DID YOU KNOW...
Some artisan and craft Tequilas are made using one of the oldest and most labour-intensive techniques known as the ‘Tahona Process’ where the cooked hearts of the blue agave plant are moved into the path of a huge, volcanic stone that has been chiselled into a rough, hulking wheel. The wheel is attached to a long pole and mechanical arm, or more traditionally a mule or oxen, which slowly pulls the wheel to press the juice out of the agave hearts. The Tahona is the name of the wheel itself and comes from the Nahuatl language of the indigenous Aztecs. The process isn’t widely used in the tequila industry with many large brands preferring more efficient extraction methods but a handful of producers use it for the complexity of flavour it gives the resulting juice.