When’s the final time you had been stunned by your personal palate? It’s most likely been some time. That’s as a result of we are likely to gravitate towards the meals, flavors and types that we’re conversant in. The issue with this method is that we hardly ever get past our recognized preferences. That’s why, with regards to tequila, we like to do blind tastings. Abruptly, all of the preconceived notions you get from the bottle, the advertising and marketing, your previous experiences with the model, or your personal private relationships, are stripped away. It’s simply the juice within the glass and your senses.
We discover the blind tasting expertise so invaluable that we’ve developed a cell app interface that leads individuals by way of a blind scores expertise, with group outcomes revealed the moment the tasting is completed.
Final month we kicked off the primary in what will likely be a collection of month-to-month public blind tasting occasions on the Quinta Don Jose Boutique Lodge in Tlaquepaque. As regular, the outcomes had been shocking, particularly given that almost all of this group had been long-time aficionados, in order that they already had a good suggestion of the tequila and types that they most well-liked.
Listed here are the 7 blancos we selected for the lineup:
The 33 members rated them blind utilizing a particular space of the Tequila Matchmaker app.
Let’s get into the outcomes. Our tasting occasions are designed in a manner that makes them greater than only a contest amongst manufacturers, so earlier than we get into that, we discuss course of. By averaging the general scores (together with factors for aroma, taste, end, and worth) we are able to present which manufacturing strategies individuals appreciated (and disliked) probably the most. We will uncover this, due to all the method information packed into the app.
We have a look at:
Cooking/Hydrolysis: How the sugar conversion is made…
Members on this blind tasting most well-liked excessive stress autoclaves and stone/brick ovens probably the most, whereas low stress autoclaves scored barely above common. However the lowest, by far, was the one mostly used with diffuser manufacturing.
Extraction: How the sugars are faraway from the agave fibers…
Probably the most conventional of extraction processes scored highest with this group. The tahona, which is a 2-3 ton stone wheel used to squeeze the sugars off of the cooked agave fibers, completed simply above the extra trendy curler mill. The screw mill completed barely above common. Diffuser extraction completed final.
Distillation: The kind of nonetheless used…
Stainless Metal stills with copper coils and copper pot stills scored the best factors. The mix of copper pot and column nonetheless clocked in a contact above common. And full column nonetheless manufacturing scored the bottom.
When you’re inquisitive about why these common scores are so low, it’s as a result of they had been rated blind. Individuals *all the time* price tequila decrease after they don’t know what they’re ranking. We’ve seen individuals price their favourite tequilas a lot decrease than regular just because it was blind. That is proof that the bottle design, model story, and private relationships contribute considerably to an individual’s concept of what they’re tasting. This tends to be the largest shock for individuals who take part in our blind tastings.
In abstract, when tasted blind, this group of significant tequila aficionados most well-liked historically made tequilas over the fashionable, mass manufacturing diffuser fashion.
Now let’s speak in regards to the manufacturers…
So, which did they like probably the most primarily based on the aroma, taste, and end alone? A relative newcomer and one among our private favorites, Caschuín Tahona, landed on high.
The tasters mentioned they appreciated the daring agave, vegetal and lactic nostril, in addition to the wealthy taste and lengthy, heat end.
On condition that it is a traditionally-made product utilizing a tahona to crush the agaves, it was a very good match for this group, who we already knew valued artisanal manufacturers. On this case, their recognized preferences matched with their blind choose.
However, we noticed extra eye-opening outcomes with the second-place finisher, El Tequileño Blanco, a “mixto” that makes use of 71% agave sugars and 29% Mexican pilóncillo (much like brown sugar, with baking spices blended in).
The tasters discovered cooked agave, cinnamon, and anise, and one remarked that it had a “good, gentle mouthfeel.”
The excessive ranking of this product simply proves that it’s potential to make a very good “mixto”, and we now have to imagine that with out the blind expertise, many of those aficionados wouldn’t have tried it, pondering that mixtos we’re not for them. (Shock!).
Shifting on, the tequila that scored the subsequent highest (and really near El Tequileno, at simply 0.12 factors aside) was an entire newcomer, Tezcazul Blanco. The tasters discovered vanilla, and light-weight banana aromas. Some remarked that it was candy however had a pleasant viscosity—an incredible alternative for newer tequila drinkers.
Tezcazul is an natural tequila made at Las Americas, NOM 1480, which produces different noteworthy merchandise, together with 4 Copas, 123 Natural Tequila, Don Abraham, and Hacienda Los Alamos.
After Tezcazul, the tasters scored El Tequileño Platino excessive, noting that the model’s 100% agave blanco had a pleasant agave and pepper nostril, however a shorter end.
Ocho Blanco El Bajío (2018) was subsequent, adopted by Don Fulano Blanco. Ocho has lengthy been an aficionado-loved model, however every single property batch produces a considerably totally different taste profile (because it ought to, since they use agaves from totally different places, and aren’t utilizing components to regulate for consistency), so some batches may be extra to your private preferences than others.
The tasters discovered lots of agave and earth in El Bajío, in addition to fruit notes and spices.
As for Don Fulano, this was one other shock for us as a result of we are able to’t cease consuming it in our home and thought it will price larger with this group primarily based on the way it has completed in earlier blind scores we’ve held. They remarked that it had tons of agave, with natural notes and an extended end. Nonetheless, some thought that with it’s daring, old-school profile it was excessive proof. But it surely’s a 40% abv., additive-free tequila.
Curiously, entry to completely mature agaves is what makes the complete Don Fulano lineup so particular. With the mature agave scarcity dragging on longer than anticipated, this model holds a bonus as a result of they’ve their very own agave plantation.
Lastly, the tequila that was least most well-liked, by a large margin, was Casa Dragones Blanco, a diffuser-made product. Some tasters mentioned that it smelled floral, however most mentioned it was medicinal and candy, and that it appeared synthetic.
So, prepared to search out out which tequilas you actually like, freed from bias and preconceptions? Take the “Tequila Problem” and join one among our instructional blind tasting occasions. We conduct them each month. Your private scores are revealed solely to you, and there are not any flawed solutions. Salud!
Check out our tequila blind tasting occasion schedule, and register on-line!
