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It's said the national drink of Mexico has magical properties: It closes contracts and opens doors, makes shy people bold and helps form friendships.
To the uninitiated, the wrong tequila consumed incorrectly also opens medicine chests.
The first thing one learns on a tour of the heart of Mexico's tequila country is that no one here drinks tequila as a shooter -- it's better sipped from a brandy snifter or Champagne glass so that the full sweet and buttery flavors and aromas of the agave can come through.
And the aficionado never would drink anything other than a tequila made from 100 percent agave. Anything less, like the popular Jose Cuervo Gold, is a "mixto" that by law only has to contain 51 percent of alcohol distilled from agave. The rest could be any other sugary plant like the beet, which makes it potentially hangover-inducing.
Tequila consumption has increased 45 percent in the U.S. in the past five years. It's no wonder, then, that the country is waking up to the tourism power of tequila, the drink, and Tequila, the place -- the center of the farming region of the prickly Weber blue agave plants from which the spirit is distilled.
"Tequila is like wine, and those of us who get into it know our favorite tequilas in the same way that a wine lover would know why they like certain wines," said Rachel Nicholls-Bernyk, who travels here from Fresno at least once a year. "I enjoy learning something new about the language and
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the culture and the people, and of course, making tequila."
The affair margarita-loving Americans are having with premium tequila has fueled a tourist boom here in the mountainous state of Jalisco, where tequila was born centuries ago in the town that shares its name.
In this once-sleepy village, hotels are being remodeled, new bed-and-breakfasts are opening, and the main drag is getting a cobblestone makeover. In April a slick new OXXO, Mexico's version of 7-Eleven, became the first chain store to open in downtown. The town is seeing even more tourists this month because of the Pan American Games in nearby Guadalajara.
The popularity of premium tequilas means increasingly varied travel options. Almost all tequilas are from in and around the state of Jalisco. El Tesoro, Don Julio, Don Pilar and the highly regarded 7 Leguas are among those from the region, as well as market leader Patron. Of these, only 7 Leguas and Don Pilar have tours by appointment; the others cater to industry insiders.
In tequila's primary namesake destination, the safe Valle de Tequila, everyone from the tequila snob to college students can find their place. A favorite stop for both crowds is Don Javier's cantina La Capilla, home of his 50-year-old invention, the Batanga, a mixture of Coke, tequila, lime juice and salt. Now well into his 90s, Don Javier still spends time behind the bar.
The town sits in the shadow of the 9,500-foot Volcan de Tequila, an ancient volcano that gave the region its lava-rich soil. While hundreds of varieties of the agave lily can be distilled, to be called tequila it must come from the Weber blue agave. The spiny plants grow for between six and 12 years in neat rows on hillsides, the valley floor and even in medians along the highways.
Something for all
Tours of the biggest distilleries such as Sauza and Cuervo are easy to find. Mundo Cuervo is the Disneyland of distilleries, and its swank cantinas, restaurants and gift shops occupy a huge swath of the town.
A self-guided walking tour through town is part of the Ruta de Tequila, a trail that links Jalisco's tequila-producing cities that was patterned after Napa's wine trail.
Also appealing to some is the Tequila Express party train that on weekends ferries tourists from Guadalajara 40 miles to Casa Herradura in neighboring Amatitan, where visitors can sip tequila from a barrel carried by a donkey or see a man dressed in the traditional white garb of the field workers (jimadores) cut the spines off the agave, leaving only the pineapple-looking center for baking.
The smaller operations often produce the most interesting spirits, some offering historical glimpses of the manufacturing process that the big labels long ago abandoned.
At Destileria La Fortaleza, visitors will find the last tequilero that still painstakingly presses 100 percent of its sugary juice from the agave using a giant lava stone, called a "tahona," instead of modern shredding machines. The historic hacienda was home of industry giant Sauza, which the family sold in the 1970s. Tours are available through the Sauza museum on the main plaza.
Any tourist who looks lost in Tequila's main plaza will be approached by a guide selling tickets on one of the many wacky tourist buses shaped like barrels and bottles.
The luckiest tourists arrive with Clayton Szczech of Experience Tequila. He's a Portland resident who loves the culture and history so much that he now guides tequila-curious tourists. He took us to an obscure, one-man operation where the tequilero used a garden hose to fill our liter Coke bottle from his lone aging barrel. And he's friendly with premium distillers such as Casa Noble, which don't usually open their doors for tours.
"True tequila and a tequila culture thrive down here," Szczech said, "you've just got to know where to look."
If You Go
Tequila Express Party Train: Train from Guadalajara to Casa Herradura in Amatitan;www.tequilaexpress.com.mx/home.
Experience Tequila: www.experiencetequila.com; 503-841-1739. Five-day group tours, $1,400 a person double occupancy, $1,700 single; next tour Nov. 30-Dec. 5 (10-day tours and private one-day tours also available)
Tequila Distillery Tours: http://tequilasource.com/distillerytours.htm
National Museum of Tequila: Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays; 011-52-374-742-0012
Hotels in Tequila: Accommodations include the charming Hotel Casa Dulce Maria (www.casadulcemaria.com; 011-52-374-742-3200) from $75, and the town's first luxury boutique hotel, Los Abolengos (www.losabolengos.com), starting at $150.