The Herradura Tequila Express

(Even though we have moved on to Guanajuato, we still have a few blogs from our life in Tlaquepaque to post. Enjoy!)

Living in Tlaquepaque, we were less than 50 miles from the birthplace of tequila, the town of Tequila. So of course we had to visit and become acquainted with Mexico’s most famous alcoholic beverage!

What is Tequila, Anyway?

Tequila, a type of mescal made from the blue agave plant, was first made in the 16^th century. Mexican law states that tequila can only be produced in the Mexican state of Jalisco and in limited number in three other states. Tequila must be 40% alcohol (80 proof) in the US, but in Mexico it’s usually 38%.

There are over 100 distilleries producing over 900 brands of tequila, and many conduct tours and tastings at their haciendas.

We decided to splurge and signed up for a day trip on the Herradura Express, a special train leaving from Guadalajara to the Herradura Hacienda in Amatitan, a town adjacent to Tequila. There were three classes of seats on the train. We selected the middle-class ticket which cost $2400 MXN pesos each, or about $125.

 We Ubered to the train station, checked in and selected our seats. Even though we had been told the train had been sold out, we had four comfortable seats and a table to ourselves. There was a bar in our car, which was kept busy the whole day.

Carlos, our bartender

Tequila on the Train

We were immediately served water, juice and a box breakfast. But once the train left the station, at 10 in the morning, they switched to serving tequila-based drinks. I can’t even remember what they all were or how many we had, but the drinks were definitely flowing, including Margaritas, Tequila Sunrises, Horchatas (a Mexican rice-based vanilla drink), White Russians, a coffee-based drink called The Bull, and many more.

After about 90 minutes or so of traveling amid a breathtaking landscape, including fields upon fields of blue agave, we arrived in the tiny pueblo of Amatitan and transferred onto buses for the short ride to the Hacienda Herradura. We got into the English-language tour and were off.

The Tequila Volcano

Agave plants

The Tour

First stop was walking by some blue agave plants, which we learned take 8 years to mature to the point they could be used for tequila. Next, we watched a Jimador use a coa (a wooden-handled cutting blade) to strip the leaves from the plant to get to the heart, also called a pina because it resembles a pineapple, which is used in the distillation process. 

The Jimador with his coa chopping off
the leaves of the blue agave plant

We saw the row of ovens where the pinas are baked. Next, they are squeezed repeatedly to get the agave juice, which is distilled and then fermented in giant barrels. The pulp is removed and used for other things such as candy and even furniture. 

The ovens

A pile of pinas

Tasting

Next we walked through an ancient section of the facility that is no longer used, and led to a tasting cellar. Tasting glasses were neatly laid out on tables.

A bilingual talk was given on the “correct” way to drink tequila: Swish the glass in a circle to check out the “legs” of the liquid. Breath in the scent. Breath in through your nose, hold it, sip tequila onto your tongue. Swallow. Breath out through your nose. Finally, emit an “Ahhh” and empty your lungs. We started our tasting. To the best of my recollection, we tried 5. We could taste the differences, particularly the smoothness, between the various categories of tequila:

• “Blanco” or “plata” is a white spirit, unaged and bottled or stored immediately after distillation, or aged less than two months in stainless steel or neutral oak barrels. It is used in cocktails.
• “Reposado” is aged two months to a year in oak barrels of any size
• “Añejo” aged one to  three years in small oak barrels
• “Extra Añejo” is aged a minimum of three years in oak barrels.

 Our favorite was reposado.

The Barrel Room

After the tasting, we were led into a huge room in which they kept empty barrels in which tequila had previously been aged. Herradura has a program where a restaurant or bar can come to the distillery and purchase an entire barrel for $10,000 USD. This yields 240 bottles at a per bottle price of $40. The distillery will then customize bottles of the tequila from  the barrel for the purchaser, and the purchaser gets to customize the top of the barrel.

Lunch … and more Tequila

By this time we were ravenous and finally made it to lunch, where we sat at a long table and they served us even more tequila. I sat next to a guy from St. Louis who had been doing work in Las Vegas and on a whim decided to fly down to Guadalajara for a few days. He knew a bit about tequila and told me to ask for a specific high-quality tequila. I did. It was the good stuff and very smooth. He was asking for them two glasses at a time. They served a delicious lunch of chicken, potatoes and vegetables, and we were entertained by a Mariachi band and some folkloric dancers.

Mariachi

Folkloric dancers

 Of course, we needed a souvenir, so we went to the tequila stand they had conveniently set up and purchased 950ml of one of the Reposados for about $25 USD. We had been told that they would engrave our bottle for us, but unfortunately, the engraver called in sick that day. That was probably a good thing; otherwise, it would have been difficult to part with the engraved bottle and we definitely don’t have room for it in the truck. (Later note: It does fit in the truck and we are saving it.)

The Trip Home

It was time to go, and we loaded onto the buses for the trip back to the train. Once on the train, the cocktails continued to flow until we arrived back in Guadalajara at around 8 PM. To our complete surprise, neither one of us were feeling any effects of the non-stop day of drinking, although there was one group on our train that was definitely loud and raucous on the ride back.

Cocktails on the trip home

All in all, we had a great day. It was pricey but the experience was worth it!