Jose Cuervo you are a friend of mine.

I  never touch the stuff. Fish fuck in it

That’s water.

Well that changes things! What have I been drinking all this time?

El Tesoro Blanco

This right here.

I'm gonna tell you something...and many may disagree, but

Hornitos reposado is good value...damn good 100% blue agave.

You may have an argument comparing hard liquor

Comparing hard liquor to beer and wine is dumb as fuck

Had a shot of Corozone last week. It's the smoothest tequila I've ever tasted. My go to had been Monte Alban mezcal.

The vector of alcohol may not be a determinant in the kind of drunken state a drinker experiences, but it sure as hell impacts how the hangover feels. Drinking chemical crap with fake colors, flavor additives, sugar, and a bunch of multi syllable science words in the ingredients is a fast track to a really shitty morning. Go have a few ounces of a craft liquor, and a comparable amount of alcohol from some cheap box of wine. Report back in the morning.

Back to Tequila. The Avion went down a little too easy
I need to be careful with that stuff.  
After several ounces of 80 proof, silver, good tequila....even a high end barrel bourbon tastes like pure fire.

Think tequila flavor, but sweet, smooth, a little bite… kind of a cordial, almost dessert supper.

This is about as good as it gets around here.

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Fun part about tequila is many "premium" brands are filled with those exact chemicals. Glycerin to add to the mouthfeel, synthetic sweeteners 10,000X sweeter than sugar, vanilla and cupcake flavorings, charred ammonia for coloring. Clase azul, don Julio, Jose cuervo, adictivo, avion, Lanazul, herradura and many more of the big guys use these to the maximum allowed amounts to create a flavor more appealing to the masses.

Herradura Double Barrel Anejo is about the smoothest I have tried. Would recommend.

Yes, because the alcohol in Coors is completely different than the alcohol in Beam.

Correct, I disagree. For that price.....


Far better production methods. Honestly I have not had either in a long time.

You don't even really need to cheat that much with tequila.  Generally I think only the core of the plant is used, but the flower contains a natural saccharin,  If the flower is used, you will get a fairly sweet tequila as saccharin will not ferment.  

Just seen this post . Currently drinking this... Have 2 double shots in my yeti tumbler with a splash of sprite zero.
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Brix levels homie. They be important.

Here are a few that the girls from work brought me back. A couple of them are suppose to be pretty good.

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For tequila and mezcal only the Pina (pineapple) is used. This is the center of the agave with the penca (leaves) shaved away. If allowed to go to quiote and flower, the agave can't be used. The fruictin saved up in the core is used to create the woody material of the quiote and the flowering buds. This is actually part of the problem with agave production because you can't allow the plants to sexually reproduce and still use that plant. You have to use budding clones instead creating a dangerous monoculture subject to disease and pest problems.

Beyond that, the abuse of sweeteners and syrups is rampant in tequila and most use the maximum amount of additives allowed, but even before that they abuse loopholes in production to add concentrated agave syrups to increase fermentable sugars. This goes even further into production methods as the fruictln has to be converted to fermentable sugars through heating or chemical breakdown. Many cheaply made tequilas are made using a massive device called a diffusers which uses concentrated jets of acid to breakdown the agave to the smallest part to maximize fermentable sugar, much to the cost of flavor.

Well now it's the weekend. Guess it's time to have something tasty. What's everyone drinking tonight?

Go to for Margaritas, keep at least a couple bottles. The Anejo stuff is great as well. Still prefer ‘42 for for sippin’

Fortaleza  

I wish we could get Kirkland liquor in Texas.



As far as tequilas go I have the following in the house and I have enjoyed them all:

Azuelos Anejo
Toro de Lidia Anejo
Amorada Anejo
Toro de Lidia Silver
Familia Camarena Silver
Tapatio Silver


All of the anejos were gifts that I am working my way through, I am pretty much a silver only kind of guy when I am purchasing for myself.

Tequila liquor….supposedly an aphrodisiac according to Mrs. PhotonKV.

I don't even know you!

Not drinking tonight, the wife is still recovering from surgery, but she's doing great so it's worth it.

Now having said that, what can you tell me about the Tapatio tequila? Is that supposed to be one of the better distilleries? I got the name from r/tequila and it's good, has a much stronger "tequila" flavor than most silvers that I have had.

Also any other thoughts on the rest of them on my list as I am mostly drinking gifts and tequilas that I have had good luck with. I'd like a solid list to try focused on silver tequilas. I like the "younger" taste and I'm not a fan of oakiness in tequila.

Thanks @WOAFP I love tequila threads.

Served how?

My back-up bottle of Paradiso got attempted delivery 15 whole minutes after I left for work.

Now I have to wait until monday.

I’m currently running through the following:
Grand Mayan Ultra Anejo, smooth……$90
Dos Artes extra Anejo, almost as good as the above! Real close, a bit spicier on the back end. $90
Azulejos Anejo ultra premium. Wife like’s this as well $80
El Padrino Extra Anejo. Just OK. recommended at Total Wine for the $45-50 range.
Corozan Anejo ( best $30 bottle I’ve found)
I haven’t ventured into the real high end stuff, but I want to try Tears of Llorona Extra Anejo, but at $200, I’m not sure I want to spend that on drink……

Patron

The End.

That’s what I’m sipping on right now.

Neat, with a little on the nipple…..

@WOAFP

Very interesting… so what are some cleaner (less additives), but “premium” tequilas?  Price not a factor… clean and quality come first.

@woafp

Ditto this...i came here to post the same thing.  What would you consider a clean tequila?

Everything I posted in my first post on the first page.

Tapatio is great stuff.

Its the "budget" brand made at la altena by Carlos Camarena. The only thing budget about it is instead of 100% tahona crushed it is extracted using a roller mill and distilled to a higher proof to up yield. Nothing really budget about that. Still a better process than 90% of distilleries out there. The tapatio 110 is my standard I keep around for cocktails, and the excelencia is what I consider my winter time tequila.

Yeah, castlebravo nailed it. To look at additive free it's usually easier to talk about distilleries, known as NOMs, instead of brands.

La altena owned by Carlos Camarena
Villa lobos
Tapatio
Tequila ocho
Tesoro

In that family,
the tesoro paradiso is a sweet profiled tequila that gets it's profile from being aged in cognac barrels
Tesoro extra anejo is a 3 year bourbon barrel release that is well rounded and a bigger oak influence for people who want more of a whiskey feel to their tequila
Tapatio excelencia is a 3 year bourbon barrel bottled at a higher proof which can be great for people coming from barrel proof bourbon.
All three of those are usually $100+, but all bottlings from that distillery are additive free and estate farmed agave.

El pandillo owned by Felipe Camarena (Carlos' older brother)
Pasote
G4
Teralta
Volans
And a bottling for artenom (a collective that bottles from top notch distilleries)
The pasote Blanco is one of my favorite Blanco available
And of their aged expressions are fantastic

German Gonzales
T1
Tears of llorona

German is an independent distiller who bottles under different distilleries. He makes some of the best tequila you can find but with a big price tag. Tears of llorona is one of the most expensive bottles that I will still happily recommend to anyone who likes good tequila.

Cascahuin
Cascahuin makes stuff for a few different brands
Siembra valles
Artenom
Cascahuin
Trianon (only the early bottlings)

I love cascahuin stuff. I happily grab basically anything I see with their nom listed

Guillermo Sauza and Fortaleza (know as Los Abuelos in Mexico)
Guillermo is the grandson of the Sauza family that started the huge distillery. The family kept a small distillery after the sale where Guillermo makes only the best traditionally made tequila he can. Amazing stuff that is getting way too hard to find and his son has shown zero interest in making any so it may disappear soon enough

Don Fulano which bottles for fuentaseca and artenom.

For cheap stuff olmeca altos is actually additive free and traditionally made. Brick oven roasted, stone crushed, pot still distilled. It's great stuff for cocktails and the cheap price.

For something easy to find but actually good, albeit expensive the Roca patrons are great. Stone crushed, higher proof, additive free and delicious. It's a shame they don't make all of their stuff that good.

This is what I am enjoying presently, after a suggestion by WOAFP.  There are still bottles by Aquilino to be found although TBH I haven't been able to discern a great difference between his and those of his hijos.

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Even my buddy who doesnt like agave at all asked for another pour of this stuff. I think it would go great with some good BBQ.

I absolutely can't stand most tequila, it's like drinking paint thinner.

Fortaleza however is a fantastic tequila. I order it whenever I see it somewhere.

It would, has and does go well with BBQ, although I wish I had a good source for cabrito.

Additive-Free Tequila Brands

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I'm kind of grooving on this one. Single barrel. I thought it was cool that I got bottle #3.

Having something tasty while prepping carnitas for tomorrow

Tastetequila is the best

You’re my friend, you’re the best mi amigo!