Different Types of Tequila: From Commodity to Artisanal

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There are already a million articles on the internet talking about the different types of tequila from the perspective of blanco, reposado, and añejo. I want to spend the next few thousand words talking about the difference between commodity tequilas and artisanal tequilas along the different stages of production. While I will spend some time talking about aging, most of this article will focus on how we categorize types of tequilas based on their manufacturing practices.

This article is intended for hospitality professionals wishing to help guests find a great tequila. When I line up a great tequila next to a bad tequila it is easy to smell and taste the difference between the excessive use of artificial flavorings and the true flavor of cooked agave. 

In 2024, the Consejo Regulador de Tequila (CRT) brought a lot of attention to the additive-free tequila movement, for all the wrong reasons. However, additives are used in just one stage of production. This article is going to look at agricultural processes, cooking methods, sugar extraction, fermentation, distillation, rectification, and aging. 

The best tequila makers are obsessed with quality at every step of the tequila-making process. Good tequila just takes longer to make.

I have lived in the heart of Tequila Country and arranged tours of the Tequila Valley for the last couple of decades. I love helping my friends and family get off the tourist track and find the authentic soul of Jalisco and tequila culture. 

An Overview Of The Different Types Of Tequila

The mezcal from Tequila (As it was called before the 20th century) developed a unique style over the centuries due to geographic conditions and cultural decisions. To this day, tequila evokes a level of enthusiasm on par with great wine. 

First and foremost, the two basic types of tequila are 100% agave and tequila mixto (often called just tequila). I don’t drink much mixto tequila and write almost exclusively about 100% agave tequila. 

There are five officially recognized classes of tequila and one unrecognized class. Blanco, joven, reposado, añejo, and extra añejo are the officially regulated classes while cristalino is popular with marketers. 

In the world of tequila nerds, additive-free is the contemporary buzzword used to describe good tequilas. The Additive-Free Alliance got so much momentum in 2024 that the Tequila Regulatory Council (CRT) essentially slapped them and ran them out of Mexico. There are a lot of great additive-free tequila but additive-free is not synonymous with high quality. 

My goal with this article is to go beyond the additive-free movement and talk about what makes an artisanal tequila stand out from a commodity tequila. Artisanal tequila is made in a traditional or non-mechanized way using high-quality ingredients. Commodity tequilas are mass-produced, budget bottles that are not typically collected and traded like fine wine. 

The use of a diffuser is the clearest indication of commodity tequila but immature agaves, artificial flavoring, and celebrity influencers are heavily correlated. 

Let’s look at what makes great tequila great!

What Makes Great Tequila?

Much like great coffee, great tequila is obsessed with quality control at every stage of the production process. It isn’t just the owners, but the workers are invested in taking the extra time to craft a delicious beverage.

Today there is a non-profit organization called the Consejo Regulador de Tequila (CRT) that certifies compliance with the rules for using the name “Tequila”.

Intellectual property rights are tightly guarded and there is a lot of bureaucracy to navigate in order to use the name “Tequila”. The CRT is also a trade group that is made up of tequila industry professionals from farmers to distillers to marketers, who want to promote and protect a quality product.

Each bottle of tequila is labeled with a number called a NOM (Norma Oficial Mexicana) that will identify the producer of each brand. I highly recommend downloading the cell phone app Tequila Matchmaker for more information on the factories that make your favorite tequila brands and the techniques they use.

The Agave From Tequila

Agave, maguey, Metl, and Tocamba all refer to that marvelous tree that is so important to the native peoples of North America. There are well over a hundred different types of agave plants and nearly 40 of those species are used to make mezcal. However, only one species, the blue agave Tequilana Weber, may be used to make tequila.

The agave was known as the marvelous tree to the people of Mesoamerica because of all the uses they found for the plant. You can make paper out of the leaves, nails, and needles out of the points, ropes, clothes, construction equipment, delicious food, you name it. Today the biggest moneymaker by far is tequila.

Everything starts with the agave. The blue agave plant grows well in the valleys surrounding the Tequila Volcano. Cultivation dates back to the original people. Today, the region is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site partially because of the agave landscapes. 

Prior to the establishment of the Tequila Regulatory Council (CRT), there were other wild agaves that would be harvested to make tequila. 

The Agricultural Nature Of Tequila

Today, the vast majority of industrial monoculture agave fields are genetic clones of a parent plant that sprout off of the root structure. It is rare for ranchers to allow agave plants to flower because after a plant flowers it may no longer be used for tequila. All of the sugars are moved from the piña to a stem and flowers.

Cutting off the quiote prevents a loss of sugar from the piña but it also prevents pollination.

For over a hundred years, industrial tequila production has suppressed most of the genetic diversity in blue agave fields.

But there are is a small subset of tequila producers, mostly traditional producers, that honor ancient practices that believe in agroforestal and sustainable practices.

Researchers from the National Autonomous University of Mexico’s (UNAM) Institute of Ecology and industry leaders such as David Suro (Siembra Spirits) and Salvador Rosales (Cascahuin) sit on the board of the Bat Friendly Alliance to promote a more ecologically conscience type of tequila.

By allowing 10% of agaves in a field to flower, bats and other propagators feed and pollinate new agave plants. Clones are susceptible to disease and too many clones are susceptible to a widespread plague like the European vineyards experienced in the 19th century bout of phylloxera.

7 Leguas released a special edition blanco for their 70th anniversary that is made with wild agaves that propagate through pollination. 7 Leguas could never meet the demand for their tequila with wild agaves but it is cool to taste those wild agaves from time to time in a special edition bottle.

Agaves take a long time to mature. The blue agave takes around seven years to reach the point where it has enough sugar to cook. A few years ago, the price of agaves was very high and commodity tequila producers were using immature agaves in their tequila. In 2025, there is a huge glut in the market and agaves are selling for a small fraction of what they were selling for in 2023.

The jimador is the farmworker responsible for selecting ripe agaves for harvest. Agaves are harvested to maximize the sugar content. The agave is cleaned of leaves leaving a ‘piña’. If you leave too much of the leaf it makes the tequila bitter.

Agave harvesting and cleaning are important to the final product. A jimador selects the agaves with the characteristics the distiller requisitioned. They will use a refractometer to measure the brix (sugar content) of some agave juice to get an idea of the field’s average ripeness.

Just like wine, some of the best agaves grow on challenging terrain. Agaves grown on a hillside may not grow as large as agaves grown on flatland but they grow strong roots with lots of sugar.

The agave leaves (pencas) are removed by a traditional tool called a coa. Some jimadores cut their leaves back closer to the piña saying that the leaves make a bitter distilate. Each tequila distiller will have a standard for how they harvest and clean their agaves.

The agave hearts or piñas are halved or quartered and the cogollo shoot should be removed. Both the cogollo and the pencas can make the tequila bitter.

The Cooked Agave

Once the agave is cooked you can smell and taste the sugars. The cooked agave is absolutely delicious and I think that great tequila tastes like agaves rather than oak barrels.

There are four different hydrolysis methods for “cooking” agaves. Over the centuries, the style of mezcal produced in Tequila employed steam. The steam oven is one of the principal differences between mezcal and tequila. The steam-cooked agaves typically do not taste as smokey as many mezcales do.

Pit ovens are somewhat of a novelty in the production of tequila. To say they are rare is an understatement. Siembra Valles produces a line of tequila called Ancestral that employs pit ovens. It is a long and slow process that differs from most tequila production in the use of steam. The pit oven is allowed by the CRT but rarely used.

Today, the diffuser hydrolysis method accounts for a lot of commodity tequila. It is an efficient machine that can extract nearly all the sugars in an agave plant with chemical precision. The downside is that it produces an insipid distillate that consistently scores low on blind taste tests.

Historically, the brick steam oven was the cooking method of choice for reputable tequila distillers. The blue agave and the brick steam oven are what gave the mezcal from tequila its distinctive style.

Autoclaves are huge pressure cookers that speed up the cooking process. Brick ovens need 2-3 days to cook the agave and another 2-3 days to cool down so that they may be unloaded. An autoclave can cut that time in half but purists believe at the expense of the flavor profile. Slow-cooked agave often results in a better-tasting tequila.

Pit ovens take 12 hours just to heat up and need a full week to cook and cool down enough that the oven can be unloaded. Additionally, special care must be taken to avoid burning the agaves and imparting an overly smokey flavor profile.

Once the agave is cooked you can smell and taste the sugars. The cooked agave is absolutely delicious and I think that great tequila tastes like agaves rather than oak barrels.

Milling the Agave

The process of extracting the agave sugars from the cooked piñas could be modern or traditional. There are a number of small producers that are going back to ancestral methods. Rather than industrial machinery, they are using a tahona like was used a hundred years ago. The tahona is a two-ton stone or concrete wheel that rolls in a circle crushing the cooked agave to extract the sugars. The finished product is expensive but tasty.

The roller mill was adapted from sugar cane production to run the chunks of cooked agave through a series of five rollers to be broken into smaller pieces while being sprayed with water to extract the aguamiel sugars.

The diffusor is also used to efficiently extract nearly all sugars from the agaves in the shortest time possible.

Fermentation

The next step is to ferment the agave juice in large vats. This is a chemical process where yeast converts sugar into alcohol. There are dozens of varieties that will affect the taste of the final product.

One of the most crucial elements of tequila making is the water used in the fermentation process. The highlands of Jalisco are notoriously dry compared to the Tequila Valley Region. The town of Tequila has spring water coming out of the ground near the base of the volcano. Tequila makers in the highlands have sophisticated rainwater capture systems and water treatment facilities that make good use of the seasonal rains.

The yeast used to ferment the agave juice could be wild or could be purchased from a laboratory. Brewers years, Champaign yeast, and ale yeast are just some of the many options available to speed up the fermentation process. At the Herradura Distillery in Amatitan, a huge mango tree sits next to the fermentation tanks providing an ample supply of wild yeast.

What kind of material is the fermentation tank made of? Is the agave juice fermented with or without the pulp? Is the pulp loose or tied in bundles? All of these decisions change the flavor profile of the finished tequila.

Distillation

Lastly, is the distillation process. Fermentation can only get to 15-20% alcohol before the yeast dies and the conversion stops. Distillation raises the alcohol content by separating the alcohol from the water with heat and evaporation.

The still is heated and the alcohol evaporates at a lower temperature (78°C) than the water (100°C). The alcohol vapor is then cooled and becomes a liquid again with less water and higher alcohol content. Most tequila is double-distilled but I have heard there are exceptions to this rule.

Types of Tequila: The Aging Process

Some people like to age tequila in oak barrels like you would age wine or whiskey. The oak adds a new flavor profile that you don’t find in agaves. This started as a marketing tactic to break into the US beverage market. US consumers were accustomed to drinking whiskey aged in oak barrels and Mexican producers wanted to take a little market share by introducing a similar product. It is interesting that in today’s multinational conglomerate atmosphere used whiskey barrels are sent from Jack Daniels to Herradura to age tequila.

Tequila Blanco

Silver tequila or blanco tequila is the best type of tequila. It is the purest expression of agave. Regulations allow tequila blanco to be rested for up to two months in oak barrels and there is no limit on the size of the oak barrel. Many of these tequilas have never seen the inside of an oak barrel and come straight from the still. Still-strength tequilas are sold with 46% ABV or higher.

This is the most popular style of tequila in Guadalajara. Tequila blanco typically has strong notes of agave, citrus, herbs, and grass. It is the purest form of tequila before it is altered by oak barrels.

Tequila Reposado

Reposado tequila is aged in oak barrels from 2 to 12 months. The oak barrels must be made from white oak, American oak, or French oak barrels. Used Borbon barrels, brandy barrels, and wine barrels are all popular choices for aging tequila. There is no limit on the size of the barrel that may be used for aging like there is for añejo and extra añejo tequila.

The oak starts to develop the aromas of vanilla, caramel, and butter complementing the agave flavors. Different tequilas will have very different flavor profiles because of the time and types of barrels the tequilas are left to age in. Lager barrels impart less oak flavor while smaller barrels impart more flavor.

Tequila Añejo

Añejo tequila is aged in oak barrels for a minimum of 12 months. The oak barrels must be less than 600 liters in capacity. A standard wine barrel is usually 225 liters and a bourbon barrel is a little smaller than that. This is where the notes of vanilla, caramel, butterscotch, and oak aromas really start to develop Extra-aged tequila will have a complex flavor and an amber color. Premium añejo tequila bottles are more expensive than blanco tequilas because of the aging process.

Tequila Extra Añejo

Extra añejo tequila is aged in oak barrels for a minimum of 36 months in oak barrels no larger than 600 liters. This is where the caramel and toffee flavors start to intensify and take on notes of whiskey, coffee, and raisins.

Tequila Joven

Joven tequilas are blends. Most of the time they are a blend a blanco tequila with a small amount of aged tequila. It is very common to use additives such as glycerin, sugar syrup, oak extract, and caramel coloring in these tequilas.

While there are examples of additive-free gold tequilas it is not common.

Tequila Cristalino or Diamante

This tequila type is not an officially recognized class of tequila but it is a style that is increasingly popular. So popular in fact it is creating a shortage of traditional añejo tequila.

Each tequila company has its own marketing but essentially they are blends of añejo, extra-añejo, and possibly a reposado that are later filtered with activated charcoal. The filtering leaves the tequila crystal clear, visually resembling a tequila blanco but with some of the flavor profile of an añejo.

Many people describe this tequila as smooth because it is easier to shoot because of its mild finish. Much of the spice and ethanol sharpness has been removed in the filtering process.

Flavored Tequila

Flavored Tequilas are not tequilas but tequila-based beverages labeled “Licor” or “Crema”.

Rectification, Dilution, and Homogenization in the Different Types of Tequila

The liquid that comes out of a still is often precedes by a small amount of impurities and toxic chemicals like methanol. Discarding the first little bit of ordinario can change the flavor of the whole batch.

While there is a small market for high ABV tequilas directly from the still, most governments require a specific level of alcohol by volume and higher taxes for the marginal increase in alcohol percentage. Most tequilas are diluted with water to create an ABV of about 40% or what the local government recommends.

Even within 100% agave tequilas the official rules for making tequila allow up to 1% of additives that do not need to be disclosed. The one exception to this is tequila blanco which is not permitted to have any additives at all. Oro, reposado, añejo, and extra añejo could have some Splenda and fruit syrups (any sweetener really), some glycerin for viscosity, oak extract, or caramel coloring without having to disclose anything to the public.

It is very easy to use these additives to create flavor profiles that have nothing to do with the agave. Influencer tequilas are notorious for playing with additives to create artificial flavors. Tequila 818 tastes like vanilla cake yet it is still labeled 100% agave. There are hundreds of other examples including Casamigos, Cincoro, Teremana, Villa One, E-Cuarenta, Santo Mezquila, DeLeón, and many more. Check out the Tequila Matchmaker app for more information on the tequilas that you buy.

Here is a list of tequilas that are certified additive-free.

In 2024, the Additive Free Alliance started putting started challenging the CRT over the use of undisclosed additives in tequila going to far as to offer laboratory certification of additive-free status.

The CRT went to the police accusing the Additive Free Alliance of making pirated (unregistered) tequila in a home laboratory. The police used a battering ram to bust open the doors and took everything as evidence.

The owners of the Tequila Matchmaker app were out of the country but for their safety have chosen to remain outside of Mexico.

The CRT threatened to take action against every tequila maker who was listed on the additive free alliance website and within just a few days, all of those lists dissappeared.

How to order Tequila

Now that we have gone over the different types of tequila we need to see how it is ordered. While modern cocktail bars are starting to catch on the most common way to order a tequila is called ‘derecho’ or neat.

The proper tequila glass (not a shot glass) resembles a champagne flute with a slightly wider mouth. It is not likely that you will find many tequila bars with true tequila glasses on hand.

Some will substitute a champagne flute, others will use a small snifter. A shot glass is probably acceptable for most commercial tequilas. I would try to avoid anything gimmicky like a skull. Not only is it difficult to appreciate the aromas but it is difficult to drink out of.

Derecho, Divorciado o Banderita

A common way to order tequila derecho, or neat, is with a banderita or little flag. You will be served three separate glasses of tequila, lime juice, and sangrita. Sangrita is a mixture of tomato and orange juice prepared with Worcestershire sauce, Jugo Maggi seasoning sauce, Tabasco, salt, and pepper. It is kind of like a bloody mary without the horseradish. Sangrita is a great way to clear the palate between tequilas. I am not a fan of the ones that come in a bottle but love the ones we make at the bar.

Your tequila almost always will include one or two sodas with it. Ordering a tequila divorciado you will get a shot glass of tequila, a highball glass with ice, and a soda or two. You then mix the drink as you like at the table or bar. I like to order a can of soda water to sip with my tequila.

You don’t see the classic margarita being served in Guadalajara very often. It is much more common to see a Paloma cocktail or a Cantarito cocktail. The Paloma is a mixture of grapefruit or grapefruit soda and tequila. The Cantarito takes it a little further with grapefruit juice, lime juice, orange juice, grapefruit soda, and salt. They are usually served in traditional clay cups.

How to Drink Tequila

A word to the wise, go easy on the tequila when you are visiting Tequila, Jalisco for the first time. If you are taking one of those all-you-can-drink tours they probably aren’t serving the best of the best tequilas and it can turn into a very long day.

Tequila isn’t meant to be shot. It is intended to be sipped. The secret to tasting a high-proof tequila is to first give it a besito. Start with a little kiss just to wet the lips and prime your palette. Lick your lips and let your tongue get used to the alcohol. This way you will be able to appreciate the subtle flavors and secondary smell of each different style of tequila.

Also, don’t forget to drink plenty of water especially if you will be in the sun out in the agave fields. You probably wouldn’t be surprised how many visitors don’t make it through the day. 

Conclusion

What I was trying to convey with this article is that there are many different ways to classify the different types of tequila.

We talked about growing high-quality agaves to maturity, harvesting and cleaning them, and cooking them slowly.

Milling cooked agaves with a tahona stone is slow and costly but a lot of people prefer the flavor compared to the shredders.

We talked about diffusers and artificial flavorings as well as traditional vs modern processes.

I hope this lesson has been helpful. I highly recommend you try some new tequilas from the list of 100% additive-free tequilas. There is another tequila industry in Jalisco that many people have never heard of. I have family in Mexico City that has never heard of the local high-quality tequilas that the bartenders drink.