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TEQUILA HISTORY & CULTURE

Tequila Don Weber history of tequila

As  North America's first distilled drink, and its first  commercially-produced alcohol, tequila's history is long and rich. Its  roots reach back into pre-Hispanic times when the natives fermented sap  from the local maguey plants into a beer-like drink called pulque, also  made from the agave.
People sometimes speak of tequila's 400-year  history. This is somewhat misleading. Before the introduction of  above-ground, steam-heated ovens, the product was really a mezcal.  Tequila's history should be dated from the late 19th century when those  ovens came into use. But no one can deny that tequila's mezcal ancestry  goes much further back. 


The  history of tequila's development from the traditional beverage to the  modern spirit parallel's the often turbulent, chaotic growth of Mexico  itself - and is equally obscure and complicated to outsiders.
Mezcal  wine - tequila's grandparent - was first produced only a few decades  after the Conquest that brought the Spaniards to the New World in 1521.  No one has ever come up with an exact date, but it was likely around  1535. It was variously called mezcal brandy, agave wine, mezcal tequila  and finally, after a couple of centuries,  one variety was simply called  tequila - appropriately named after Tequila, a small town in a valley  west of Guadalajara, in Jalisco state, Mexico.


The word tequila  itself is a mystery. It is said to be an ancient Nahuatl term. The  Nahuatl were the original people who lived in the area. The word means  means (depending on the authority) "the place of harvesting plants,"  "the place of wild herbs," "place where they cut," "the place of work"  or even "the place of tricks." According to Jose Maria Muria, tequila  comes form the Nahuatl words tequitl (work, duty, job or task) and tlan  (place). 

The  legend states Mayahuel was a young and beautiful Aztec goddess, who ran  away to marry Quetzalcoatl, god of redemption, and both of them turned  into two branches of a leafy tree so they would not be found by their  terrible grandmother, "Tzintzimitl" who ordered their execution after  finding them. Quetzalcoatl stayed alive, but Mayahuel died eaten up by  the stars and after burying her remanents in the ground, the first plant  of Agave was born, which was striken down by a lightning bolt from a  great storm sent by the gods on their rage for what Mayahuel had done.  Afterwards, once the storm had finished and the fire was out, the long  and thorny leafs of the Agave had been consumed, leaving only the Heart  of the Plant pouring out the Blood of Mayahuel, a sweet nectar which  tastes like honey and smells seductively. Ever since, the nectar became a  ritual beverage and a ceremonial offer to the Gods.


The agave plant  plays a much larger role than just being the source of an alcoholic  drink. Its leaves are harvested for a hemp-like fibre that was used for  mats, clothing, rope and paper. It was also the source of the nutrient  and vitamin rich brew, pulque. The plant was aptly described as "el  arbol de las maravillas" - the tree of marvels - in a 1596 history of  the Indians of Central America. 

Tequila Don Weber Mayahuel Goddess of Tequila
Tequila Don Weber Goddess of Tequila

 The  agave plant has been part of human culture almost since the continent  was first colonized and is still used for its fibre. Human remains  dating back at leas 9,000 years (some ethnobotanists say 11,000) show  the early uses of agave for food and fibre. No remains record when  humans learned to ferment the sap from the heart of the maguey into an  alcoholic drink, but it is at least 1,000 years old. Known as pulque in  the earliest written records, it was already ancient when the Spaniard  Conquistadors arrived. By 1520, they had exported it into the Old World. 

Historical Dates:

 

XVI  Century:    "Motolinía" describes the cooking of Mescal (heart of  Maguey) "mexcalli".  Mescal wine is one of the first products that  Europeans learned to obtain from a natural product in America.

4th  decade of XVII Century:    The audience of Guadalajara regulates the  production and trade of the mescal wine. This subsisted until being  abolished by the Independent government.

XVIII Century:    In the  middle of this century, the market for trading in the east grows  rapidly. The San Blas port is opened, and the Tequila drink is supplied  to the new Spanish colonies in northwest Mexico. Tequila is known and  accepted in Mexico City, and it's recognized as superior to the mescal  wines from closer zones which have inferior quality.

1810 Independence of Mexico:     The production of mescal wine is increased.
Late  XIX Century and Early XX Century:    Tequila is considered decadent,  since the elitist population prefers all the French liquors.

1896:     Franz Weber, European naturalist arrived to Jalisco, Mexico.  He was  devoted to researching the domestic western flora and found the blue  agave as the most appropriate plant for the production of tequila and  named it Agave Tequilana Weber.

1911:     Porfirio Díaz (President of Mexico) is overthrown. The consummation of  the Mexican Revolution causes Mexicans to become more patriotic, and  they turn their eyes to tequila. The government encourages the  production of this drink.  The film industry influences the spread of  tequila, and it becomes the most popular drink in Mexico.


1920:  In the late part of this decade, Feliciano Vivanco Sr. and family started cultivating tequilana weber blue agave in his properties in the Highlands of Jalisco, Mexico. Distilleries

like Jose Cuervo would prefer buying them over others becuase of the quality and higher sugar content.

1930:     An epidemic of Spanish influenza attacks northern Mexico, and tequila  becomes the best medicine to fight it. (It's said that from then on,  this drink was drunk with lemon and salt because that's how the doctors  prescribed it).

1940:    Because of WWII, tequila increases its  exportation to the United States, where the majority of the population  prefer drinking it over whiskey.

1959 - On October 21, 1959 the Camara Regional de la Industria Tequila is officially founded.

1994  - After several decades of agave growing, Feliciano Vivanco y Asociados was formed to start producing their own tequila spirit, mainly for friends and family. Also on this year,  the Consejo Regulador del Tequila(CRT) was founded. At  the end of this year Mexico suffers a monetary devaluation which has  repercussions in other countries as is know as "The Tequila Effect".

1996-  La Parternidad Mexicana de Tequila is formed in Brussels consisting of a  European Union Body of 15 countries. Paving the way for the possible  exportation of tequila to 350 million people.

1997 - The CRT Norm  NOM-006-SCFI-1994 is introduced to govern Tequila.   The accord between  the European Union and United States of Mexico serves to protect the  Denomination in the sector of spirituous beverages.

2000-2003 -  The New Millennium ushers in higher demands for tequila world wide,  coinciding with the agave shortage. Which sends the price of agave  soaring from 40¢ a kilo to $1.6-1.8 USD per kilo. The years 2001 and 2002  are named "Oro Azul".​


2006:  Feliciano Vivanco y Asociados introduces the brand Tequila Don Weber 100% blue agave for the international markets.


2010-Present :  Continuous international demand for 100% blue agave for the spirits, food and pharmaceutical industries.


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