The two official categories for tequila are:
- Tequila 100% de agave - Tequila
Yes that is right, the word Tequila is not only a reference to the spirit itself but is also one of the categories. Producers refer to this as “categoría de Tequila”, aficionados prefer to call it “mixto”. Most people instantly think that something is wrong with the drink that something bad is “mixed into it”, but the truth is very far from this. While agave is a great plant to use to produce quality alcoholic beverages, it was not designed for a global scale production.
Nowadays it takes 5-6 years for the plant to grow before it can be used to produce tequila and when people all around the world decide to drink more tequila than what the agave farmers had predicted, agave shortage happens.
Let’s try and visualize this:
a) Supply = demand: Let’s say you are a producer and there are only 100 people in the world who want to drink tequila and you properly planted agaves to provide tequila for 100 people. In this case, your supply equals demand and you relax, everything is fine and you make proper 100% agave tequilas.
b) Supply < Demand: However in one of the next 3 years there are now 200 people who want to drink your tequila, but 6 years ago you thought it would still be 100, so you only planted agaves for 100 people. Now if you don’t want to see 100 sad people who won’t be able to drink tequila, what do you do?
The answer is dilution. The agave content of a Tequila “mixto” is diluted up to a maximum of 49% dilution content and 51% original agave content, so basically you can make double the amount of tequila from the same amount of agaves.
If you want to become a professional we will cover the exact legal parts and chemistry for the dilution in separate add-ons.
For now, imagine putting an ice cube into your whisky, it has the similar effect, except that mixto tequilas retain the same alcohol content. Now most of these “mixto” tequilas are mass produced so their quality can range from “great for cocktails” to “borderline drinkable”, but some producers can actually make nice “mixto” tequilas.. I do serve a mixto tequila to start my tastings, and some of my guests love it the most even after tasting many 100% agave tequilas after it.
So what kind of conclusion can we deduct from the above?
#1 For the 100% agave tequilas, no agave content dilution is allowed while mixtos can have up to 49% non-agave related content.
#2 100% agave tequilas cost usually more vs. their “mixto Tequila” counterparts. The idea to have a “mixto” tequila category is a response to the supply-demand challenge of the growing tequila industry.
#3 When looking at the label the category is defined whether the 100% agave sign is present or not. If the 100% agave sign is missing from the label or the agave sign is not paired with the 100% word, then your tequila belongs to “categoría de Tequila” or unofficially the “mixto” category.
This feature is brought to you by Tequila Stop and the International Tequila Academy.
Tequila Stop aims to share is love for Mexico and its beloved Spirit with fans in Asia Pacific, bringing fans the best that Tequila has to offer, through an extensive catalogue of premium Tequilas and Mezcals straight from the source. Tequila Stop works closely with Mezcaleros across Mexico, and is also partners with the International Tequila Academy.
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