-----gringo (grin • go) - Used as a disparaging term for a foreigner in Latin America, esp. an American or English person.

-----I use this phrase as somewhat of a disclaimer and it should give you some insight about the information you may find on these Tequila Pages. Though I consider myself to be a serious tequila aficionado and do my best to stay abreast of all things tequila, make no mistake that I live north of the border and most of the information I am able to acquire and indeed, most of the tequila I can find is limited to what I can get my hands on in the USA. I do manage to communicate with some people in Mexico but this is usually accomplished with some patience on their part as I do not speak Spanish. I am determined to remedy this in the future and learn the language. I've made numerous trips to Mexico, I frequently visit other States in the southwest, I do my best to gather information from U.S. importers and distributors and read everything I can get my hands on. Though I plan to continue to learn and expand this site as much as possible, for the moment it can definitely be considered " A Gringo's Perspective."
-----Keeping this in mind, it is certainly possible that while viewing my pages you may find some inaccuracies. If you find a mistake, outdated information or just have some information that you think I would find useful, I would be grateful if you would drop me a line. I'm always open to suggestions and would value any wisdom on the subject.



-----In order for any distilled beverage to be called 'Tequila' it must be distilled in one of five Mexican states. Four of these states, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Nayarit and Tamaulipas are limited to specially designated villages with the majority of tequila being produced in the state of Jalisco. Mexican law also requires that to be called tequila it must be distilled with at least 51% agave. Tequila with a mix of agave and other sugars is called "mixto," or mixed. The tequila most commonly found in the US and other countries are of the mixto variety.
-----'100% percent agave' tequila is obviously distilled entirely from the fermented juice of the blue agave plant. If a tequila is 100% agave it will be proudly stated on the products label which is also required by Mexican law. Relatively recently there has been a flood of 100% agave products made available in the US and Mexico as well as other countries due to rising demand for premium tequila. For the most part this is where my interest lies. When it comes to collecting 'Tequiliana', or tequila memorabilia I make no distinctions, but when it comes to drinking tequila I definitely at this point will stick to cien por ciento de agave ( 100% Agave ).



-----There is no question that the tequila industry is in dire straits at this very moment due to severe shortages of blue agave. This is due to a huge increase in demand for premium 100% agave tequila, especially here in the U.S., a devastating agave fungus plague in 1997, as well as drought and poor industry planning. Without going into too much detail, some of the backlash of this shortage and the soaring agave prices has caused companies to scale back or even stop 100% agave tequila production, distilleries have closed on their own or have been shutdown by the Tequila Regulatory Council. Worst of all has been the criminal element in all of this with companies producing fake tequila, falsifying documents and misleading consumers. Farmers have been forced to take up arms to defend their agave fields, truckloads of agave have been hijacked and people have been murdered as a result of these crimes or even for their political views on the subject.
-----It is hard to say exactly what will become of the tequila industry when and if the smoke clears from all of this turmoil. Many believe too much damage has been done and the industry will never completely recover while others are a bit more optimistic. At any rate a major change will not happen anytime soon and we as consumers can expect fewer 100% agave products and higher prices.
-----While I am certainly not in denial about the plight and future of tequila I choose not to concentrate too much on tequila industry news on this Site. I am definitely interested in the subject and enjoy keeping tabs on the current affairs but do not have the time or energy to report it here. If you need more of this type of information there are countless articles on the internet and both TequilaFancy.com and TequilaAficionado.com do a good job with industry news.



-----Each page in every "Tequila Tour" is set up the same way, so the visitor can leave the mouse in the same position and click the "NEXT" button. There is also a "Pop-Up" menu on the start page in each respective category to quickly take you to a specific product. I hope to add a search option in the future but these "Pop-Up" menus should make it fairly simple to find a product and exploring the tours a bit more user friendly.



-----Somewhat to my amazement the "Tours" have received the most positive response and seem to be what most people who have viewed the Tequila Pages relate to. Originally I thought that I could offer some insight with a personal review for every tequila listed. This has definitely proven to be an exhausting, if not impossible task and reviews will cease to be a prerequisite for listing a particular tequila. It seems the visual aspect of the pages lend the most value to visitors who are interested in the subject but do not necessarily need a review. Also, with the volatile nature of the tequila industry a review of a product is worthless if that tequila is no longer available. Further more, reviews of tequila are obviously very subjective and I find most of them to be extremely pompous and last but not least my goal is to have the pages continue to grow without prejudice and in the future encompass as many products as possible, regardless of availability or status.
-----Having said this, I may still occasionally offer my thoughts and opinion but my main objective is to keep it simple and fun. Also along with this update I will begin to add contributions from some other aficionados. I have become acquainted with some tequila fans who possess collections that are impressive to say the least and am excited about the prospect of adding some rare and exotic products to the tours.