1The origins of tequila can be traced back many centuries.
2Mexico's Aztecs fermented the juice of the agave plant
3to produce a low-alcohol drink called pulque.
4When the Spanish conquistadors arrived,
5they added distillation to the process for a much stronger drink,
6and tequila was born.
7Pass the salt and lime!
8Tequila is to Mexico as champagne is to France.
9Tequila is only made in this part of the world,
10and Mexico has claimed exclusive rights to the word tequila.
11For centuries, workers called jimadores have grown and harvested the agave plant for tequila.
12It takes seven years on average for a species called Weber Blue Agave to mature.
13Even today, it's harvested entirely by hand,
14Using a razor-sharp hoe-like tool, the jimidores chop away the greenery
15until all that's left is a huge core called the pina.
16Filing the round blade frequently keeps it sharp,
17allowing them to remove most of the bitter-tasting leaves from the pina.
18The tequila distilled from this crop will be a premium grade,
19made from 100% agave juice.
20The jimidores routinely remove a small piece
21and measure the starch content of the crop.
22Only if it's deemed to be sufficient is the agave pina sent to the distillery.
23Workers wield special hatchets to carve the huge pinas into quarters
24to make them more manageable for baking.
25They transfer the chopped pina to a brick oven,
26where it's steam-baked for 79 hours.
27This thorough cooking converts the agave starch to sugar.
28In the process, the flesh softens and the color turns from white to reddish-brown.
29The baked agave pina now spills onto a shredder
30that rotates to tear the fruit into long, thin fibers.
31These fibers exit onto a conveyor.
32The shredded pina lands in a pit
33where a worker forks it up and moves it into the path of a huge stone wheel called a tahona.
34Operated mechanically, the tahona wheel turns to crush the fibers
35and squeeze out the precious agave nectar.
36It takes two hours of crushing to extract all the juices.
37They pipe the juicy mash into wooden tanks and add yeast.
38The yeast causes fermentation, a process where sugar is transformed into alcohol.
39After 72 hours of fermentation, the alcohol content reaches 5%.
40The fermented pulp and juices have an earthy, acidic bouquet and the aroma fills the air.
41They transfer the fermented mash to small copper stills.
42Inside the stills, the alcohol is boiled off
43and the vapor condensed into a more potent liquid.
44This is called distillation.
45After two distillation cycles, they have tequila.
46A technician measures the alcohol content and it's 55%.
47After straining out the pulp, they transfer the tequila to steel tanks.
48They add purified well water to dilute the alcohol content
49and bring it down to 40%.
50The tequila is now ready to drink, so it's over to the bottling line.
51With the bottles upside down on a revolving carousel,
52they spray the inside with tequila for a quick rinse.
53The grippers flip them right side up so they can be filled.
54This automated system maintains a precise filling level.
55An employee corks the bottles and then sends them down the line.
56The next worker presses adhesive-backed transparent labels onto them.
57The see-through labels showcase the clarity of this fresh, premium tequila.
58For a drink with a little more complexity,
59they age the tequila in oak casks for two months or more, depending on the grade.
60During aging, the tequila takes on a woody flavor and turns a warm shade of amber.
61The master distiller personally approves every batch.
62He checks the color, inhales the aroma,
63and puts his observations down on paper.
64He also takes a little sip.
65No longer just a rough swig for banditos,
66tequila has gone upmarket and is a key ingredient in many popular cocktails.
67The end result is still the same though.
68Cheers.