A protected regional spirit
Tequila is not simply a style of spirit. It is a legally protected regional product defined by Mexico's Official Standard NOM-006-SCFI-2012 and the Tequila Appellation of Origin.
To be called tequila, the product must be distilled from Agave tequilana Weber, blue variety — grown inside the territory covered by the Appellation — and produced by an authorized producer operating in that same territory.
What makes it tequila
- A single permitted plant: blue Weber agave.
- A single permitted territory of origin: the Appellation of Origin.
- A single line of oversight: an authorized producer verified under NOM-006.
The basic production stages
- Jima — the harvest of the agave.
- Hydrolysis or cooking — turning agave carbohydrates into fermentable sugars.
- Extraction — separating those sugars from the fibers.
- Formulation — preparing the must for fermentation.
- Fermentation — yeasts convert sugars into alcohol.
- Distillation — concentrating alcohol and aromatic compounds.
- Maturation — aging in oak, where required by class.
- Filtration and bottling — final adjustment and packaging.
The flow, at a glance
- Blue agave
- Jima
- Cooking / hydrolysis
- Extraction
- Fermentation
- Distillation
- Maturation
- Bottling