Family-Owned and Handcrafted the Traditional Way
Farming
We are 100% passionate about using only 100% USDA Certified Organic Blue Weber Agave in our tequila. Organic farming practices are not only crucial to the quality and taste of the tequila, but also to respecting the sacred landscape where the agave are grown. Everything begins on the farm! All the tequila in the world comes from one small state in Mexico, making it vital to focus on sustainability. We partner with a family-owned estate in beautiful Jalisco, Mexico. Agave take a very long time to grow, and this has caused most in the tequila industry to use chemical methods to speed up the growing process. We value tradition, land, and people. The agaves in our tequila grow for 7 to 14 years under strict USDA Organic and European BioAgriCert standards. These standards means no pesticide use, better working conditions for people, and water and soil quality conservation.
Harvest
After growing for 7 to 14 years, the agaves are hand-harvested by expert Jimadors. The Jimador carefully inspects the agave to make sure it is at peak sugar levels for fermentation. The agave is cut down and the outside leaves are carefully cut off, one by one, by hand. This reveals the heart of the plant, or piña, as it’s called because it resembles a pineapple. The beautiful piña are then taken to our distillery where they will be turned into tequila!
Cooking, Fermentation, and Distillation
At the distillery, the piña are split in half and loaded into a stone and brick oven. This traditional cooking method is one of the most important steps to making truly authentic tequila. In the oven, the agave slowly cook and caramelize, bringing out the natural sugars and pleasant flavors. This cooking and cooling process takes 3 days, and that’s a long time to wait, so the tequila industry has come up with faster ways to convert the starch in the plant to sugar for fermentation. Most tequila brands accelerate the process through high pressure cooking (autoclave) or a chemical process (diffuser) that uses hydrochloric acid.
Saving time means sacrificing flavor - artificial flavors, colors and additives are often added to compensate, but don’t have to be listed on the label. Viejo Cancun has 2 ingredients: Certified Organic Agave and Water. That’s it! After our piña are cooked and cooled, the agave is pressed on a roller mill to extract the sweet honey water, the jugo de agave. The agave juice is then poured into stainless steel tanks. Here it will naturally ferment to perfection. Again, no yeasts or accelerators are used to speed up this process, unlike many other brands. After fermentation, the jugo de agave is distilled twice in a stainless steel still with a copper coil. Then it is mixed with deep well water to create a 40% alcohol content. We hope you truly enjoy every sip of this very special artisan tequila. Thank you for supporting the values of organic farming. ¡Salud!
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Viejo Cancun Organic Tequila is extremely versatile. Our favorite way to enjoy is chilled, served straight up and slowly sipped to highlight the quality and complexity. As a cocktail mixer, Viejo Cancun pairs well with sweet and savory flavors. Check out our recipe page for exciting and unique cocktails. Sipping or mixing, here’s to you! ¡Salud!
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