Taste. Breathe. Live: Vida Tequila

It’s amazing what a trip to Cabo can do for your understanding of tequila. Actually, I’ve never considered myself a tequila connoisseur in any which way shape nor form, however, (confession:) I’ve never met a margarita with which I didn’t passionately make out.  True lovers of the agave plant-cum distilled beverage/alcoholic drink are filled with knowledge of the who/what/when/where/how’s (we already KNOW why) of tequila.  That community, like wine snobs, turns their noses up at anything less than top shelf.  After all, this is a liquid that provides an “upper” feeling and P.S. yes, you can sip it, take it as a shot or make dozens upon dozens of creative cocktails with it – besides the pervasive margarita (and its various cousins).

Recently, I was introduced to Vida Tequila, a family company.  Personally, I embrace the name “vida”, Spanish for “lifestyle, way of life”. It seems fitting, the family whose passion is tequila and whose offering to us is Vida.  Upon the question of which type I’d like to try, I decided on Reposado.  Good middle of the road choice, IMHO.  I came to the conclusion of Reposado because I was aware that Blanco was typically the margarita drinkers’ choice, and I’ve never been too hip on darker liquors which are often drunk on the rocks or neat (Anejo), so why not Reposado?

So here is the deal with Vida Reposado. It was/is smooth and delicious.  The company prides itself on its premium status.  Its tequila is made with 100% blue agave and hales from the Tequilera region of the Los Altos de Jalisco in the sacred red lands of Arandas Jalisco, Mexico.  Remember, for centuries the Aztec culture would drink the fermented nectar of the agave plant for a variety of uses, curative and religious (unlike we do today – PARTY!). Vida states that while there are many types of agave plants, they use the purest agave -the “tequilana weber, blue variety.”  I learned in Mexico when talking to our tour guide, that it takes up to TWELVE years (or more) for agave plants to achieve full maturity.  Thus, their premium tequila could have gone through SIXTEEN years of production.  To make tequila, the plant must die and is never used again.  Gone, baby, gone. Inevitably, a new one must be planted to take its place.  It’s quite a process that the manufacturers go through in order to produce the best possible tequila for us to enjoy.

Vida explains that they separate and discard the “heads” of the plant, there by ridding any unpleasant metallic taste found in other tequilas.  Then, during the second stage of distillation, the most flavorful and purest part of the agave emerges, presenting a rich flavor. This comes from the heart of the pina.  Finally, Vida removes any ethanol (which gives us a HANGOVER and a HEADACHE) or other icky characteristics, leaving the end result a fine beverage with an ultra premium taste.

Vida’s Resposado claims “light citrus undertones and hints of white paper from the American White Oak barrels it’s aged in”.  I concur and also I could pick up on the smokey, oakey flavors, which were not overbearing, but just teased within the tastes.

They suggested a few recipes one with apple, one with Kahlua, one much like a mojito (called the el Movito) and one with Grand Marnier (love good tequila and GM).

My education about tequila, Vida in particular, is not yet complete and I look forward to taking many more “courses” with one of my very favorite Punch Picks.

Learn more about Vida Tequila.