We’re Recapping Chilled 100 ELEVATE 2023: Agave for All!!

The Agave for All seminar, brought to ELEVATE by Proximo Spirits and Southern Glazers Wine & Spirits, included an intro to tequila, including its origins from the agave plant and how it influences the industry today.

The spirit’s roots date back to 1532, when the Spanish moved north into Mexico and encountered native people known as the Tiquili. Their lands were filled with the blue agave succulent, tequila’s principal ingredient.

In 1600, the Marquis of Altamira built the first commercial distillery in the town of Tequila, near present-day Jalisco. By 1893, after what was dubbed “Mezcal brandy” won numerous awards and praise at the Chicago World’s Fair, vino de Mezcal de tequila was renamed Tequila to help distinguish it from other mezcal wines that were produced in other parts of Mexico. Tequila had officially arrived.

The Margarita made its way onto the scene in 1936, after a barkeep named Madden supposedly made an accidental tequila swap while crafting a Brandy Daisy. As the tale goes, the Irishman’s version of the Daisy—or margarita, in Spanish—became a local favorite. Jose Cuervo’s advertising brought the margarita mainstream by 1964, and today, it is America’s most popular cocktail.

In 1974, “tequila” became the intellectual property of Mexico, and four years later, it was the first Mexican product to receive an appellation of origin. In 1994, the regulation of tequila was transferred from Mexico’s commerce department to the new El Consejo Regulador del Tequila—and both tequila and mezcal remain the world’s sole spirit category that can only be produced in a single country.

By 2020, tequila’s market share was at an all-time high due to its popularity in the U.S. and around the world. It is now used every day for more than just basic margaritas and palomas, and numerous agave-focused bars are opening across the United States.