Tequila Town
Learn about the making of tequila and the town of the same name.
Updated July 2022 Click photos to enlarge.
We spent a day in the town of Tequila, near Guadalajara, in Mexico. Guess what they make here?
How to tour Tequila
There are three ways to tour Tequila town. The first is on an organized tour from Puerto Vallarta, but I think this is too far away and you would spend a lot of time on the bus.
The second and most popular method is an organized tour from Guadalajara. This is probably the most accessible and most convenient.
The third method that not many people use is the one we chose. That is to travel to Tequila independently without an organized tour. Instead, we took a regular bus from Guadalajara. (From the old bus station. The new station is just for busses to other major cities). This is an older bus without a washroom but is a tiny fraction of the price of the fancy tour busses that most people take. It is about a two-hour ride. Once we arrived in Tequila, we had breakfast at a good restaurant just to the right of the town square and church. (Ask for directions from the bus station to the town centre (el Centro)).
There are several tour companies in Tequila. They all stop in front of the town square. You can easily recognize them by their colourful, open-air buses. Ask for a tour that includes the agave fields as well as a tour of a tequila factory.
Agave Fields
Tequila is made from a plant called the Blue Agave. The plant grows naturally in the area but would never be enough to meet the demand for tequila, so it is grown commercially.
Mostly what you see of the agave are the large spiked branches or leaves that can grow up to two metres in length. If walking near the agave plant, be careful as the branches are sharp and can cut you. The plant matures in about five or six years, and then a colossal spike grows out of the centre of the plant that can increase an additional five metres (16 feet) and then sprouts a flower on the top. A native bat then pollinates this flower. On commercial plants, this spike is cut off to force the agave to put its growth into the central part of the plant.
You might not be able to see the agave plants too well as they are often surrounded by tall grass. The grass is not cut because it keeps the moisture near the plant instead of being exposed to the sun.
Tequila
When the agave is ready to harvest, after about six years, all the branches are cut off, leaving a large ball that looks somewhat like a pineapple. This pineapple is difficult to see when it is surrounded by its branches and tall grass. This giant pineapple can weigh as much as 40 to 90 kilos (80 to 200 pounds).
The pineapple is then chopped up, pulverized into mush and fermented in the manner of beer, whiskey and other alcoholic drinks. Your tour guide will explain the process at the factory. If you do not speak Spanish, ask in advance for an English tour as some of the tours are in Spanish only. (There are several tequila factories in the town. Ask which one you will be touring if that matters to you.)
Mucho Tequila
This is one of two rows of vats containing 107,200 litres (28,319 gallons) of tequila at the Orendain tequila factory. Now that is a lot of tequila.
Beware
Do not buy tequila from people in the street. It will probably be watered down and perhaps done so with contaminated water. Worse, tequila that is not properly fermented for the correct amount of time with the proper procedure can be dangerous and cause heart attacks. Sometimes this fake tequila is even served in restaurants in Mexico, so do not drink it except in better bars and restaurants. If you are unsure, ask to see the bottle that should have a label and a government sticker from the factory.
The factory store
Your tour of the factory will culminate with some tequila sampling. After the tour, head to the factory store, where you can sample more varieties and purchase bottles of tequila at ridiculously low prices. Buy white tequila if you want to make margaritas.
We purchased three small bottles of tequila (1/4 litre) for about $3.50 Canadian each (even less in US dollars). Less than the cost of one beer in Canada.
Tequila Museum
If you have time after your tour, visiting the small tequila museum will complete your day before catching the bus back to Guadalajara.
Hotels
If you wish to spend the night in Tequila, some hotels are near the town square and around the other square behind and to the left of the church.