A Beginner's Guide to Tequila Part 2 - Buying Tequila in B.C.

I will again preface this with saying that I am not much of a tequila drinker in that I'm not exposed to it that often. This is partially because it doesn't show up in classic cocktails very often at all, which is mostly where my interests take me, but more importantly this is because we can't get much tequila in Canada.

Today I'm going to share what I've found by researching all tequila brands that are available to B.C. Liquor Stores (so, not independent ones, but very few of them have a better selection anyway).
Every B.C. liquor store I go to has a tiny and highly overpriced selection of tequila, but if you look at www.bcliquorstores.com, there are more brands available than I thought, albeit with mostly limited stock. I went through each brand and type looking for reviews, awards, anything that would give me an idea of which direction to go.

All in all there are 17 brands currently available, and only 6 of those have good reviews and/or have won awards. Of those 6, the cheapest is $60.
Yup.
However, I did find some decent reviews of some cheaper brands that are apparently very suitable for mixing drinks, which is what most of us will be doing unless we're already knowledgeable on the subject and have a lot of money to spare. As with any spirit, if you're really interested the best thing to do is go to a good bar, start asking questions and start tasting different kinds. The Pourhouse and Boneta in Gastown have a lot available and some amazing bartenders, and The Refinery and The West on Granville Street are also great places to go. (Click on "Reviews" or "Vancouver" to get more good suggestions).

As for what I've found, below is a basic list of some buying suggestions based on reviews (from such sites as www.tequila.net and www.proof66.com) and awards that any brand has won at spirit competitions.

Tequilas Under $50
Sauza Hornitos Gold - $34
Sauza Gold - $26
Cazadores Blanco - $36
(none of the above got very good reviews at all, didn’t win any rewards, aren’t liked by editors of any reputable websites, and are suggested only for mixing. Hornitos got the best reviews of the three and is suggested as a starting point for someone who doesn’t know much about tequila)

Tequilas $50-$100
Herradura Reposado - $60
Aha Toro Reposado - $80
Tierras Reposado Organic - $80
Don Julio Blanco - $85
Cabo Wabo Reposado - $90
Fat Ass Anejo - $90
Don Julio Reposado - $95

Tequilas Over $100
El Tesoro 70th Anniversary - $149
Don Julio 1942 - $150
Jose Cuervo Reserva De Familia - $185
Gran Patron Platinum - $300
Don Julio Real - $386

Aha Toro and Don Julio had the best reviews and awards that I could find out of everything available to us. Cabo Wabo (Sammy Hagar's tequila - for real), El Tesoro, Jose Cuervo Reserva De Familia, and Gran Patron are all decent to good but considered very over-priced (by American price standards, which is WAY less than ours) - especially the latter two.
So, the best way to go apparently is Hornitos if you're just starting out or just want to mix drinks, or Herradura if you're willing to spend more. Anything by Don Julio or Aha Toro would be a real treat - for sipping and not for mixing.

In Conclusion
What I’m seeing is that the tequilas available to us here in B.C., or Canada in general are ridiculously priced compared to the U.S., and mostly big name brands and products that aren’t very good. The ones that are really good are not only at least $60 but also only available in certain locations throughout B.C.
Ultimately it looks like the solution is to get tequila from the U.S., or be content drinking mediocre products like Cazadores or Hornitos, which will still run you $35-40, (compared to a very decent gin or bourbon that will run you under $30).
Doing this research has made it completely clear why I don't know much about tequila and why I don't get to try it very often. If you're looking to get into a spirit or drinking in general, the best thing to do is talk to people you can trust (good bartenders, people who enjoy drinking, etc), look up reviews, and use sites like www.proof66.com to see what kinds of awards the spirits have won. In the end, as always, it's up to your taste, but using all this information will give you good ideas of what directions to go, and along the way you'll learn more and more what you like.

Now that we know how tequila is made, what kinds there are, and what brands are worth your money if you buy in B.C., next time we can talk about how to enjoy it.

[[ click here to see Part 1 of A Beginner's Guide To Tequila ]]
[[ click here to see Part 3 of A Beginner's Guide To Tequila ]]

A Beginner's Guide to Tequila Part 1 - What Is Tequila?

First of all, I should start off by mentioning that I am not much of a tequila drinker. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it, it’s more that I just don’t find myself exposed to it very often, and because it’s not my favourite of spirits I haven’t done a lot of tasting and experimenting. Plus, tequila doesn’t show up in classic cocktails very often at all, which is mostly where my interests take me, but there is also a bigger factor here – we can’t get much tequila in Canada. One of the first things I notice in American liquor stores is how much bigger and ridiculously cheaper the tequila sections are (on average about half the price, and mostly brands I didn’t recognize). This plus my lack of general knowledge of the spirit has peaked my interest of late, so I’m going to share a few things about tequila in general, but more specifically about buying it in B.C.

At the end, I'll also talk about mezcal, which is is tequila's older, wiser, and much less popular brother.

First,

What is Tequila?
Tequila is a spirit made by distilling the fermentation of the blue agave plant. By law, it can only be made in the state of Jalisco and some surrounding areas, and must be made from at least 51% blue agave (though a "real" tequila is 100% agave, and anything less - called "mixto" - is cheap and bad).

Originally, the Aztecs fermented the agave plant to a drink similar to beer, called pulque, and when the Spaniards took over in the 1500’s and ran out of brandy, they tried distilling the pulque, thus creating tequila.

How It’s Made
The blue agave hearts are harvested by hand, shredded, and the juices are pressed out into fermentation vats, traditionally by a stone wheel. The juices are left to ferment with yeast for a few days then distilled twice. This final product is either bottled as silver/plata/blanco tequila, or it is put into barrels and aged for reposado, añejo, and extra añejo tequilas. Below are some pictures of the agave being harvested and  the hearts after being cut out.

Types of Tequila
Blanco or plata – bottled right after distillation, or aged up to 2 months in brand new oak barrels or steel containers
Joven or oro – a mixture of blanco and reposado
Reposado – aged between 2 months and 12 months in oak barrels
Añejo – Aged between 1 and 3 years in oak barrels
Extra Añejo – aged more than 3 years in oak barrels
Mixto – a tequila containing less than 100% blue agave so is mixed with some sort of sugar spirit (similar to rum).

Below are some tequilas that increase in aging from blanco to oro/mixto to reposado to añejo to extra añejo so you can see the difference in colour from the barrel-aging process (note also the colour of Jose Cuervo, which is artificially coloured to look like a reposado).

It should be noted here that mixto is bad tequila, and joven/oro tequilas are typically not very good.
However, tequila blanco is not any less respectable or good than reposado or añejo. They are different products - like comparing corn whiskey to bourbon.

Blanco will have a very strong agave taste because it comes straight from distillation, and is 'untainted' by the barrel. Some connoisseurs prefer only blanco because it is the true taste of the blue agave, and therefore tequila. Aging the tequila will give characters of whatever was inside the barrel (usually bourbon, which gives flavours of some spice, caramel, tobacco, etc), and will also soften the burn of the alcohol.

Next post I'll relay what I've found by going through every type of tequila available in B.C. liquor stores, their ratings, prices, and then give some recommendations.

[[ click here to see Part 2 of A Beginner's Guide To Tequila ]]
[[ click here to see Part 3 of A Beginner's Guide To Tequila ]]