Review: ¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico. Marie Sarita Gaytán. Stanford University Press (2014). As Tequila nerds, we love trivia. “How long does it take agave to mature? How long is añejo aged? Who first exported Tequila?” All too often, knowledge of these basic, rote facts is touted as expertise. The deeper questions of Tequila’s…
Review: The Tequila Ambassador. Tomas Estes. Sauce Guides (2012). Tomas Estes has written an instantly classic tequila book that is indispensible to the library of any agave aficionado. Estes, a native of Los Angeles, has spent more than three decades getting to know Mexico and mastering agave spirits. Along the way, he has opened 17 pioneering…
Selected Tequila Bibliography Tequila: A Traditional Art of Mexico. Ruy Sánchez, Alberto and de Orellana, Margarita (eds.) Smithsonian Books (2004). Recommended for novices and aficionados alike. Mixing text with engaging graphics and montages, the book itself is attractive and artistic without compromising on information or facts. The book puts tequila in the context of Mexico’s…
Tequila : a guide to types, flights, cocktails, and bites / by Joanne Weir. (Berkeley, Calif. : Ten Speed Press, c2009.) Celebrity chef Joanne Weir offers up a welcome addition to the sparse, hit-and-miss genre of tequila writing. Weir is a true tequila lover, and her infectious enthusiasm comes through loud and clear in the…