How do they get the juice out of the agave?
Well, once the heart or piña of the agave plant is cooked, the sugary juice is pressed out. Now, the most traditional method is with a tahona, which is a volcanic stone wheel.
Here at the Siete Leguas distillery, they still use a mule team to turn their tahonas. They're the only distillery to still use mules.
Don't worry. They take very, very good care of these mules. A slightly more modern tahona is found here at the Volcan de Mitiada distillery, where the mules are replaced with an engine that turns the wheel. And then the most modern tahona is at El Pandillo, where this unique approach, nicknamed Felipe-stein, almost looks like something you would see on a road crew.
Now, all of these tahonas definitely get the job done and many people prefer the more gravely nature of tequilas, more mineral flavors that come through when using a tahona. What about you?
