Tequila has issues. Let’s be honest, there aren’t many people who can hear the word without thinking of necking shots of white lightning and the awful consequences.
But tequila is so much more than simply a headache in a bottle. Good tequila will contain a high percentage of distilled blue agave juice, which gives tequila its unique flavour.
The agave gives a creamy, slightly cereal-like flavour to the spirit and, with ageing, tequila can be as complex and rewarding a spirit as rum or whisky.
There are two basic categories of tequila, 100 per cent agave styles and mixtos; these are usually split into five sub-categories, depending on how long it has been aged for, but the most common here are blanco (or white tequila), reposado (“rested” or aged for less than a year) and anejo (aged from one to three years in oak).
To be honest, I am no expert on tequila, so we headed off to the Mexican Café, one of Auckland’s culinary and social landmarks, and enlisted the help of manager Jeff Langford. We were also joined by Meika Campbell from Hi-IQ Liquor, although her comments about her own products were disregarded.
We’d like to thank the Mexican Café for hosting us in such style.

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