How is Tequila Made? Just like Champagne and other fine wines, tequila is a drink that takes its name from its region of origin. And like fine wines, the unique characteristics of tequila can be traced back, quite literally, to its roots.
➡️ Nestled in the Highlands of Jalisco is Casa San Matias, the family-owned distillery where owner Carmen Villarreal oversees the team and the creation of all Corazón Tequilas opened their doors to teach me how Tequila is made.
Every part of the Tequila making process happens here, from the agave harvest to the bottling of the spirit, keeping true to the storied craft of tequila and allowing for innovations that ensure they minimize the footprint on the land our tequilas call home.
➡️ The appellation, and the environment within it, the terroir, are integral to the quality of Corazón Tequila’s agave, all of which comes from appellations in Jalisco, Mexico, known as the best agave-growing region for tequila.
Here, the soil is rich in iron oxide and the extreme temperatures of the warm days and cool nights create a climate where it takes longer for the agave to mature. It is the quality of the agave and its juice that creates the foundation of superiority found within our tequila.
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There's almost no way you can hear the word tequila and not think about colorful Mexico.
The town of Tequila is the birthplace of Mexico's national drink. It's a magical town filled with
colorful buildings, cobblestone streets, which are surrounded by hills lined with fields of
blue agave plants. The mild fragrance of the agave escapes from the furnaces spreading
through the town, which fuels my curiosity to learn more about how the spirit is distilled.
And who better to learn from than one of a handful of women in leadership within the tequila industry
and the individuals working at Casas San Mateos. You don't taste factory-made,
but rather a family-made tequila with an extraordinary experience.
I'm Jeff. I just retired from the military, sold everything I own, and now I'm traveling around
the world to learn from gurus, winemakers, distillers, and tell their story. This is my
journey of beer, wine, and spirits. I took over the company 22 years ago. That was in 1997.
And my goal and my passion has been working with the team and become a family with them. I really
enjoy every day of my life working in San Matias. And we have created wonderful tequilas
for everybody in the world. Our agaves are from the highlands of Jalisco. Casas San Matias and
Corazon's tequilas are only made from agaves from this region. One of the main reasons is because
it's part of our DNA of the company, and also because we can find here the red soil. This soil
gives a lot of minerals to the profile of the tequila at the end. The agaves from this region
are really fruity as well. That way you can taste the sweetness of the agave.
The main character there is the rimador.
You can harvest 100 piñas per day or 100 agaves per day, which sounds easy, but it's not easy.
It's really hard. School is in session. I am about to harvest an agave plant here. I'm learning from
El Tio. I won't tell you how he got his nickname, but if you look at his eyes,
you'll understand why. He made it look easy. Let's see if I can do the same.
I'm already breathing pretty heavy. This is my first one. I've not even gone through it yet.
I'm breathing heavy right now. Like I said, this is a lot of work. This was
just one. These guys are able to do 100 a day. Really, you guys are the unsung heroes
of tequila. Thanks for observing. Thanks for watching, El Tio. I appreciate it, buddy.
You can find piñas from seven years to nine years. That is like the common or the average
that we use for our tequilas. You can have an idea. From 60 kilos, we can get eight liters of
tequila. It's not that much. We need so many. This is part of the deal of
having a good product at the end in your hand. It's part of the process.
We take it to the distillery. We have an agave patio. We call it an agave patio there.
We cut it in half.
We put it inside a brick oven. We just use brick ovens for our process.
For 48 hours, it cools down as well.
We have two processes in our distillery. One for Tejonas, the Matias Tejona. That is a 100%
artisanal process. You met Pepe. We're an animal-friendly company here. We create Pepe.
It's helping us to crush the agaves on the Tejonas as well.
We have pine woods for fermentation and a copper steel for distillation there.
So that makes a whole process the old-fashioned way to do tequila back in the days.
And we also have the roller miller. That is the common way to extract the juices from the agave
from all the rest of the brands that we have on our portfolio.
So after we crush the juice, we extract the juice from the roller miller. We take it to the
steel vats for the fermentation. That lasts 72 hours there.
We have different kinds of cheese that we use for each brand.
And after that, we do two distillations in our products.
The first distillation, we cut the tails and the heart from the product.
And after that, we do the final distillation. We're lucky to try 110, right?
The Blanco is right away and we just take it to the proof that we need it for each market.
And the Reposado, Añejo and Extrañejo, this is like the room for them.
We use French oak and we use American oak as well.
Someone previously used and someone of the brands, they use new barrels.
New American oak barrels or new French oak barrels as well.
We have a lot of timings in our products.
The highest one that is Resol, that we have it with six years in French oak barrels.
So it depends on the brand that we take care of their aging here in this facility.
Right now we have two lines. One line is for the artisanal products that are really complex.
Barrels that we use for the brands.
Per hour, we can bottle 8,000 bottles.
But in the first line, that is like complete.
We can put the cork on it. We can put the label on it.
We can feel the juice on the bottle. We can do 12,000 per hour there.
What I loved about this whole experience today was that I get the sense of family.
I mean, we talked about it with Carmen, the owner.
I mean, you today, just everybody just made us feel warm and invited here.
And I see that replicated when I try that brand too as well, man.
I can't thank you enough for allowing us to come show us how tequila is made.
And again, I appreciate it, man.
Thank you so much.
Thanks.
