When Patrón invited me to their distillery in Mexico last month , I was hesitant . I did n’t think I ’d see anything unexampled . I ’d pick up the company talk up its centuries - old “ tahona ” method acting of production , but wrote it off as yet another brand name attempt to get in on the cunning distilling movement . But I tally to go anyway . Because tequila .
Turns out I was wrong . There ’s actually a difference you could taste . And it ’s a pretty tasty difference , too .
It ’s Friday afternoon , you ’ve made it through the tenacious week , and it ’s time forHappy Hour , Gizmodo ’s hebdomadary liquor etc . chromatography column . A cocktail shaker full of innovation , science , and substances . Not fuddle on the tilt . Rock ’s on the booze .
What Is the Tahona Process?
The tahona method is fundamentally the way tequila used to be made way back when , though it ’s not all that dissimilar from how it ’s made today . ( take down : If you want our fuzee onhow tequila is madeorhow mescal is made , these tie may wait on you better . This article is about a more specific tahona process . )
gamy agave is grown for about seven or so class until it ’s ripe . Then jimadores contract the plant off and garnish off all the leave of absence . Then it go into a brick oven where it ’s tardily wangle ( about 79 minute ) to bring out the lucre . So far , this is similar to the way most eminent - close still do it now .
What ’s dissimilar is what materialise after roast . In modern tequila distillery , the roasted agave hearts go into a galvanising roller milling machinery where the century plant is shredded so that the succus can be extract . That succus is then strained and it goes into wooden fermenting ad valorem tax , and then onto distilling slew .
With the tahona process , there is no rolling wave factory . There ’s a stone . It ’s a giving - ass bicycle made of volcanic rock . The cook agave sum go into a orbitual pit , and this bike lento circles around the border , shell the juice out of the American aloe . Once upon a time the wheel was force back by a domestic ass , but now they have motors that slowly rotate it .
Workers stand near each pit , using long rakes to shift the agave around to secure that it all gets juiced equally . So yeah , this was coolheaded - looking , but I was still kind of like , so what ? I just did n’t see how the agave being crushed by a rock alternatively of a mill would make any real difference in the nip of the final product . And honestly , I ’m still not so certain .
Where I think the difference in savour comes from is the next step . While tequila is normally strained before going to the fermenting value-added tax , the tahona tequila go into the tub with all of the agave fiber and pulp magazine . It ’s a mint of works material , floating up at the top . That fibre goes one step further even , and goes all the way into the pile for the first rung of distilling . It ’s then take away for the second and third times through the still .
So what ’s the point ? The plant solidness have extra chemical in them that do n’t hail out in the juice alone . When they are allowed to sit in the succus as it sour , and then prepare with it in the still , those compound come out a little more , and that impacts the feel of the concluding production .
What It Means for Patrón
There are n’t a mass of distilleries that utilize the tahona process anymore . It ’s just a less efficient agency of descent , which means less juice , which mean less tequila , which intend less money .
late Patrón introducedits Roca billet , which is tequila made exclusively though the tahona procedure and you may actually savor the difference ( much to my surprisal ) . The Roca tequila has an earthier flavor . It taste a lilliputian grassier , a little fresh , and a bit more rich . Essentially , it tastes more like the American aloe that it come from . Whether or not it ’s unspoiled is subjective , but I care it .
What ’s interesting is that Patrón has unloose the Roca line at a slightly higher proof than their received tequila , claiming that the additional alcohol by volume helped carry the flavor . Again , I was skeptical here , but it turn out to be true . I smack the Roca Patrón Silver ( the unaged sprightliness ) at both 110 proof , which is how it come off the still , and also watered down to a more received 80 substantiation . There was undeniably more sweetness and more agave flavor in the higher proof variant . Patron Roca Silver is bottled at 90 test copy to get some of that extra flavor in there .
While the 100 percent tahona Roca line is unexampled , what surprise me is that all Patrón tequila have tahona tequila in it . For your standard Patrón , the distillery uses tequila made with the tahona method acting as well as tequila made from the innovative roller - mill process I mentioned above . Once both tequila have function through the distilling process they are mix together before being bottled .
Patrón also seduce a modified version ( read : not punk ) tequila which , like the Roca line , is made entirely from the tahona process . It ’s calledGran Patrón Piedraand it ’s pretty limited . The dispute is that this is an extra añejo . It ’s age for at least three years in new American and Gallic oak bbl . I try on it while I was down there and it ’s all-fired proficient . It ’s quite woody and unquestionably fairly tannic . It kind of tastes like tequila and whisky had a baby , which is a beautiful affair . It goes for around $ 370 a bottle in the US , though , which I just ca n’t see myself ever shelling out for . A glass of it in a bar on a special occasion , though , definitely .
Got to Bag It Up
When the tequila is mature ( or not ) and all ready , it take bottled right there at the still . It ’s a mix of automatonlike machinery and a gross ton of masses inspecting the bottles at every step .
I also got to see where Paton ’s bottle are made . It ’s still largely done by paw in their nursing bottle plant in Guadaljara . As someone who ’s always been catch with glass blowing , it was dreamy . It was also hot than hell .
Anyway , so now you eff all about the tahona process . To be good , I ’m not amply converted and it ’s not my new favorite spirit , but I appreciated the difference . As someone who likes to keep sipping tequilas around , the Roca line adds a nice new flavor to my collection , and I would n’t hesitate to tell anyone to try them and see what they think .
Of the three — the silver , the reposado , and the añejo — the reposado is my favorite . It ’s aged just long enough to melt it and get some of the sweet Sir Henry Wood flavors , but not so prospicient that the wood starts to dominate , like in the añejo . Your mileage may vary . If you ’ve tried them please severalise us what you recollect in the discussion below .
[ Patrón ]
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