Mexico, Distilled

Tequila—and its rougher cousin mezcal—have long suffered from a reputation as ferocious firewater. But these Central American spirits are worth a second sip. Over four days in Mexico, cocktail expert Victoria Chow chased down the true meaning of tequila. She tells Charmaine Mok about her epiphany

- Charmaine Mok

“Why is it that tequila is never equated with something that is labour-intensive and quality-driven?” asks Victoria Chow, a hint of exasperation in her voice. The question hangs in the air, and I take a closer look at the dizzying array of spirits laid out in front of us at The Woods, Chow’s cocktail bar in Hong Kong. It’s a Monday afternoon, but there appears to be a serious tasting session ahead of us—at least a dozen of the bottles have travelled back to Hong Kong from Mexico, where Chow and her team have just spent four days and four nights tasting their way through the states of Jalisco and Oaxaca, learning all there is to learn about the distilled agave spirits of tequila and mezcal.

Tequila may be the favourite of every Saturday night out, but the true expressions of the spirit are virtually unknown outside of Mexico and certain parts of the United States. Very few realise that tequila—which by definition must be made in a specified region near and around the city of Tequila, from 100 per cent blue agave—is simply a style of mezcal with a denomination of origin status. Chow found her lack of understanding of the spirit disconcerting, and so this April she took a journey across the globe to rectify it.

Her first stop was the town of Santiago de Tequila in Jalisco, the birthplace of tequila itself. With a population of just over 40,000, Tequila is a small community that has prospered thanks to José Cuervo, the industry’s dominating producer of tequila. The Cuervo family were the first to be given permission to produce tequila in 1795. Today, José Cuervo owns the sole luxury hotel property in the centre of Tequila—the Relais & Châteaux-rated Solar de las Ánimas—as well as a luxury train linking the state capital of Guadalajara with the town.