Sabroso: Tequila

Guest blogger and Mary's darling, Iain, considers himself to be a Tequila Connoisseur. What better way to kick-off the weekend (and our trip to Mexico!) than by learning a bit about this Mexican spirit and maybe even having a little to drink too!

Iain's rules on Tequila:



1. Tequila is to be sipped, preferably out of a cognac type glass (see below). A new trend is to sip tequila out of a champagne glass to better enjoy the complex aromas. Mary and Candice think this is cute.

2. Tequila should be sipped (not downed in a shot) because it is similar to wine in that different ages and makes have different notes, aromas and flavors. Try many tequilas, sip them, really taste them and you will see how complex they are.

3. You don't need a chaser. The only dignified one is sangrita in my book. It's the reddish orange shot in the pic below next to the Victoria (which deserves a post of it's own) and the limoncello. Hey, I was on vacation.

4. Much to Mary's dismay, I believe to be a true tequila connoisseur, you must only stock tequila at home so your guests have no choice but to imbibe with you. We have a tequila bar but I've noticed other liquors are being snuck in. In my opinion, they don't deserve to share the space.

5. Buy cool looking tequila bottles when you see them, but only drink and serve your guests the good stuff.

6. Save the good stuff for a special occasion but at some point drink it. Tequila is meant to be enjoyed and drank not displayed up on a shelf because the bottle is "pretty".... Mary....

7. Once you start to enjoy the flavors and complexity of good tequila, you will start to lean towards reposados and anejos. People are sometimes a little afraid of anejos but they are actually the smoothest.

8. It has a bad rap but tequila is actually a very sophisticated liquor and should be treated as such.

9. You can enjoy tequila anytime, anywhere, with any food. It goes with anything, not just mexican food. Enjoy it all the time. I do, I'm a happy man.

10. Screw these rules. I contradict myself all the time and am about to in my next rule.

11. Don't be a snob. It's tequila, drink it. Even though I may prefer to sip on my anejo out of a cognac glass, if someone offers me a shot of some cheap blanco, do you think I'm turning it down?

Some of my favorites are Tres Manos, Tres Generaciones, Fortaleza and Corzo.

I have much more to say on this topic but it's late and I need to catch my flight to Mexico so I can... you guessed it... drink tequila.

Salud!