Tastings give insight into a famed Mexican liquor
Manlio Lopez is happy to give those vacationing in the Puerto Vallarta area the lowdown when it comes to doing the bottoms-up routine with Mexico’s most famous alcohol.
Lopez heads local firm Arendal Espiritus, which provides tequila tastings, enabling tourists to sample different tequilas and providing pointers on how best to appreciate a spirit that has become synonymous with the Latin American nation.
“We all drink tequila but sometimes we don’t know where it comes from,” says Lopez, who sometimes oversees tastings himself and at other times has staff instruct visitors on the finer points of an alcohol that is sometimes enjoyed straight and at others is found in such mixed drinks as Margaritas. “Of course, I drink a lot of tequila to understand the (distilling) process.”
Bars in Puerto Vallarta typically offer different tequila brands to guests. The spirit has acquired a cachet, with such celebrities as actor George Clooney and musician Sammy Hagar starting their own brands.
Lopez, who promotes himself as a certified tequila advisor, has seated clients try different types of tequilas during his tastings. Lopez has clients both sip and smell tequila, and sometimes has them sport blindfolds, which he says leads to them relying more on their senses of taste and smell.
The Cuba-born Lopez has been drinking tequila for 22 years and reports that there are a huge number of tequila brands in Mexico but all can be traced to the blue agave plant. Puerto Vallarta is found in the state of Jalisco, which Lopez labels the “mecca of tequila,” producing the lion’s share of it.
Lopez has clients both sip and smell tequila, and sometimes has them sport blindfolds, which he says leads to them relying more on the senses of taste and smell.
Lopez recently gave a tequila tasting at the Krystal Grand Nuevo Vallarta resort in the Riviera Nayarit, where reservations manager Andrea Alvarez said tequila and her homeland go hand in hand.
“When people think of Mexico, they think of tequila,” she declared.
