How TEQUILA is Made From Agave Plant | DON JULIO Tequila Production

tequila is a unique beverage made from the sugars extracted from the agave plant the blue agave plant has huge spikes that come up from a central core that is called The Pina and this massive Pina can weigh up to 100 kilos every day 20 tons of Pinas arrive from the fields enough to make 5 600 bottles of tequila for its production they need the largest and most important storage facility known as the mother of all bodegas where nine thousand barrels of American Oak give it a fantastic flavor so let's watch the amazing process of how tequila is made from the Agave plants the finest Blue Agave is cultivated in Jalisco in the highlands of this beautiful region in Mexico in order to legally be called tequila manufacturers must use at least 51 locally grown blue agave from fields near the city of tequila these are the fields of the Blue Agave which is the essential ingredient in any tequila it thrives best at altitudes over 1500 meters and in well-drained volcanic soil for centuries workers called jimadores have planted and harvested Agave for tequila production jimadoras are skilled workers in Mexico who specialize in the cultivation and harvesting of agave plants particularly for the production of tequila in Mexico over 300 million of these enormous plants are collected rain is the only source of water and by the time they are seven years old they are ready for Harvest the fruit underground is called penis they are huge and heavy and planting and extracting them from the ground is strenuous work when the Agave has the right maturity and sugar content the Agave Harvesters or jimadors begin their work the Agave is harvested when it has enough sugar just before it puts all its energy into flowering jimadors use a sharp tool similar to a shovel called a kodajima specially designed to gather the pinias the coal slices through the prickly leaves and then targets the base a heavy Hammer strikes the co which pierces the hard Roots like stones but the tequila doesn't come from the leaves these leaves merely serve as protectors the real treasure lies within the blade is frequently cleaned to keep it sharp allowing the workers to remove most of the pina's leaves which contribute a bitter flavor a skilled Jimador Cuts 150 Pinas a day jimadora is working in this field Harvest between 300 000 and 400 000 Pinas per year and some of these large Pinas will yield up to 12 bottles of tequila and many margaritas the distilled tequila from this Harvest will be of the highest quality made one hundred percent from Agave juice cut a small piece and measure the starch content of the Harvest only if the value is deemed sufficient the Agave Pina is sent to The Distillery this is the heart of the plant and these monsters can weigh over 100 kilos mules carry these heavy loads these pack animals are not only incredibly strong but also trained they know the way to the trucks that transport the valuable piñas to The Distillery the Pinas are loaded onto trucks authentic tequila can only be made in five Mexican states at the Don Julio distillery in the town of atotonilco they're awaiting a delivery every day 20 tons of piñas arrive from the fields enough to make 5 600 bottles of tequila they're marked with data from the field where they were cultivated so a bottle of tequila can be traced back to its origin but they're too large to process as they are several men with axes are needed to cut the Agave into the necessary pieces for consistent flavor in the tequila the workers use small special axes to cut the huge pinias and make them more manageable for cooking but more than just cutting them into pieces they have to remove the top part from where new shoots emerge as this could give the tequila a bitter taste the freshly harvested Pinas begin the process that will turn them into the perfect tequila for our margarita when the chopped Pinas enter the processing plant they are full of starch the next challenge is to convert that starch into sugar once the workers chop the Pinas into smaller pieces they put them into large brick ovens where they're steam cooked for 79 hours the cooking converts the Agave starch into sugar each oven can hold about 20 tons in total 18 enormous ovens operate Around the Clock cooking 20 tons of Pinas each the pinyas are bathed in 90 degrees Celsius Steam foreign after three days they're ready to come out what once was a very white and hard fruit has now taken on a wood color and is very soft and sticky during the process the flesh softens and the color changes from white to reddish brown the juicy pieces emerge from the ovens and fall into a rotating grinder that cuts the fruit into long thin fibers The Crushers squeeze the Pina pieces until they release every last drop of juice these fibers exit onto a conveyor belt even the crushed fibers are washed to remove any remaining sugar the juice is so sweet that it's known as honey water the fibers are placed in a pit where another worker collects them with a fork and places them in the path of a huge Stone wheel called a tahona the Tohono wheel turns and crushes the fibers to extract the valuable agave nectar this sugary river flows through a maze of pipes to a series of Tanks the tohona is similar to what the Spanish conquistadors used when they began distilling tequila in 1500. after the crushing process the stone releases the juice and the fiber reabsorbs it turning it into a mass after a good grinding both the juice and the fibers are poured into a fermentation tank it takes two hours of grinding to extract all the juice it flows through pipes to wooden tanks where yeast is added causing fermentation a process in which sugar transforms into alcohol now it's time to introduce that powerful key microorganism in all fermentations which is yeast but this isn't ordinary yeast it's Don Julio's secret variety the yeast rapidly multiplies finishing off the sugar and producing alcohol and carbon dioxide in 30 hours most of the Agave juices sugar has been converted into alcohol after 72 hours of fermentation the fermented pulp and juices have an acidic taste and the aroma fills the air the fermented content is transferred to large copper Chambers inside the copper Chambers alcohol evaporates and the vapor condenses into a more potent liquid the liquid is heated and cooled in various tanks until a condensed vapor is obtained resulting in tequila foreign [Music] at this stage this super strong beverage is tasted by the master distiller it tastes good but it's too potent to be sold in this form water is added to reduce the alcohol content to 40 percent to remove the alcohol the team distills the two fermented masses separately in large Stills afterwards it exits the factory in tanker trucks the alcohol is far from developing the full flavor of tequila six kilometers away it arrives at Don Julio's Warehouse to take its place in the barrel Cellar this humongous Cellar consists of nine thousand barrels of American White Oak sprayed with humidifiers to prevent them from drying out and the tequila inside from evaporating the finest on Julio remains here for up to five years acquiring a fantastic flavor for a slightly more complex drink tequila is aged in Oak barrels for two months or more depending on quality during aging tequila absorbs the flavor of the wood [Music] the final batch is ready for bottling but the team needs to take a sip first to check its quality this batch passes with flying colors and the bottling process can begin the tequila is now ready to drink so it heads to the bottling area with the bottles placed upside down on a rotating stand the insides are sprayed with a bit of alcohol for a quick rinse up to 15 000 bottles can be filled per day cleaning them with alcohol ensures that there's nothing unpleasant at the bottom a final quality check and then each bottle is numbered for traceability Back to The Distillery where it was made this Factory produces 420 000 cases of tequila annually and ships them to more than 40 countries worldwide if you want to know how silk is made watch the video on your screen and please like the video If you enjoyed it and share it with someone who might be interested also subscribe to this channel by activating the notifications to continue learning thanks for watching

Channel: Xprocess

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Id: OhhyaO7bWig

Length: 9min 40sec (580 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 20 2023