Learn How Our Tequila Is Born
Our artisanal tequila is produced in the ‘Tequilas el Mexicano’ distillery, by the hand of master tequila maker, Don León Bañuelos, in the highlands of Jalisco, in Arandas, land that has long produced the best tequilas. Arandas is in the Altos Sur region, in the state of Jalisco, just 130 km from the state’s capital: Guadalajara.
Tequila Mala Vida is Kosher Certified
AGAVE HARVESTING
The raw material is essential to create a superior quality tequila; that is why since Mala Vida tequila was born, we have made an effort to choose the best agaves. Ripe agaves contain a higher concentration of sugar than agaves that are “jimados” before their time. For this reason, we only choose agaves between 6 and 7 years old. Once chosen, the “Jimadores” experts are in charge of identifying and “jimar” with their “coas”, the agaves until the “piña” is ready for cooking.
Jimador: the person who “jima” the agaves.
Jimar: is the art of cutting the agave.
Coa: a kind of machete with a flat circular blade attached to a pole. This tool is only used to cut or jimar agaves.
Piña: the heart of the agave.
COOKING
From the beginning, we have sought to make our processes the cleanest and most hygienic possible. Therefore, we use stainless steel “autoclaves” (steam ovens). The cooking lasts 48 hours at 176º +/- Fahrenheit; slow cooking helps us obtain the juice with large amounts of sugar. Once the cooking ends, we wait 24 hours to cool it down and transfer it to the grinding area.
GRINDING
When the piñas are cooked, we transfer them to the mills, where we squeeze them to extract as much juice as possible. When we finally have the juice ready, we are set to start fermentation.
FERMENTATION
We perform it in stainless steel vats that are in the dark for 8 to 10 days – depending on weather conditions.
DISTILLATION
We make the first and second distillation in stainless steel stills. In this way, we can cut heads and tails with more precision and obtain an ordinary tequila (heart) of superior quality.
AGING
Since our tequila was born, we wanted it to be a different tequila. That is why we put up a mixture of American oak barrels and French oak barrels to create a particular flavor.
BOTTLING AND LABELING
We bottle Mala Vida under the strictest quality standards under the supervision of the Consejo Regulador del Tequila (Tequila Regulatory Council).
We place both the cap and labels one by one, providing the human touch to every bottle.
