tequila or mescal

[bluc]

Cool sounds good. I am gunna grab a bottle of agave syrup and give it a whirl.i dont know enough about plants to harvest from scratch. You also cleared something else up. Abv of 3 plates :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Urrazeb]

Running off the heads now :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Have been dipping a finger n tasting the fores n heads and they all taste the same as a shot outa the bottle of Espolon tequila that I'm currently drinking :teasing-tease: am thinking with store bought tequila you get the lot :laughing-rolling:
Running just 3 plates at about 90abv :handgestures-thumbupleft:

:handgestures-thumbupleft: :happy-partydance:
French or american oak Bayshine?

[bayshine]

Well.... I would have to say.... It's a total success :happy-partydance: :dance: :music-deathmetal:
Out of a 100lt wash I've collected about 5lt of hearts @ 55 abv which is a pretty low yield but I'm absolutely stocked with the taste as its is far smoother than than Espolon tequila I have and evan though it was a sugar head it still tastes exactly like the store bought product :handgestures-thumbupleft:
I've put about 1lt on toasted American oak and will see how that turns out and left the rest white for now.
I will definitely be building an ugly drum smoker and hunt down some more agaves :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[bluc]

Awesome work :handgestures-thumbupleft: :D

[rumdidlydum]

Will you be sending out samples :teasing-tease:
Glad to hear it worked for you, now agave's will be hunted down by all 8-} :laughing-rolling:

[EziTasting]

Well.... I would have to say.... It's a total success :happy-partydance: :dance: :music-deathmetal:
.....
I will definitely be building an ugly drum smoker and hunt down some more agaves :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Nice work! Offer still open for up north! :))

[bayshine]

I would love to come up mate but I have to start a new job in July :roll: :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Come on lads... Someone else give this a try...a few more successes an she might even get into the tried and proven :D :dance:

[EziTasting]

Trust me I'm very tempted!

But there's a small matter of a few beer kegs that still need stripping and then restilling; I have 200L of TPW ready and waiting for distilling aaaannnddd I've done my first Mac Rum which has also just finished fermenting... So this'll have to wait a little.

Not trying to make excuses!!

[warramungas]

Come on lads... Someone else give this a try...a few more successes an she might even get into the tried and proven :D :dance:

What were your recipe proportions again? :think:
I thought about it as i have agave access but a few reasons I wont. Bucketloads of work, and I'm naturally lazy,I don't feel confident stilling it after all that work through my pot or 2" bubbler to get the same product as you and honestly, I wouldn't know good paint stripper, sorry, tequila if it jumped up and bit me on the proverbial. :laughing-rolling:
And I'll add it has bitten me before. :D
Kudos if you've gotten it right though for anyone else that likes tequila. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[warramungas]

How many do you want? :))
That's a 2.5L chem bottle in front of them.

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[bayshine]

Go on wara, chop up that big one on the left :laughing-rolling:

[warramungas]

Only had a leatherman with me. Might take a while! :))

[Wobblyboot]

There a lot of agaves growing wild nw of Melb. Once the weather warms up a bit will winch a few out and give this a shot :handgestures-thumbupleft: will have an empty 220l drum by then that needs something to fill it up with and the uds works great :happy-partydance:
Any idea what temps and how long they roast for over there :think:

[bayshine]

I'd give it about 4 days for roasting in an UDS but don't know what temps,just not to high I guess :think:
I started with saf spirit malt yeast but it didn't seam to wanna ferment so I added lowens bakers and upped the temp to about 33 deg c and this got the job done :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Wobblyboot]

I might rip a couple small ones out to practice on next w'end :-B I got plenty ec1118 and am whiskey yeast, will try one of each. Being in Melb, all my fermenters are on heating, will try 30 to start with.

[warramungas]

Hey bayshine,
Is this stuff worth roasting a littlun just for the eating? Is it something you would cook, cool and eat like a watermelon or bit of fruit?
Just wondering about giving one a go just for the eating.

[bayshine]

As a novalty its worth it, it's a bit hard describe what it tastes like when cooked, more like a sweet vege than a fruit :think: and when cooked and mashed I didn't think it tasted at all like tequila but as soon as the yeast started to work at it ,it smelled like tequila
I would guess a small one wouldn't have just to much starches but should sweeten up when cooked.
Just make sure you wear some gloves and long sleeves when you chop him up, as you will notice instantly if you have sap on ya :laughing-rolling:

[Wobblyboot]

found this

Sometimes, mezcal and tequila get confused. Simply put, all tequilas are a mezcal, but only one mezcal is a tequila. By definition, mezcales are spirits made from any agave plant. Tequila, however, can only be made from the blue agave plant, which only grows in the fertile red soil of Western Mexico, in the Tequila region. Another misconception is that tequila can be made from the maguey. Blue agave and maguey are not the same plant and neither of these is a cactus, as many assume.

The blue agave is a spiky plant which, when stripped of its spiny leaves, looks like a giant pineapple. This part of the plant, the heart or core, is called piña. Piñas can weigh quite a bit, sometimes all the way up to 150 or 200 pounds! Before the agave can be harvested it must reach its peak, which may occur any time between 8 and 14 years. For tequila distillers, patience is certainly a virtue and is key for making fine tequila. Jimadores, the agave harvesters, have an important job because if they harvest too early, the agave will not be sweet enough; if they harvest too late, the agave will have matured and sprouted a quiote, a 25-40 foot stem that releases its seeds in the air, and is no longer suitable for tequila production. Once the piña is cleaned of its leaves it is chopped in half and thrown into the oven for roasting.

Special ovens, called hornos, roast the piñas to convert the starch into sugar. This important step cannot be missed because otherwise, besides not breaking down the starch into sugar, you would not get the flavor that makes tequila so desirable. Under high temperatures, the naturally odorless and almost colorless piña begins to brown and excrete sweet juices. Roasting takes between 24 and 36 hours at a temperature ranging between 175 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit. After the piña has been fired up, it is ripe and ready for fermentation.

When the piñas are ready, they are shredded and pressed to extract the sweet, flavorful juice. They are then washed down to create the wash, aguamiel, or honey water. The wash is placed in fermenters and will ferment from anwhere between 2 and 4 days. Unless temperature controlled fermenters are used, ambient temperatures will affect fermentation time. Also, different yeast strains will affect each batch differently; with time and experience, that can become a key secret ingredient! With fermentation done, two more steps remain: distillation and aging.

Distillation also varies among tequila distillers. Most claim to distill their ferment twice and some will proudly claim triple distillation. The first distillation is always a rough, low grade distillate and the second or third run is used to purify and perfect the mezcal. While Mexican tequila distilleries prefer traditional methods (using alembic potstills), one cannot rule out the efficiency and flexibility of a reflux still. Ultimately, distillers want to create a product that captures the aroma of the agave and, at the same time, tastes as pure as possible. No matter which still you use, patience and careful distillation will get you the results you seek. Avoid heating your mash too high – you will get too many impurities through, and avoid heating it too low – you will overcook the mash and lose the aroma. When you are happy with your mezcal, it is time for aging.

According to Mexican law, all tequilas must be aged for a minimum of 14-21 days. This becomes your basic tequila blanco, or white tequila. Oro, or gold, tequila requires 2 months aging. For a tequila reposado, or rested tequila, you must age it anywhere up to 1 year (364 days maximum). And the last classification, perhaps the best tequila out there, is the tequila añejo, the famous aged tequila. Tequila añejo must age for at least one year and has no maximum. Finally, before your spirit achieves official tequila status, you must decide whether to make regular tequila or the real thing that has people paying $130 per bottle.

Two types of tequila exist according to the regulations of the Mexican government: Tequila and Tequila 100% Agave. Tequila must be made with a minimum of 51% blue agave juices. The remaining 49% can be made from different sources of sugar. Regular tequila can be exported and bottled in other countries and still be called tequila. Tequila 100% Agave, however, must be made from 100% blue agave juices and can only be bottled in a Mexican distillery. And once it is bottled, you have your official TEQUILA!

[scythe]

Prety sure that info was already provided in a link posted in this very thread.

[EziTasting]

Good bit of info WB!

If it was posted, I, too missed it... Very specific.