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Source: Guadalajara Reporter - www.guadalajarareporter.com/
The Making of a Quality Tequila
Story by : David Agren - 31 December 2005
Several trees jut through the roof of the cellar at the La Cofradia tequila compound. The facility's new distillery envelopes its predecessor, preserving key parts of the century-old structure. "We don't like to tear things down," said Jose Hermosillo Brooks, a founder of Casa Noble, which is made at La Cofradia, explaining the philosophy of the more than 200-year-old distillery.
In an eclectic 24-hectare facility, blanketed by agave plants - some with leaves sharp enough to tear through clothing - and populated by a gaggle of mixed-breed geese, Casa Noble crafts premium tequilas in an artisan style, employing some modern methods and machines, but performing much of the production by hand. Every ingredient and step of the production process, ranging from compost spread on the agave fields to the type of oven used for baking the freshly-harvested piñas (agave hearts), to the rare - and expensive - oak barrels the tequila ages in, impacts the flavor, viscosity and color of Casa Noble's drinks.
"If you combine all these complexities, you'll get a great spirit - not just a great tequila," Hermosillo said.
As a sipping liquor, premium tequila has soared in popularity over the past decade. Premium tequila sales grew by a staggering 29 percent in 2004, according to The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, making it the fasted growing item in the hard liquor market. Casa Noble now exports all over the world, finding enthusiasts in countries as diverse as Australia, Japan, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Russia, where Hermosillo said young people, flush with cash and an appetite for something other than vodka, are fueling the premium tequila boom.
Although expensive - a 700-ml. bottle of Casa Noble's blanco (white) tequila sells for 300 pesos, while the añejo (aged), which comes in a hand-painted porcelain bottle adorned with 18-karat gold detailing, goes for 900 pesos - Hermosillo called his premium product, "The least profitable of our brands due to the low volume and the costs," adding, "our objective is more quality than volume."
The price becomes somewhat justifiable after understanding the process and the extra care and attention. Every step of the growing, distilling and processing process impacts the drinks' character, producing subtle, but noticeable flavor accents.
All tequila starts with blue agave. Casa Noble jimadores harvest agaves, which grow on 600 hectares on the outskirts of Tequila and are fertilized with compost made at the distillery. No pesticides or chemical fertilizers are used.
"If you take care of the agave, you have a better sugar content," Hermosillo said. Soil conditions also impact the flavor.
According to Hermosillo, the rich volcanic soil near Tequila gives drinks from the region citrus and spice flavors. Beverages from the Los Altos region tend to have more of a floral aroma.
At the distillery, the piñas are steam roasted in a stone oven for 36 hours. Hermosillo said the process produces a "smoky-sweet" flavor in the finished product. After shredding the baked pi–as, a machine squeezes out the juice, which flows into a fermentation tank.
Casa Noble ferments its tequila naturally, forgoing the addition of commercial yeast, which is usually added to speed up the process.
"If you have a tequila and it smells like bread, it has a lot of yeast in it," Hermosillo explained, adding natural fermentation takes five to seven days.
After the mosto (fermented agave juice) reaches approximately nine percent alcohol, it moves to the distillation tanks. The shape of the high-tech still impacts the flavor, imparting citrus and floral notes.
During the distilling process, the "heads and tails" (the first and last parts of the batch) are discarded. The practice, along with triple distilling, reduces the levels of hangover-inducing methanol and other unpleasant elements of the drink. Less than 10 percent of the mosto becomes tequila. Añejo tequilas and reposado tequilas are then stored in white oak barrels, while the blanco tequila goes straight into bottles.
Most producers age their tequilas in old whisky barrels. Casa Noble instead imports barrels made from French white oak, which is "very different and very expensive," Hermosillo said.
"(Virtually all) of the industry uses American oak," he said, explaining the old barrels "don't give off tannins."
Casa Noble's reposado tequila spends 364 days in a barrel. Consejo Regulador del Tequila (Tequila Regulatory Council) rules mandate reposado tequilas must be bottled within one year of being distilled. The añejo tequila sits for five years. Some whiskies age for decades, but if tequila spends more than five years in a barrel, Hermosillo said, "After a certain period of time, you lose a lot of the properties of the agaves ... and the properties of the barrel take over."
The final product is smooth and complex with an interesting nose and an almost buttery texture - perfect for sipping. And while it would no doubt make a great margarita, Hermosillo advised picking one of the mass-produced brands for that. "Casa Noble is not for mixing."
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