Agave Amore

Last spring my mom and I took a spur of the moment trip down to Mazatlan, Mexico. One day we decided to take a break from the beach/pool/fruity cocktail grind and go on a tour of a local tequila distillery. Yum.

It was the first time I've been on a distillery tour of any kind (surprising considering my career field, huh!) so I found it pretty interesting! The "free samples" may or may not have swayed my decision.

There was miles upon miles of agave plants. To me it looks like aloe vera, however I'm pretty sure your margarita wouldn't taste nearly the same.

Then they get chopped/pulled/not.sure.what.happens out of the ground and become pinecones-on-steroids (these are HUGE by the way... like atleast 12" tall).

 Next up comes the giant wood chipper machine...

Then they put it in a giant metal pot in the ground to cook it down, once it's cooked down it tastes oddly similar to sweet potato.

Once the agave is cooked down into a liquid form, it's put into huge vats and then from there into metal vats, then through some tubes, a few more vats and that's where the magic takes place!

And now for the sampling!

Makes you appreciate your Cuervo a little more doesn't it?! Oh, and did I mention I made a new friend?