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By Rumina Daya
Why would someone be crazy enough to spend over 4,000 pesos on a bottle of Porfidio Barrique de Ponciano tequila when they can go to the local supermarket and pick up a bottle of Herredura for 90 pesos?
According to Martin Grassl, creator and owner of Porfidio, Puerto Vallarta's first tequila distillery, many factors constitute why he regards his tequila as the best in the world, and why he believes a bottle of Barrique is worth the 500 dollars.
Tequila añejo (aged) is the best tequila you can buy, because it must be aged a minimum of one year. Porfidio Barrique is aged for three years in oak barrels imported from Kentucky -- the same ones Napa Valley wineries use to age their best Chardonnays. Grassl says the additional two years gives Barrique a luscious smoother taste.
The heat of Vallarta allows for the extraction of more natural sugars from the agave plant (from which tequila is produced). Grassl says he does not use any chemicals to enhance the flavor of his tequilas, as some other distilleries do.
Barrique is also 100 percent pure blue agave. Most tequilas are mixtos, meaning they contain the minimum agave required by law which is 60 percent. The uncommon 100 percent pure blue agave tequilas have a sleeker, velvety taste that is sweet, not bitter.
At Grassl's distillery, the fibers from the agave plant are stone pressed; the machinery resembles the old fashioned ox and horse hook-up. He points out that the stone press enables him to squeeze the maximum juice from the agave.
After the juice is extracted, it is fermented for three days in stainless steel tanks that are completely sealed in order to prevent contamination. Most distilleries use open tanks.
By law, all tequila must go through two distillation processes. Barrique goes through three distillations. Grassl explains that with the third distillation, the impure alcohols from the sides of the agave are discarded and used for less expensive brands, while the extractions from the core are used for his expensive elixirs.
The alcohols that are produced from the sides of the agave are the ones that are responsible for that hole in the stomach feeling you get after a night of hard drinking and partying.
You can drink a bottle of Porfidio Barrique and never experience a hangover, Grassl claimed.
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