Tequila Tasting Guide: Five Ways To Identify Quality In Cocktail Making
While tequila has for the longest time enjoyed immense popularity in America and in Latin American regions, it is now fast becoming a popular spirit across the globe because of its distinctly sweet and fruity taste. Recently, many clever marketeers and tequila makers have contributed towards popularising the spirit in Europe and other parts of the world by organising tastings and spreading the virtues of tequila cocktails. This has meant developing a palate to discern a good quality tequila and to identify whether it is being used well in cocktail concoctions.
Mixologists have been widely incorporating tequila into drinks. From margaritas to tequila sours to palomas, there are tons of cocktails which incorporate this spirit for its stunning kick and potent flavours. However, to extract the most out of a tequila cocktail means identifying whether the spirit is of premium quality and whether it is being mixed with the most suitable ingredients for crafting a cocktail mix.
Read on below to know about some of the ways you can identify a quality cocktail using your tequila tasting experience:
Selecting An Age
One of the best ways to identify if a tequila cocktail is a quality beverage suited to your taste is to select the rightly aged liquor for blending with mixers. If you want bright notes in your classic cocktails like a margarita, go for a Don Julio Blanco which is aged for a shorter duration than a Reposado. Moreover, a Blanco carries a milder whiff of the barrel in which it is aged compared to a Reposado, giving it a fresher taste and making it a more favoured ingredient in cocktail craft. You can check if a tequila cocktail is made using a blanco or not, by gauging its flavour profile.
Check For 100% Agave
A premium tequila is made from 100% blue agave. So in this instance, judge your book by its cover. or by its label and look for a spirit that is made entirely from this plant. Many times, tequila makers also incorporate some sugarcane into the mix which might affect the flavour profile and density of the spirit. Go for a cocktail that is making use of a Don Julio Blanco or Reposado that is made completely from agave and harnesses the full profile of this plant to make a premium spirit that translates into a cocktail packing quite a kick.
Understand Mixers
Not all mixers go well with all spirits and a tequila tasting guide would tell you that fruity and citrusy notes are the perfect pairing for this spirit than carbonated colas or sparkling waters. So, you can gauge the quality of a tequila cocktail by looking at the mixers that go into its making. A drink made using citrusy notes from berries or limes along with fruity flavours like pineapples, grapefruit and even agave nectar will definitely make for a more complex cocktail mix.
Trying It Neat
A lot of times, tequila is enjoyed as a shooter and for good reason. Tequila shots are very dynamic and you can revel in a pleasant buzz by gulping a 30 ml shot with salt and lime. But you can also try tequila neat to understand the distinct taste of every variant and then choose which one can go into your favoured cocktail. Many experts are now suggesting a slower way of approaching tequila, encouraging aficionados to sip it slowly with a lager. This definitely constitutes an exquisite tequila cocktail experience indeed.
Quality Fruits
A lot of times, tequila cocktails make use of fresh fruits and fruit juices to mix a drink. You can instantly gauge the quality of a cocktail by checking out if the fruits that are used in the drink are fresh and crisp. In a quality cocktail, you will be able to taste the sharp notes of a zingy grapefruit or lime which enhances the overall flavour profile of the drink.
