Whether you live for margarita Mondays or prefer a top-shelf double after a hard day, National Tequila Day 2022 is here to remind you that the blue agave-based spirit can offer a little something for everyone.
Take a minute and drink in the following five fast facts:
1. Location. Location. Location.
Just as true champagne hails from France’s Champagne region, tequila can only be called tequila if it’s produced in one of five approved Mexican states: Guanajuato, Michoacán, Nayarit, Tamaulipas and Jalisco.
According to USA Today, the geographic restrictions apply because the key ingredient is the Weber Azul agave plant, found in those five states.
The liquor actually draws its name from the town of Tequila, located in Mexico’s western state of Jalisco, Kristopher DeSoto, the founder of Hiatus Tequila, told “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Sunday morning.
2. All tequila is mezcal, but not all mezcal is tequila.
This is where the Weber Azul agave plant comes into play.
Mezcal is any spirit made from the agave plant, a genus of succulents native to central Mexico, but tequila is a type of mezcal – just like scotch is a type of whisky – made exclusively from the blue Weber agave, also known as blue agave or agave tequilana, according to Bon Appétit.
By contrast, 30 different types of agave plants contain enough natural sugars to make mezcal, the food and entertaining magazine reported.
“Mezcal vs. tequila—what's the difference?” @gastrognome @chron @sfchronicle @SFGate https://t.co/I2illcM731
— MacCocktail (@MacCocktail) February 11, 2022
3. Color corresponds to age.
Tequila makes it to market in one of three colors, which correlate directly to how long the spirits have been aged. According to Fox News, those distinctions break down as follows:
- Blanco tequila is clear and is typically aged from zero to five months.
- Reposado tequila is gold-amber and is typically aged for six months.
- Añejo tequila is gold-brown and is typically aged for a year.
4. Tequila has been used to make diamonds.
Physicists at the National Autonomous University of Mexico discovered successfully produced artificial diamonds out of 80-proof tequila, which contains the perfect ratio of ethanol to water for the process, according to Popular Science.
According to the magazine, researchers evaporated the tequila into a vapor that was heated to 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the vapor hits a silicon or stainless-steel tray, it creates a “diamond film,” full of impurity-free, microscopic diamonds. Although the miniature stones are not large enough to serve as jewelry, the artificial diamonds have found a variety of practical, industrial and electronic purposes.
Did you know that Tequila can be turned into tiny diamonds? Happy Tequila Day!!
— Liquor On McLeod Ltd (@LiquorOnMcLeod) July 24, 2022
#tequila #SpruceGrove #StonyPlain #ParklandCounty #ShopLocal #SupportSmallBusiness #LiquorOnMcLeod #communityliquorstore #cultivatingcommunity #craftbeer #winelover #craftspirits pic.twitter.com/jY9WHrPNSH
5. Watch out, vodka!
Trailing only premixed cocktails, tequila and mezcal comprised the second-fastest growing spirits category among U.S. consumers in 2021, CNBC reported.
According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., sales of agave-based spirits hit $5.2 billion, or 30.1% more than was sold in 2020.
In terms of revenue, vodka has been the top-selling spirit in the United States since the 1970s, bringing down $7.1 billion in 2021 revenue, but agave-based options are gaining, CNBC reported.
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