Sayulita to Tequila, Thursday 3rd September

We were walking through the main square after our evening meal and came across three horses and riders.

There had Spanish saddles and tack and the horses necks were in a graceful arc. One by one the horses were walked forward and the horses danced. The shod hooves sent sparks into the air as each horse danced from foot to foot, moved backwards, sideways and changing the tempo of the dance. One even did a finale by crossing its legs alternatively as it danced away from the square.

You have to imagine that the pictures are better than they are.

We left Sayulita shortly after dawn and took the same road back through the mountains.  It was a slow journey as there were many steep gradients and tight turns with signs saying ‘Curva peligroso’ as the road wound its way through the mountains.

After two hours we reached a turning and turned east towards our next destination. We soon passed our first field of ‘agave azul’. These are grey almost blue cacti planted in both fields and steep valley sides from which tequila is made and the centre of the tequila industry is Tequila in Jalisco province.

Other cacti can be used but a bit like the appellation controllee for Champagne, the distilled spirit can only be called tequila if it is made from a certain cacti and in one of five states in Mexico.

We arrived at lunch time and after checking into our hotel we walked into the centre of town past a round about with the town symbols proudly displayed, a man cutting a cactus ‘heart’ or ‘pina’ which translates as pineapple.

It was too hot for the local dogs but we reached the plaza major with its grand church and waited for our distillery tour to start. The city has just had a former resident canonised ho is now a recognised saint so the church has recently gained in importance.

Meanwhile we watched several buses pass until our barrel bus arrived to take us to a local distillery. We had originally planned to visit the Jose Cuervo distillery but changed our plans for La Americana distillery as the price was cheaper, we got ride in a barrel bus and try ten different types of tequila.

We were taken through the various stages around the distillery.

Local transport.

 The chilli bus.

 The barrel bus.

We were taken around the distillery and had the various processes explained and tried some newly made tequila straight from the still in traditional horn receptacles.
Cooked 'pineapples'.

Steve tasting fresh liquor from the pinepples.

Raw pineapples ready to go into the ovens at the back once they are emptied.

Tasting fresh tequila as per the tattoo, 'Living the dream'.

Then it was on to the tasting room and there were ten tequilas to try, clear, aged, and lightly or darkly coloured from the ageing process. The best quality three year old dark tequila wasn’t available for tasting but it was replaced with a chocolate flavoured liquor. Each taste was only a thimbleful but the ability to taste the difference was lost on me after the first few samples.

We were taken back to the plaza major in the barrel bus. The city is the centre of the tequila industry and hosts several distilleries including the Sauza brand familiar in UK. We decided to try the other main UK recognised brand, the Jose Cuervo distillery and made our way just off the main square to their commercial outlet.

It was set in a traditional Spanish colonial style building with several courtyards with shades and fountains and some art work.

We settled into the bar and tried a succession of cocktails. I started off with mango, then tamarindo margaritas frape then had a passion fruit based cocktail. I finished with a ‘La Enamorada’, which is just great tasting and to look at.