tequlia V mezcal: mystery close to solution.

[Guest Thelema]

well

TEQUILA: source agave tequiliana "weber blue" (azul) variety.

LAW: at least 51% of (liquid) tequila must be sourced from the distillate of this plant

MEZCAL: source legally any of (in descending commonality):

1) agave (h)angustifolia Haw (Espadin)

2) (rare) agave potatorum zucc, 'Amailidaceas' (Tobala)

3)agave esperrima jacobi, 'Amarilidaceas"

4) agave weberi cela, "Amarilidaceas"

5)agave salmaina otto ex salm ssp crassispiu (trel) gentry

It seems most mezcal is produced from #1.

LAW:2 types: an 80% minimum and a pure distillate. most Australian imports are 100%

PENDING: now I have to try to locate phytochemical studies of agave angustifolia haw.

[waterdragon]

i'm glad you put this up. now essentially what i need to know is can i distill mezcal from the common blue agave?

[Guest Thelema]

HI WD. do you know the taxonomic name of "common blue" agave?

Technically, anything distilled from an agave can be called a MEZCAL.

(Well, since 1950 or so, the mexican government claimed rights to the name 'mezcal' and limited it by law to the 5 genus above...and by implication to the weber blue genus too)

Really, to cut through all the confusion, it would probably be simpler to say that mezcal is only produced from the distillate of angustolia haw, and tequila only produced vv from weber blue.

im interested in angustolia haw...it sounds like it would farm well in australian desert.

[waterdragon]

not sure of the common name yet. it grows by the roadsides here and there and i've heard it referred to as a blue agave. i might saunter off to a nursery and found out some more. if it is an agave then i imagine other types will be well suited to our climate. btw the ones around here are frost resistant.

[Torsten]

Blue agave in australia is usually Agave mexicana. Not very exciting. It also comes in variegated. The other common agave on the east coast is A attenuata - it is a little more light greenish.

Agave tequilana seems to be protected or something. I have never seen seed for this species anywhere.

[theobromos]

The fresh juice of Agaves is said to be caustic by the locals in Spain. They use the local one (don't know the species but you've seen it in all those spaghetti westerns) mashed with olive oil as a rub for muscle pain.

I would assume any Agave could be used to produce pulque in the traditional way and then distilled. Perhaps if you search for "pulque", someone must have posted instructions somewhere in the Internet.

[devance]

I baffled as to why the blanco type tequila, like Sauza Blanco has a peppery taste.

Does the formula for this type of tequila include some pepper corns or a chile pepper before or after distillation I womder?

Maybe they just use the agave as a starch source.

I can make pepper flavored vodka thats is identical in the peppery taste although harsher, not aged enough I think but naturally not tequilla.

Tequilla is very expensive because of a blue agave shortage in old Mexico.

The gold type Tequillas just have carmel added to it which ruins the taste for me.

I like the thinking of raising agave and doing it yourself but that might only work for pulque if added ingredients are necessary.

If added flavoring ingredients are used maybe just regular vodka might be used as a base.

All speculation on my part but waiting ten years for agave growing would be taxing for me.

[Guest Thelema]

my original intention was to find some angustolia haw and submit to some kind soul for alkaloid content analysis. I am absolutely convinced that this species contains trace amounts of phenylet.

Maybe someone in America can help?

My next best option is to dehydrate about 3-4 bottles of mezcal and consume the syrup. Its a costly experiment though, might get around to it someday.Or if there's someone out there to whom $200 is easily parted with, maybe they'd like to try it and report back to this page. I'm sure you'll get a buzz.

[psycho0]

excuse my ignorance, but how would you dehydrate bottles of mezcal into syrup?

sounds likke a good experiment

------------------

The only difference between a medicine and a poison is the dosage!

[Guest reville]

Originally posted by Thelema:

My next best option is to dehydrate about 3-4 bottles of mezcal and consume the syrup. Its a costly experiment though, might get around to it someday.Or if there's someone out there to whom $200 is easily parted with, maybe they'd like to try it and report back to this page. I'm sure you'll get a buzz.

Doesnt have to be expensive if you can recapture the alcohol through distillation

[waterdragon]

if it's just a liquer style tequila that you are seeking you could try a thing called TQ HOT. works well with a bit of ice thrown in a glass, not sure if it's still being made.

[Guest Thelema]

REV its still expensive to buy the bottles, even if you can recapture the alcohol...much better g/l@$ alcohol in 4 litre casks.

WD no its no a liquer-style tequila im after. What I want to do is consume all the alkaloids-worth of 4 bottles of tequila, but without having to consume 4 bottles worth of alcohol (impossible). So evaporate the alcohol+water, youre left with a sugary-resin gunk, right? Get 4 bottles worth, dry to a powder and eat.