Support your local immigrant population

From BBC news online :

‘Chinese’ tequila worries Mexico

Tequila bottlesMexican tequila sells well in the US

Mexican politicians are demanding action to protect the tequila industry from Chinese competition. The lower house of Congress voted to urge the government to stop Chinese firms patenting maguey – a type of agave cactus used in tequila.

MPs are also worried that Chinese and Japanese firms could target the market in another cactus species, nopal.

Nopal leaves are increasingly popular in the US, where there is already strong demand for tequila.

Don’t settle for anything but OG Tequila from Mexico. Chinese might make good… uh… whatever they make, but leave the Tequila to the Mexicans. It’s seriously all they have.

—bikepunk

About bikepunk

“Cuts, scrapes, bruises… all in a day’s riding. Then it’s off for some good german beer in a local biergarten.” Munich, Germany

14 Replies to “Support your local immigrant population”

  1. Do they have to put a “Product of China” tag on the bottle. Or did that slip under some trade agreement. It should be a right like Scotch Wiskey has.

  2. If every words not in spanish on the bottle I wouldn’t even considered it….I’d much rather not know what I was drinking in spanish that in the scribbles known as chinese!

  3. d00dz–

    There is nothing in this world so touching and emotional as a heartfelt and slightly slurred rendition of “Agave Maria.” Snif, I’m gettin choked up here.

    Mikey

    PS– bought another bike yesterday. Ha!

  4. Yeah, okay, but they still sell California Sparkling Wine and call it “champagne”.

    I know Frogs ain’t too popular here, but Champagne is a region in France that’s been ripped off by US growers, just like the Cheenay’s want to do to Mexico here.

  5. The Russians have been claiming to make “tequila” also. I had a friend who saw some in Poland, and said whatever was in the bottle, wasn’t tequila.

    At least with Tequila in North America. It has to be at least 51% Blue Agave (Agave tequilana azul) sugars. At that percentage, it can be produced in many places. For cheap tequilas (=gold tequilas. Gold does not equal good in the tequila world), companies will often ship it in to the US in bulk and finish the mix with other alcohols here. If it is 100% Blue Agave Tequila (which can be blanco/plato/silver, reposado, or anejo) it has to be produced and bottled in Mexico, AND come from some very specific regions of Mexico. Mostly the Jalisco highlands, but there are a few other protected appellations. (see here for a clarification: http://www.tequileros.org/website-english/frameset.html) If the sugars come from other cactus or other regions, then it has to be called mescal (btw, the worm is a marketing ploy, and it actually means the plantation has a moth infestation)

    If college students want to drink cheap-assed chinese tequila, fine. Maybe it’ll bring the price of decent tequila down. A bottle of Corralejo or Tres Generaciones reposado is outrageous now.

    FYI, if you are looking for an alternative, there is a really nice Sotol Mescal under the Hacienda label. They’ve got a silver, reposado and anjeo that are all great, and half the price of premium tequilas. It’s a little dirtier in flavor than Tequila, but excellent for sipping. Different cactus which grows in the area around Chihuahua, same process. It may not be available much outside of the southwest, but when I can find it, I actually prefer it.

    Fuck, I know way too much about tequila… hic. My next paper will be on whiskeys…

  6. I drank tequila once. Woke 2 days later with the mother of all hang-overs, a basketball sized bruise on my chest and a fat chick in my bed.

    I reason that she punched me in the chest to stun me and then hauled me off for a night of fatty love. You should have seen the size of her hands. Damn. She could have fought Mike Tyson in his prime, gloveless, and won easy.

    Never again.