Cast your mind back to your late teens: sticky dancefloor; ill-fitting printed shirt; late-night kebab. Now conjure up the taste in your mouth the following morning. We’d wager it’s tequila, with a back-palate of regret. The agave-based spirit that came in fluorescent plastic shot glasses – invariably served the wrong side room temperature – is not as you remember it.

In the last five years, our appreciation of tequila has evolved, and some think it’s poised to overtake gin as the most stylish drink. Where once bar shelves would be populated by poor relations of quality tequila – that luminous yellow stuff, we’re looking at you – now it’s not uncommon to see a dozen tequilas to pick from, in hues ranging from gold to amber and colourless. In the last 18 months alone, sales of tequila and its sister spirit mezcal have grown 37 per cent, and these aren’t the kind of drinks that come with a side-serve of salt, lemon and shame.

What Is Tequila Made Of?

Tequila’s production can be described as basic, in the best possible sense. The only ingredients are agave, yeast and water. It’s made from a Mexican-indigenous succulent called Weber Blue Agave, a close relation of the American Aloe plant. It has strict laws that govern its production, such as the fact that it can only be made in five states in Mexico, although most of the production takes place in the western state of Jalisco.

The agaves are harvested after growing for six to nine years; only the growers determine when it’s ready in a process of selection that’s passed down through generations of farmers. The heart of the agave plant is the ‘pina’, which can reach up to 60-80kg in weight. The agaves are transported from the field to the distillery to be cooked, then crushed before the juices are extracted and fermented before being distilled.