!

SLOW NEWS DAY FLASH!

Lindsay Lohan was caught skull-handed rockin' some Kah tequila blanco at a house-party with friends. This TMZ report says in the headline: "Lindsay + Worm +..." Not sure what the worm is referring to, unless TMZ mistakenly thinks that Tequila has a worm in the bottle.

Anyhoo...

Tequilas For Twenty!

Hola! Señor! We are the Ultimo in affordable tequila!

One Andrew Jackson! A pair of Hamiltons! That's all it takes to get a bottle of decent 100% gave tequila any more. No reason to settle for a mixto, or worse, pay Patrón prices for a 750 of the good stuff. Tequila prices are coming down faster than Lindsay Lohan's pants. This is due to a combination of factors: New production tecniques, a worldwide glut, competition from too many brands, AND, apparently, TOO MUCH AGAVE*. There is a surplus of agave, dropping prices to new lows, and leading some farmers to plow under their blue-green pencas in favor of corn for making ethanol.

Rough for Mexican tequila producers; muy bueno for tequila consumers.

Here are some tasty $20 tequilas:

Espolón blanco and reposado
Camarena blanco and reposado
El Último Agave blanco and reposado
Milagro Silver
El Jímador
El Charro
Azúl
Cién Años 100% agave reposado
Agavales
D'los Altos blanco

Most of these we mihgt consider good mixers and not sippers, but for twenty bucks what's not to like?
There are a lot more out there. Have fun finding them!

*"There's lots of agave that cannot be consumed. Additionally, there are 130 million liters in inventory within the distilleries," explained González Figueroa

I am a Highlander!

Desert-like Los Altos produces 'sweeter' tequila

The Red Soil and Blue Agaves of Legend...

Story by: David Agren
Source: Guadalajara Reporter - www.guadalajarareporter.com/

Tequila put its namesake town on the map, but Mexico's famed firewater is also proudly produced northeast of Guadalajara in Los Altos, where the area's red soil, elevation and climate give beverages from the region special characteristics.

"When you try a tequila from here and one from Tequila, Jalisco ... there's a big difference," said Miguel Ramirez, operations manager for Tequila Cazadores, which is based in Arandas, a city of 70,000 located 120 kilometers northeast of Guadalajara. Tequila owes many of its characteristics to the region the blue agave used to make it comes from. "One of the differences here is that the soil where the agave is grown is red," Ramirez explained. "It gives the agaves different nutrients."

Unlike the Tequila area, the temperature in the Los Altos region dips at night and some of its towns shiver through the winter. (The mercury in San Gaspar de los Reyes dropped to -14.5 degrees last January). Blue agave plants, which blanket the countryside, mature more slowly in Los Altos' cooler temperatures than in the Tequila area.

"The main difference between the (agave growing zones) is the climate," said Luis Alva Muñoz, a technical advisor for Jalisco's Rural Development Secretariat (Seder).

"The Los Altos region is more desertlike. It's also colder, which causes the plants to grow to smaller sizes."
According to Alva, agaves grown in the Tequila area take seven years to mature. In comparison, agaves in Los Altos grow for eight to 10 years before being harvested.

As a result, agaves from Los Altos have a higher sugar content, which impacts the final products' flavors. Bertha Becera, spokeswoman for the Guadalajara-based Consejo Regulador del Tequila (CRT) said beverages from the Tequila area tend to be "drier" while "tequilas from Los Altos are more aromatic with more sweet notes."

As for tequila from one zone being better than another, both Bercera and Alva said that depends on personal preferences.
Distillers in both regions use similar production techniques, but some outfits like Cazadores (hunters in Spanish) strive to produce a premium product. At its production plant, which is adorned with the head of 12-point buck deer, Cazadores produces 100-percent-agave tequilas. In the production process, the distiller naturally ferments its agave juice and ages its spirits in oak barrels made from new wood, instead of using old whisky barrels.

Much of Los Altos' tequila production centers on Arandas and Atotonilco, pueblos famous for milk, cheese and cajeta production, along with fiery spirits. Other famed brands from the region include Don Julio, Siete Leguas (named for Pancho Villa's horse) and Cabrito (little goat).

Production in Los Altos, however, lags behind that in the Tequila region, home to some of the industry's most legendary distilleries, including Jose Cuervo, Sauza and Casa Herradura.

Tequila El Charro, a proud old highland brand from Arandas, Los Altos

Day of The KAH!

Los Tres Muertos: Even the dead enjoy good tequila!

Apparently the word "kah" is Mayan for "Life", which is interesting because KAH tequila is presented in a bottle shaped like a skull. It speaks to a folkloric feature woven deeply in to the fabric of Mexican culture: Life celebrates death, and death celebrates life. Every year on Day of the Dead, family members visit the grave-sites of loved ones who have passed on, creating a fiesta atmosphere at the grave, often pouring tequila over the departed. They make sure to pour tequila in to their own living souls, to be sure. Tequila is the sangre de vida to Mexicans; the lifeblood of the people, just as as "uisce beatha" (whiskey baha) is to the Irish.

All of this cultura Mexicana is brought together in the new KAH tequila, whose four expressions (blanco, reposado, añejo and extra añejo) are presented in hand-made, hand painted day of the dead style skull bottles, with a different bottle for each age. The bottles are beautiful. Fortunately, the juice inside is pretty darn good, too. It has been well-reviewed, with the añejo garnering the most positive nods. I was planning to start in the middle of the lineup with the reposado, but after learning it was a blazing hot 55% alcohol brew, I decided to go with the añejo, largely based on the review of the notorious Tequila Whisperer, "Lippy". (The repo bottle has a red demon painted on its forehead -- and now I know why!). Añejo comes in the black skull - nice. I have to say that although it's not the most complex tequila I've had, KAH añejo is quite flavorful and enjoyable.

I will certainly collect all four bottles, eventually. In the meantime here are some other reviews and info on KAH.

SKOL! Er, I mean, SKULL!

Review by TasteTequila.com

Tequila Whisperer show on KAH

KAH on Facebook

Camarena Reposado: A Sweet Surprise!

Sip it, mix it, any way you fix it!

So, the Camarena blanco was em, nice, kinda thin, inoffensive, and nothing to write home about. Sorta like "tequila light". For the price, it'll stand on my shelf as a mixer next to Azúl, Espolón, Milagro and other $20 bottles.

Last night I tried the Cama Reposado, and what a pleasant and unexpected surprise it was! It's a sweetheart with flavor! This is a very interesting tequila, with a big, undeniable presence of highland agave.

Camarena's color is a pale olive-oil with an almost green caste. The nose is floral, bright and citrus-y with alcohol, a hint of vanilla and a touch of wood (there's more oak in the aroma than the actual taste).

The taste starts with a nice silky entrance, followed by fast, round burst of agave, pear and caramel-apple. Then comes cider, oak, clove and...yes cinnamon. The finish is quick, leaving a lingering taste of nutmeg, cinnamon and burnt sugar. I sensed very little smoke; just a subtle undertone of oak and vanilla. There's hardly any heat; no burn whatsoever. The body hits and fills the front/middle of the tongue and palette. Cama repo is not heavy or oily, nor does it have much in the way of "back end".

This may the perfect juice to get tequila virgins in to 100% agave sippers. Whereas more seasoned aficionados may like earth and vegital tones, along with deeper complexity, those aspects of a particular flavor profie might turn off a newbie. Cama's juice might also turn them away from Patrón - we can only hope.

Camarena reposado absolutely kills the blanco. Wipes the floor with it. I attribute the big upgrade in flavor to this: A brief two-month resting in American oak barrels has gently coaxed-forth the flavor and soul of the famous los altos high-elevation agave. At the same time, it hasn't been in-barrel long enough to get very woody. (I'd love to taste a six-month expression!)

Where the blanco displays nothing really ugly, and gives you a light, spicy pop, it's the repo that delivers on the promise of the legendary highland spirit.