Tequila! (The true Mexican Paradise)

In March, the Castillos and Alamedas embarked on a weekend adventure with their delighted exchange students in tow. I came along as well, and Gosia, Johannes and I had one absolutely fantastic day discovering the beauty of Tequila, Jalisco. I was shocked to learn that Tequila (true tequila) is produced a mere two hours from where I am living for the year! Of course one of the well-known Mexican products is tequila, but I must confess I had never thought precisely where this famous product was specifically produced. While there are distilleries in other places of course, it isn't called Tequila because it has a different taste entirely (something to do with the soil components that the blue agave plants are grown in. In any case, I am now an expert (or at the very least an amateur connoisseur), on tequila styles and the manufacturing process! Tequila, I was surprised to learn, can actually be one high-class beverage- equal to cognac! So for all you out there thinking tequila is just for drunken partygoers (worms included)- think again! 

These are the best quality tequilas for sale, with the year-specific case designs, each very unique!

Recognize these characters? (Hint: Famous Mexicans) I would buy this tequila just for the cases!

(As a quick explanation, tequila is manufactured from a fantastic plant called agave azul, they grow crops of this plant in fields for about eight years, where the workers, called jimadores then go and harvest the bulb, which they call the pina. With this giant bulb (weighing between 75 to 110 kgs), they cook it for many hours, then manually remove it, and smash it to bits with a large stone wheel. From this they extract the  agave juice and send it on to distill it. The pulp is then recycled, and used for various things. There is a lengthy distillation process, and finally depending on the quality of tequila desired the alcohol is distributed into barrels to ferment, all stored in gigntic piles in the vault of the distillery. I will go into greater detail when I explain our tour through the first Jose Cuervo factory.)

Upon arriving in Tequila, we parked and then set off to the town square. Tequila is actually a UNESCO World Heritage site, also called a pueblo magico in Mexico. It's a beautiful, pristine little town. Everywhere you look, there are street vendors and little stores boasting either products containing tequila, or containers in which to put your beverage (horns, shot glasses in various shapes, gourds, etc..). You walk into a store and are immediately offered samples of tequila, and a flavoured drink called rompope. As if all this wasn't enough to mark the principal tourism of this town, almost all furniture is made from tequila barrels, there are various statues of harvesters working with the agave plant, and the tour bus is even a giant barrel! It's crazy awesome.

Haha amazing, right?!

Gosia sampling some crsipy fried pig skin. Mmmmm

Candied agave- completely delicious!

I got a kick out of this- car, bike, bike, bike, bike, ... horse?

Gosia, FUERTE! 

Possibly the coolest mural I've ever seen

And the requisite zen photo with said mural

To expand our knowledge of tequila, we signed up for a tour through the original factory of tequila production- Jose Cuervo. (The largest is now in Guadalajara, but it originated in this specific factory). We began with a little refreshment, then started off the tour with a video explaining how it was a family business, and a product distributed throughout the world, now a national item linked with Mexico! We then went of to learn about the production line. 

The statue of this company's mascot was a popular photo location

Check out the jimadores preparing the pinas, ridding it of it's leaves

We were showed the enormous ovens where the pinas are cooked for over a day. Once cooled, the bulbs are then manually removed, with the juice extracted. 

There were about 16 of these, all emitting steam

In gigantic vats the alcohol ferments for about a week, then is distilled to produce tequila ordinario, a clear liquid. At this point we were given a sample of tequila to try. It is above the legal selling limit, at 55%! Needless to say, it was pretty strong (as in burn the throat and make the low-tolerance Canadian cough and sputter strong). 

Here you can see the distilling step-to the bottom right you can see the sample station!

It is distilled once more, then is bottled immediately as tequila blanco or transferred to barrels to age in the vault. I had no idea that there were different barrels used depending on the quality of tequila desired, but there most certainly is! The barrels are charred to give a better flavour to the alcohol, the more charred barrels yield a 'richer, deeper' flavour and is therefore used for the most high-end tequila (called Reserva de la Familia).  The tequilas have different classes, joven and reposado (aged a few months but less than a year), anejo (1-3 years), and extra Anejo/ Reserva de la Familia. There are also 100% agave tequilas, and then some more low-end products supplemented with cane sugar. All of these barrels filled with tequila are stored in the vault, an enormous room filled to the ceiling with pyramids of barrels. (In the vault unfortunately photos were prohibited, but badass me snuck a photo of one of the barrel stacks).

Another tourist checkin out the tequila inside the barrel through a little window that had been placed in the barrel frame

 Overall it was an amazing and extremely informative tour. Silly me, thinking tequila was a simple, single-style liquor. I certainly know better now! 

 After the tour we were introduced to Pepe the crow, the symbol of the company. We then headed to the restaurant for a refreshing margarita.

Ay ay ay Mexico!!!

Group picture with tequila barrels 

These hand painted of bottle were absolutely amazing- each one different, and with incredible detail!

By this point it was late afternoon so off we went to hunt for a restaurant. We were quite glad to be out of the sun at that point, it was an extremely hot day! (As a little side note for any Canadians and specifically Albertans reading this, on that particular weekend you were surviving a cold streak of -40. It was a day that made me quite happy to be living a little closer to the equator.)

 With the meal, the adults were served a giant shot glass of tequila and an accompanying drink that to me tasted like plum sauce, called sangrita.

The adults (or bigger adults I suppose,  seeing as I am considered one now) enjoying their tequila and sangrita

Overall it was a stupendous day, and I bought a keychain for my blazer AND two drinking horns to keep the memories of this day fresh in years to come! It was one of those I LOVE MEXICO moments, I've been having those almost constantly lately!

Thanks for reading,

Wendy

Trip to the Pyramids!

This is a few weeks behind, but I got back last Saturday from Mexico City ( one fantastic week, blog post soon to follow), then kind of lost all motivation for a while there due to a rather nasty stomach bug.

Anyhoo, this is the catchup post about an excellent weekend in the late February/ early March area.

On this particular week, my school was hosting a nationwide soccer tournament for the secondary school, called Codemar. As my salon is Biology, we were elected to be the unofficial paramedics for the games. So a few weeks before, we had been rather hastily trained by a doctor on the basics of First Aid. The day of the tournament, we were split into groups of four, given these fancy Paramedic shirts, and sent onto the field to wait expectantly for any adolescent injuries. I have to admit I was pretty excited at first, but soon my enthusiasm began to wane as I realized that really, apart from juvenile athletics nothing much happens at these tournaments. It got to the point where me and my classmates began to wish for an injury just so we could rush to the individuals side, check out the damage and then watch the real, qualified Paramedics take action. It's never a healthy frame of mind when you're wishing injury on someone for your own entertainment. In any case, it was a change from school for a few days!

Giovanni and I all prepped to be paramedics with our special t-shirt

When I came home after a particularily monotonous day on Thursday, I was excited to hear that my family would be staying with Gosia's in Guadalajara for the weekend! We would be staying in their house (they are a rather well-off family and travel quite a lot). So Friday afternoon came around and we set off for Guadalajara. After arriving,  and all becoming aquianted with one another,  we set off to eat! By now it was 10:00 pm,  sometimes the Mexican meal hours still get to me! Anyways, we arrived at this awesome pizza joint which was basically set up in a garden and had incorporated various tables and chairs around trees. The general decor was very eclectic and creative- the chairs were awesome tree stumps (a bit difficult to move around but surprisingly comfortable). I loved it! I guess Mi Lola (a restaurant in Tepic I wrote about sometime in 2013, also makes delicious pizza) had gotten their inspiration from this place! It was gourmet pizza, and so not long after ordering we ravenously tore into some interesting combinations including blueberry, goat cheese and mushroom (which was my favourite!).

The menus painted on plywood

You can see the blueberry combo on the bottom left.

The group picture! The Flores on one side, then Iliana, Gosia, me and Pepe on the left.

The next day the adults had to go off and do Rotary business,  and so after a lovely breakfast of tortas ahogadas, (basically a meat baguette soaked in tomato soup very specific to the region of GDL), we were ready to get out of the house and seize the day! Well, Gosia and I got off to a bit of a lazy start hanging out in our PJ's watching the movie Chicago, but eventually we roused ourselves and headed to the mall for some sorely needed shopping. Tepic unfortunately has only one very small mall, and the prices are not very friendly for a cheap exchange student. Guadalajara on the other hand, has an excessive amount of enormous malls with stores for everyone's budget. Luckily, a mall very near to the house contained one of my favourites- Forever 21. Awesome clothes, very low price. I managed to find two light sweaters for under 20$ (Huzzah bargain shopping!) and we picked out a very nice clubbing outfit for Gosia. Very pleased with our purchases, we went to the food court and ate with Marius, one of the French exchange students  living in GDL for the year. It was great to see him as we hadn't seen anyone outside of Tepic since the island trip (beginning of January).

By now it was nighttime, and we returned to the house to rest a bit before going out and eating tacos for cena (but at 10:00 more like a late-night snack). This taco restaurant's specialty was ham (or at least I think it was ham), with pineapple. Strange combination, but of course delicious. Following this the parents continued the night by going out to a bar and listening to a band play, while Gosia and I hung out at the house watching movies. I have to say I was a little more enthused about our night- hardcore bargain finding is tiring sometimes!

The next day we got up bright and early and made our way back in the general direction of Tepic towards this archaeological site called Los Guachimontones. We stopped for a surprisingly good torta at a gas station (I was a bit skeptical but was pleasantly surprised), and arrived at the pyramids late morning. At the bottom of the site there was an excellent interactive interpretive centre not only about this specific location, but rather the development and movement of the pre-hispanic people across Mexico. It was really interesting- with giant maps, building blocks, and various dioramas demonstrating the everyday life of the indigenous.
 

The interpretive centre!

A mural depicting a religious demonstration-  they would start at the top of the pole and swing down all artistically .

A map showing all of the pyramids in Mexico

Explaining the structure of these pyramids

The Flores examining the feathers of the various birds the indigenous would hunt

A mural demonstrating the religious ball game the Mayans would play

We then walked up to the pyramids. It was bloody hot, but definitely worth it! Though even the largest was fairly small, it was pretty cool to see the circular pyramids and various other ruins. These are considered to be some of the oldest pyramids still standing, and therefore are more basic. I can't wait for the Ruta Maya when we will get to see the more advanced stone pyramids. They will be absolutely amazing.  We were warned that if we thought this was a hot day, we were in for an unpleasant surprise visiting the pyramids in May. 'A heat that burns through clothes' was their description. But in any case, the views and excellent photos will be well worth it!

Gosia and I 

A pretty nice view (you can see the laguna below in the distance)

The required family photo in front of the principal pyramid

Reflecting on how fantastic Mexico is...

An awesome but entirely impractical souvenir I picked up at the  pyramids

A menu of pre-hispanic drinks. We tried a few, they were certainly interesting to taste. Mostly consisting of fermented grains and plants, and very... earthy tasting. 

Following the pyramids, we went to lunch at a restaurant on a laguna nearby. Gosia and I elected to try frog legs (her empanizado, me con mantequilla y ajo). It was good, a bit like a cross between chicken and fish. However, it was a lot of work to get the meat off of the legs. So, in the future I think I'll stick to chicken and/or fish!

To entertain the kids at the restaurant, you could rent a "fishing rod"  and go fishing for little minnows!

Little Vanessa caught one!

Frog legs mustache

Nom nommm

Overall, an excellent weekend. Not many people can say they live an hour away from Pyramids. Gotta love Mexico!

Until next time,

Wendy