Thank you so much for this list! The name, Johnson explains, was inspired by his Polynesian background. From budget-friendly to top-shelf options, here are the best tequilas to add to your bar cart right now. Patrn, one of most well-known tequila brands in the world, actually offers a diverse portfolio of authentic tequilas that you wont find in nightclubs or seedy bars. Try it again and think diet Pepsi and tell me you cant taste the artificial sweeteners. REGION: Jalisco (Los Altos Southern) COOKING: Stone/Brick Ovens. 2. W/ additives. Founder Don Francisco changed the tequila process forever as he was the first person to cook agave in little ovens. Although it can be hard to taste for sure as these people are pros, and can add them in strategically in a very subtle way, I will say that in my opinion you would be VERY surprised to know the huge percentage of brands that must be using some additive in their tequila. Nobu AND QUI Tequila Launch Nobu Rare 2008 Reserve Though it may be controversial, 818 Tequila is undoubtedly one of the most popular agave spirits on the market right now. It would be a handy reference when shopping. The ones that have indicated to me that they 'only' use some caramel coloring (even with no flavoring) to avoid differences in color, will not be mentioned below, as that doesn't cut it here. Pros. Our editors have reviewed dozens of tequila brands over the last year, to come up with some of our favorite bottles, based on taste profile, uniqueness and value. A small sip reveals aromas of roasted agave with woody notes, before the tequila opens up with hints of caramel, coconut and oak. ** There are some confusing rules in the NORMA that appear to allow the use of additives in a blanco. Thanks for a complete list and for clarifying about Blancos and the NOM loophole, as well as everything else you do. Its one of only a handful of 100% de Agave Gold tequilas. The brand offers a blanco, reposado, aejo, aejo cristalino and extra aejo in its lineupand they recently released a limited edition reposado to celebrate their 100th birthday. This is a fantastic resource and will be a great help in my future purchases and recommendations. Made from blue agave plants in Mexico, Clase Azul Reposado Tequila features notes of spice, cream soda, apple cider, jasmine, cinnamon and honey. The brand founders wanted to recreate the sense of wanderlust experienced by the surfers in the movie. Handcrafted using the richest Agave from the Highlands of Jalisco, JAJA Aejo's tasting notes consist of roasted coffee, dried fruit, and vanilla. no headache-inducing fillers). Grover & Scarlet January 9, 2021 Blog. Other brands, some very popular did not answer me back on giving me their 'guarantee' and 'assurances' that no additives what so ever are used in their products. Its best sipped slow for a warm, inviting mouthfeel. Tired of Standing? To compensate for a light hue, it seems a large number of suppliers are placing caramel color into their aged reposado tequila or anejo tequila, although I know a good amount of quality brands, that although impossible to prove, appear not to use any additives, including colorings. Fortaleza Blanco, Reposado and Aejo are all fantastic sipping tequilas from the Los Valles region, says Lavenue. Because it is such an IMPORTANT part of Tequila today, here is just the 'Additive Section' and my Personal list of 'Additive-free brands' from my recent, longer and more detailed article titled- "AGING OF TEQUILA - BARREL TECHNIQUES, ADDITIVES, ADDITIVE-FREE BRANDS, AND A FEW OTHER THINGS TO KNOW.". Shots are not the proper way to taste tequila. Casa Del Sol. These young tequilas are less expensive and typically used in bars and restaurants for making mixed drinks. Siempre's blanco (plata) tequila was launched in 2015, and the reposado and aejo expressions arrived last year. 1. An incredible effort here! Aejo tequila can often be recognized by its rich, caramel color, and it must be aged for at least one year (though most are aged three years) to bear the Aejo name. This is tequila thats only aged for a few weeks, so it doesnt have time to develop the color and characteristics that come from a longer aging process. Jose Cuervo, $26+, Related:35+ Best Canned Cocktails and Drinks, Looking for the best sipping tequila? The distillery actually sits on the edge of an extinct volcano, whose porous foundation acts as a natural filter for the spring water used to make their tequila. Like all of Casa Nobles offerings, this one is certified organic, and has a limited number of bottles in select cities around the country. Thats what you get from Casa Nobles new aejo, a skillful and impressive blend of 12 extra aejos and nine aejos, aged in new French oak for one to five full years (most aejos are aged for a year max) with notes of ripe fruit, vanilla, white chocolate, roasted nuts, and spice. This amazing additive-free liquid is produced using only the No Additives. The 25 Best Tequila Brands for Sipping, Shots and Margaritas in 2022 - MSN Best value tequila: Corralejo Reposado. One percent today, with condensed additives are enough to change things. These are often referred to as a Mixto, where colors and flavors are added prior to bottling. Let's learn about Brands & Agave Spirits on FB, Instagram, and YouTube. This tequila pulls soft notes from the barrels like caramel and vanilla, as well as sweet, tropical fruity flavors like pineapple, and works well with the herbaceous flavors of the tequila, adds Sylvi Roy, bar manager at Twelve in Portland, Maine. This INCLUDES the legal 1% allowance, and I made that an important point to each brand. Although partly owned by Bacardi since 2017, Ilegal remains one of the most sustainable and socially engaged mezcal brands around, having been founded in 2006 by John Rexer to supply his bar in Antigua, Guatemala. "We choose to . The aging process will also change the color of a tequila. dried fruit, and vanilla. I texted, emailed, filled out forms in some cases, and attempted to call to get a statement. Produced in the heart of Tequila, Mexico, Fortaleza Blanco Tequila packs a quality punch with notes of citrus, olives, and black pepper. Drink brands from Europe where GMOs are (nearly) banned. Im verifying that any blanco I get, say a Calle 23 Criollo, can be assumed to be Additive-free, despite not being marked as such on the Matchmaker site? Made from 100% blue agave, Tequila Cazadores undergoes a seven-step sustainable, zero-waste production process that includes double distillation, double fermentation and careful maturation. (ICYMI, Hornitos means "little ovens" in Spanish!) If your bottle doesnt have a NOM, that means its not certified by the TRC (Tequila Regulatory Council), and not an authentic Tequila producer. You can enjoy them neat, over ice or mixed into a cocktail. 15 Interesting Things to Mix With Tequila, Miguel Escobar Martinez, master distiller for, Eduardo "Lalo" Gonzlez, co-founder and master distiller of, Justin Lavenue, owner/operator and co-founder of. I hope more brands/distilleries jump on this protocol. In fact, many brands add artificial sugars or sweeteners to their tequila, which may taste good at first, but will leave you with a nasty hangover the next day. And just like wine, tequila can be aged in a number of different containers, from oak barrels to steel drums. When I drink tequila, I want to be drinking tequila and nothing else. This list is small now, but I hope to add more brands if it is warranted. Handcrafted using the time-honored tahona process, the Roca Patrn Tequila collection offers a sophisticated and complex flavor profile thats an elegant and elevated take on tequila. . All we can do is taste ourselves, to the best of our ability, and to believe these brands. Casa Noble Blanco is a tequila brand that uses local agave, particularly estate-grown agave. El Jimador, $21+, This award-winning, additive-free, sustainable tequila brand is the only one to earn B Corp certification. A typical tequila is composed of 60% Agave oil, with no flavor. Are they true, who can you believe? The brand offers blanco, reposado and aejo varieties as well as pre-made margaritas, mixes and canned cocktails. To celebrate the release, Dobel collaborated with the Mexico City-based design firm Onora on a custom hand-painted bottle stopper inspired by the traditional Mexican folk art craft known as Amate. Only 200 bottles were produced of the Maestro Dobel 50 Onora, which retails for $250. Ive been out of the tequila world for many years, but loved the NOM look up to be able to see other tequilas that may have a similar profile. The tequila has a really smooth, sweet taste with notes of citrus, honey, vanilla, cinnamon and more to give it a unique tasting experience that I really enjoy. Tequila Cazadores,$23+, Tequila Ocho is my personal favorite brand, says Lavenue. Avoid flavored and colorful alcohol, which can contain additives, high fructose corn syrup (made from GMO corn), food coloring and more. The brand offers two options: reposado cristalino and aejo. Martinez adds that a reposado tequila can also work well in a margarita. The margarita has always held a place in our hearts as an excellent sunny-day drinkmainly because it's refreshing and super simple to make. The majority of tequila does have additives. Each tequila decanter is handcrafted by indigenous artisans in a small village in Mexico who create beautiful patterns on the ceramic surface of each bottle. When you taste too much vanilla, and we call that a 'vanilla bomb', that often means extra vanilla extract powder was added. So, what exactly should you consider when shopping for tequila? He uses different distillation equipment and different agaves grown at different altitudes, as an alternative, and as long as you have the additional equipment, use your head, and not take the easy way out, this is a perfect solution instead of using additives. The Hands-Down Best Tequila to Drink Now - Yahoo! News I'd rather have the 'natural color' after aging, and blend it that way with the other batches, without ANY colorings. The app can support any agave spirit, including mezcal. Look for bottles labeled 100%, which denotes that it was made with 100% natural sugars from the agave plant. I only start drinking Patron because of they were additive free. The Reposado features notes of sweet vanilla, oak, mushrooms, ginger, caramel and citrus, which gives it that perfect balance of earthiness, sweetness and spiciness with an easy finish and no lingering aftertaste. The bottles, meantime, are like a work of art, inspired by traditional Mexican colors and motifs. Heres a rundown of each one: This is tequila in its purest form without aging and is clear in color, says Miguel Escobar Martinez, master distiller for Tequila Cazadores. "And nobody is hitting the . What Are the Best Cocktails to Make With Tequila (Other Than Margaritas)? So who knows what a distillery may do to 'enhance' a contract brands juice, for their own convenience. The result is a collection of blanco, reposado and aejo spirits that are made from 100% blue agave and perfectly capture summer in a bottle. From blanco to reposado to aejo, all of Mijentas tequilas are produced with the utmost care for exceptional flavor. There are a handful of smooth, premium-tasting tequilas you can get for under $100 too. The usual list is G4, Terralta, Pasote, Fortaleza, Cascahuin, El Tesoro, Tapatio, Siete Leguas, Olmeca Altos, and a few others. They blame us the consumer, as they say WE need to see the same color consistency each time we purchase a brand, and we would be 'alarmed' if it looked different. Related The secret to Cenotes smoothness? Whether youre at an A-list after party or just chilling at home, nothing beats a Casamigos and soda for a refreshing, celeb-approved drink. The List: Best Tequila, According To Experts. Tequila - No Additives - Page 3 - Old Town Tequila No additives If you want to discover an authentic Mexican tequila with a bold yet traditional flavor, then order a bottle of El Tesoro. I think this is the most important thing with tequilaat least the tequila that I want to drink. Sauza crafts all of their tequilas using a process known as gentle extraction, which involves using the nectar of pure Weber blue agave and cooking the juices after theyve been extracted from the pia. In February of 2021, Kendall Jenner announced her latest venture: 818 Tequila, a small-batch brand Jenner claims is the end result of a 3.5-year "journey to create the best-tasting tequila." This incredible distillate features notes of olives, herbs, earth and grass. ABV: 46.3%. Casa Noble, $45+, Theres a reason why this is the best-selling tequila in the world. Just mix 1.5 ounces of tequila, 1 ounce of Cointreau or Triple Sec, and a squeeze of fresh lime. Dano (yep, there's actually a Dano behind Dano's Dangerous Tequila) works with one of . However, it smells smoky like mezcal or charred wood, and there's a hint of that tequila agave scent. The Lowdown on Tequila Additives | TasteTequila This means youll pick up some herbs and light smokiness with a mellow bite, making the Santo Mezquila great for adventurous cocktails or unique tasting on its own. Thank you for your time and commitment. There is a variety of flavors to tequila, depending on the amount of sugar in it as well as how long it has been aged. Buy Maestro Dobel 50 Cristalino Extra Anejo $159.99. Tasha . If you try this tequila neat, youll notice notes of maple, vanilla and caramel, balanced with pepper and floral tones. Owned by spirits-giant Diageo, Don Julio is enjoyed by tequila lovers all over the world and is known for being a staple brand. Grover, would you consider adding a score column to the list in the future? . Zarpado Tequila Blanco. Thank you for all the info. I am very happy I found this website and this list. Guillermo Erickson Sauza (Fortaleza), or Felipe or Carlos Camarena are easier to believe, when they say they are additive free. The 14 Best Tequilas to Drink in 2023 - Liquor.com On Facebook, many know me by the name Lou Agave. Mijenta Tequila | Marketplace As far as alcohol goes, it's not a bad option. My favorite expression in our portfolio is, of course, our new limited edition bottle that we just released to honor the 100-year anniversary of our original reposado recipe from 1922, says Martinez. A carefully handcrafted tequila produced in small batches, the Chamucos Blanco features notes of vanilla, citrus, cinnamon and fennel. Espoln Tequila, $32+, Funnyman Kevin Hart teamed up with Juan Domingo Beckmann, an 11th-generation tequila maker, to create Gran Coramino. This tequila is complex and full-bodied, and is recommended for sipping, though it works great for tequila-oriented takes on classic drinks like a Moscow Mule or Negroni as well. I wish all things ingested would list ingredients. Cincoro Tequila produces five tequilas: blanco, reposado, aejo, extra aejo and the newest addition to their collectionCincoro Goldwhich blends the best of all four of their other varieties into one ultra-premium tequila. 2. Trying to get my wife to become a tequila drinker but she leans towards sweeter spirits. Eduardo Orendain of 'Arette' said "we are 100% additive free, and we don't use caramel and yes we do have color consistency problems because of this, where some batches are lighter or darker than others." Pasote and El Tesoro de Don Felipe are both listed as an additive-free distilleries, but their respective XAs are not marked as Additive-free. 1800 Cristalino 1800 Cristalino. Buy El Bandido Yankee Blanco Tequila $39.99. Thanks so much for this list and all your efforts to be able to share your research with us all. Charring could add smoke, or add some wood quality, but when you can taste a heavy presence of aging, like strong caramel or vanilla, and the color is dark and rich after only a short aging process.. you need to wonder about additives. Now the additive list is also fantastic tool to recognize the brands that have a commitment to offering a true quality product. 2009-2022, S2F Online, Inc. - Taste Tequila and Tequila Matchmaker are property of S2F Online, Inc. Find which tequilas are right for you. Are tequilas marked organic additive free? Blanco tequila is the ideal choice for margaritas, says Eduardo "Lalo" Gonzlez, co-founder and master distiller of LALO Tequila and grandson of Don Julio Gonzlez of the iconic Don Julio tequila brand. Please send us production information and photos of the bottle on a white background. Making tequila requires thoughtful consideration of both legal and technical factors defining the spiritand many choices in the production process can have a tremendous impact on the final distillate. When it comes to flavor, Rodriguez says tequila can range from smooth and mellow, to a warmer and bolder profile. Oct 28, 2022. Updates include when brands are added, removed, expired or renewed. The taste is equally flavorful, with added notes of pumpkin spice and clove on the palette before it gives way to a subtle herbaceous and vanilla finish. It's up to you all to decide what to believe, and although brands can tell me things, it doesn't mean I believe them or that it makes my personal list of additive free brands. I searched the web and found this list and was shocked that 100% only equals 99% when it comes to tequila. If you are looking for something with a little more flavor, tequila may be the better choice. March 3, 2023 The caramel, vanilla and wood notes are strong, but thankfully the agave isn't lost in the aging. Thanks, The . This is fantastic information and your website is an unbelievable resource, which I greatly appreciate. " This is confusing because earlier in the guidelines, it says that tequilas can have 75 g/L of sugars, which, if you do the math, is WAY more than 1%. Region: Jalisco | ABV: 40% | Tasting Notes: White pepper, citrus zest, vanilla, herbs. Are we assuming that tequilas on the additive free list are automatically not diffuser made as well? Others who are more true to agave spirits, may not like that profile and would prefer a more agave forward presence. I am totally independent & honest. Casa Dragones, $70+, Most tequilas are aged in American oak, but Casa Noble is different. . When El Bandido Yankee Tequila founders made the decision to delve into the rich and storied world of handcrafted tequila, they knew one thing for certain: Their tequila would be authentically crafted the right way with zero additives. 18 Best Sipping Tequilas You Can Buy Right Now - Delish 10 Best Tequilas to Drink in 2023 - insider.com The more tequilas you taste and really scrutinize, the easier it gets to pick out additive flavorings. There are three main types of tequila to choose from. Don Julio. Cierto Tequila, a luxury portfolio of award-winning, 100% additive-free authentic tequilas, begins its U.S. rollout this month. 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Cincoro Tequila, $90+, Lavenue says Espoln Blanco is one of the best-value tequilas on the market. Jose Cuervo . 1. Read Full Article. View On Drizly View On Caskers. As you can't always believe Company Reps or Ambassadors who may not know for sure, I have personally contacted many Brand Owners, Executives or Master Distillers. Spirit of the Earth, he says. The Aejo variety is aged in American oak bourbon barrels for up to three years, which results in a nice blend of warm agave and oak flavors. I'm told that some distilleries will use additives because it's cheaper and faster to get things done, and who's to say if this is with or without the owners knowledge? Remember, as has been said before. No brands will EVER admit to using additives, so understand that YOUR taste buds are the real test, and believing these assurances.are up to you. Whether you decide to sip Dulce Vidas blanco, reposado or aejo neat or include them in your favorite cocktails, youll be sure to enjoy their pure taste. They could contain additives and still be considered organic.. Each tequila has its own "flavor fingerprint," and each person has his or her own flavor preferences. Love my Cimarron. We are founders of the Tequila Matchmaker app and website. In fact, the grandson of founder Don Felipe Camarena oversees production today. . What you get is pure flavor thats perfect for sipping or adding to cocktails. Blending of different barrels at the end before bottling, plays a major role in tequila making, and remember that although they use the barrels multiple times, they may also be blending with a fresh 'new' aged barrel of tequila as well, as this really is an art. Produced using the tequila-making traditions of the Los Bajos region and its tequilieras, the tequila is meticulously aged inFrench White Oakred wine (Cabernet) barrels from Napa Valley. Siempre. View more. Case-in-point is Santos debut tequila which isnt technically a tequila. In the world of spirits, tequila is currently having a moment. The Rocks premium tequila brand has been flying off store shelves ever since its launch in 2020. We later learned that additives were indeed being used in blanco tequilas and that a loophole in the NORMA made this possible. Certain producers like Felipe Camarena wouldn't dream of doing any of this, and Camarena told me "it's about credibility, not about promises from the producer". The brand has been around since 1950. Keep up the great work, I know I greatly enjoy the content. Thanks. We choose to only make blanco to honor the agave, the people behind our product and Mexico, says Gonzlez. You can use the form (below) to subscribe to email alerts any time this list changes. So excited to confidently try some expressions that are verified free of additives. 100% Agave: Tequila comes from the agave plant, but not all tequilas are made with 100% agave sugar. It will typically taste sweeter and more refreshing, with a smooth, silky finish. Buy Santo Mezquila $49.99. I mean its a decent app, I would just rather keep it all in TM. We are legit worried that the sweeter, more vanilla, candy-like additive products will change the publics idea of what a natural tequila is. Jose Cuervo has been in the tequila game for more than 250 years and was actually the first tequila brand to bottle the spirit individually. We go into detail about that here: https://tastetequila.com/2017/the-lowdown-on-tequila-additives/. ok, but your 2018 post titled The Lowdown on Tequila Additives stated that was banned by the norma . The blanco, reposado and aejo spirits were created by Palm Bay International, in partnership with Casa Don Roberto, using fully matured agaves that have been harvested by hand. We can smell what The Rocks drinking, and its good! Is there something that taste like theirs which is better for you? I understand that this is an opt-in program, so may other brands may be additive free, but they have opted not to be added (IDK what they would not.