When talking Mexican food, few things can beat the iconic pairing of tacos and tequila. And just like the taco, tequila has had its popular forms and trends.
But for Mando Rayo, taco journalist and host of the “Tacos of Texas” podcast, tequila is best when connected to its cultural roots. He spoke to the Texas Standard on the latest episode of the podcast and the Mexican spirit created by the blue agave plant.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: Now, I know your latest “Tacos of Texas” podcast is all about tequila. What does tequila represent culturally?
Mando Rayo: Well, you know, in the U.S., when you think about tacos and tequila, it’s really like a gimmick – like, hey, come get a free shot and cheap tacos. So there’s no depth to it.
So for me, I wanted to explore that. Like, why is that? But also, let’s go deep into tequila culture and obviously how it kind of resonates with culturally. So for me, it’s really about having a conversation with my guest, Joel Salcido, an old friend of mine, around the roots of tequila, the mestizaje of it, the Indigenous practice, the agaves, but as well as how the distillation process was introduced.
And then, you know, the journey of tequila – the early beginnings, but also in the Mexican Revolution. And then now, you know, obviously you can get it anywhere here in Texas and the United States.
When you think of authentic Mexican tequila, where is it produced for the most part?
Well, if it’s tequila, it has to be produced in Guadalajara, Mexico. You can’t have a tequila outside of that. And so that’s where the blue agave is. And so it’s distilled there, it’s made there, but then obviously it’s distributed worldwide.
You do have the majority of the consumption, obviously, in Mexico, but the United States is a huge market for it. It’s like similar to Kentucky bourbon, very similar to that.
Now, you mentioned that old friend that you spoke with for this latest edition of the “Tacos of Texas” podcast, Joel Salcido. What did he have to add to this discussion of tequila?
Joel and I have known each other. We’re both from the border on both sides of Juárez and El Paso. And he actually has a book called “Aliento a Tequila,” which is a whole history of tequila, the process.
He’s a photojournalist, and so when you look at the tequila images out there, you know, it’s the finished product. But he wanted to really take you back to like how it’s distilled, you know, the jimadores.
And so he has that long history, and he’s done the research, And then also he brings some respect to it. So that’s why I was like, all right, we gotta have that conversation.
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So Mando, you have a tequila preference?
I do, I do. I like to sip it.
No more shots.
Don’t ask me in my 20s, but no more shots, that’s right. I like to sip a good reposado or añejo, I would say.
What’s the difference?
Yeah, yeah. So a blanco is pure. So it’s kind of freshly distilled and there’s no aging process, right?
And then a reposado roughly is about a year of that process. And then the añejo is anywhere up to three years, or a little bit more potentially. So you do kind of get that aging process.
And what does it bring to the flavor?
For me, I think, you can start probably with a blanco, which has like, the raw kind of natural agaves to sweetness.
And then as you go up the reposado and into the añejo, you get the taste of like the smokiness. So if you like those kind of flavors, I would definitely go with an añejo.
