How Tequila is Made: A Brief Summary

Tequila is made from the blue agave plants that are grown exclusively in the Jalisco region of Mexico. It takes between 7-10 years for the agave plant to mature. The pineapple-shaped bulb of the agave plant, refered to as the pina, is harvested and then baked in ovens. After the pinas are allowed to cool down for a day, they are crushed or shredded to extract its juices. Just like the sugars in grapes make wine and sugars in malts make beer, the sugars in the pinas make tequila by the process of fermentation, followed by distillation. There are 6 steps in making tequila:

1. Harvesting of the pinas

2. Baking the pinas

3. Milling

4. Fermentation

5. Distillation

6. Aging

I will explain each step in detail in other posts!