The worm, the salt, the lime, the machismo—all of your questions will finally be answered.
¡Tequila! author, Marie Sarita Gaytán offers a handful of lesser-known facts about the national spirit of Mexico, tailor-made to impress at your next cocktail hour.
1.Tequila does not have a worm in its bottle.
The worm, or gusano, is associated with certain types of mezcal. Mezcal is a name that has multiple meanings—it’s the term for all distilled agave drinks (thus tequila is technically a type of mezcal), but since 2005, it also signifies its own distinct drink category with a denomination of origin (protective legislation that recognizes the influence that place has on product taste and quality). Although mezcal has a long history of production in nearly all of Mexico, with dozens of types of agave as ingredients, today it can only legally be produced in eight states.
2. Tequila is a relatively new spirit.
When the Spanish arrived in the “New World,” diverse indigenous groups were drinking pulque, a fermented agave beverage. Pulque played an important role in religious ceremonies and its consumption was highly regulated by local leaders. Today, alcohol historians tell us that the process of distillation was introduced to the Americas by the Spanish. However, recent research by Mexican scholars suggests that distillation was likely happening before the colonial encounter. It’s difficult to say with certainty what exactly these people were distilling. Coconuts? Agave? Either way, tequila didn’t become a product in its own right until several centuries later. Although the jury’s still out on the question of distillation, it’s safe to say that native populations were not drinking tequila.
3. Tequila is associated with machismo.
This notoriety was nourished in comedia ranchera (western melodramas) films of the mid-1930s through the 1950s. On the big screen, beloved actors, including Pedro Infante and Jorge Negrete, drank away their sorrows and toasted their triumphs with tequila. Playing the lead as noble charros <(Mexican cowboys), these and other actors, came to embody nostalgic expressions of Mexican masculinity. Songs sung by beloved charros, with titles like “Tequila con limón” and “Vamos a echarnos la otra” (Let’s have another one) also enforced the association that “real” men drank tequila—and a lot of it.
4. Pancho Villa was a teetotaler.
With brand names like Tequila Pancho Villa, Hijos de Villa (Sons or children of Villa), and Siete Leguas (Villa’s horse’s name), it’s no wonder that the famed general of the Mexican Revolution, Pancho Villa is closely associated with tequila’s culture and imagery. But despite this spirited connection, Pancho Villa not only abstained from alcohol, but also helped pass a law in his home state of Chihuahua that outlawed the production and sale of alcohol—those caught breaking the law were subject to the death penalty! Although a rough-and-tumble revolutionary leader, Pancho Villa played it safe when it came to booze.
5. Women have a long history with tequila.
During the colonial period, women sold and drank pulque. However, they were not always welcome in cantinas, drinking establishments that catered to working-class men. For most of the 20th century it was considered taboo for women to drink certain types of alcohol in public, especially distilled spirits like tequila. Despite this forbidden reputation, female actresses drank tequila on the big screen. Most notably, Sara García, Mexico’s grandmother, was portrayed as partaking with a shot or two with Mexico’s “macho” lead actors. On the radio, Lucha Reyes, sang about tequila, with her classic ranchera song, La Tequilera. Although often overlooked in tales about tequila, these, and other women, did indeed imbibe, enjoy, and shape ideas about Mexico’s spirit.
6. In Mexico, tequila is often sipped.
What surprises Americans (and other travellers) is that in Mexico, tequila is more likely to be sipped than slammed, shot, or mixed in Margaritas. Some people drink tequila from caballitos, tapered shot glasses that mimic bull’s horns, while others prefer to sip their tequila from cognac glasses. More recently, the famous Belgian glass maker, Riedel, introduced their own version of a tequila glass that is used in official tastings held by the Mexican Academy of Tequila Tasters.
7. Salt & lime were used to mask bad tequila.
Legend holds that the origin of serving salt and lime with tequila evolved as a response to an early tequila “boom” in the late 19th-century.The unpredicted spike in popularity led to a proliferation of poor quality tequila brands; salt and lemon were used to mask the taste of crudely-made tequila. Unpleasant or not, the ritual remained and soon became a familiar feature throughout Mexican popular culture.
Marie Sarita Gaytán is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at the University of Utah and author of ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico.
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