LCBO Food & Drink Spring 2024

LESSONS IN TEQUILA

Agave Myths, Busted

Is tequila better for you than other spirits? Science doesn’t back up that claim, but the Additive-Free Alliance program (tastetequila.com) can help identify bottlings without additives.

Is there an agave shortage?

Is tequila made outside Mexico?

Is the worm in the bottle good for you?

Unlike grains, grapes or pota toes, agave is not an annual crop. It takes several years to mature, so growing cycles can lag behind demand. Many tequila producers have long-term planting and farming programs in place to ensure future harvests.

Agave spirits are made everywhere from South Africa, South America, India and Australia to parts of the U.S.—but none of them are tequila, which only comes from Mexico.

In Mexico you might see gim micky critters in the bottom of agave spirits bottles: it’s the larvae (or gusano de maguey) of a moth that lives on agave plants. They’re fairly common in Mexican cuisine, and a healthy insect protein!

The Other Agave Spirits

Visitors to Mexico might spot other agave spirits, popular in their local regions, and with their own production and label ling traditions. Raicilla comes from around tequila country, but is distilled from different agave species. Bacanora is made in the mountainous Sonora region, from one par ticular type of agave. Sotol, from the region of Chihuahua, is similar to agave spirits but is actually made from a different, non-agave plant. Small-batch, traditional agave spirits might never reach global stores without companies like Del Maguey. It searches out makers of artisanal mezcal (tequila’s smokier cousin) and releases them under labels like Del Maguey Puebla ( LCBO 37608, $64.95 ), a handmade single-village mezcal.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY EMILIE SIMPSON

58 FOOD & DRINK SPRING 2024