Mexico's national drink explained

To mark International Tequila Day (July 24), the monthly Esquire Drinks Club, held in association with Cocktail Kitchen, focussed on the oft-maligned and overwhelmingly misunderstood Mexican national drink.

 

Guests received a wealth of new information from the expert bartenders in a private room at JLT's Cocktail Kitchen. For example, did you know that tequila is made from the blue agave plant, not the cactus? Or that good quality varieties should be sipped? And that the habit of drinking with salt and lemon arose after a flu epidemic in Mexico where medicine was in short supply, and the three ingredients (salt, citrus and alcohol) were seen as a handy alternative? As for the worm (or gusano)... well, that was orginally added to tequila’s lower-quality cousin, mezcal, as a marketing tactic. Why? Because the gusano is the larvae of a type of moth that lives on the agave plant. Still pretty gross, all told.

 

All this information, as well as a tasting session of different varieties, gave the audience a thorough understanding of the drink, enabling it to be seen in a new, dare we say it, grown-up, light. So, no more shooters for you - you're way past  that anyway. Go do your homework and do the responsible, ultimateley more rewarding way.