Cheating Dept: "Pure" (blue agave) Tequila? Not

Great tasters note that one way to better your understanding of a spirit is to try others. We've already tried calvados, cognac, armangnac, tequila, whisky and gin. Here's some of the more unusual spirits and drinks. Mead me halfway on this, woncha?
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Capn Jimbo
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Cheating Dept: "Pure" (blue agave) Tequila? Not

Post by Capn Jimbo »

Tequila graduates from the Rum University...


We're all aware of the common cheating in most rums, but how 'bout tequila - the "good" kind, that many of us consider rather pure in comparison. Richard Seale recently drew attention to a credible link that made this observation:
"The Norm (for all tequilas) explicitly allows caramel color, oak extract, glycerin and “sugar-based syrup” to be added to either category of Tequila. So then, if these are the permitted additives, where have all the obviously foreign flavors in blancos in recent years come from? The vanilla, coconut, cotton candy, marshmallow and tutti-fruity candy notes? (Note that vanilla and coconut aromas result naturally from oak aging. For the moment we’re talking only about blancos.)"
http://www.experiencetequila.com/2014/0 ... -tequilas/

The article goes on to specify the scheme/trickery by the big tequila producers. Here's how it works: as you can see, flavorings are NOT allowed, but "sugar-based syrups" are. So what to do? Simple. Highly concentrated chemical flavoring compounds are added instead to the "sugar-based syrup". The powerful amounts are tiny, so the syrup keeps its designation and voila!

Flavorings are snuck into the spirit insuring that not a fackin soul will ever know what "pure" really tastes like, the big distillers are free to set artificial, but highly profitable taste standards, and the products continues to cheapen.

Where is Zapata when we need him? Thank you, Richard...
Last edited by Capn Jimbo on Wed May 28, 2014 9:02 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Hassouni
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Post by Hassouni »

Tequila graduates because it's all produced in one country, so one country's regs. affect the entire market.

The only thing I could see working for rum is if the US and EU ruled that anything imported/sold (rather than produced) with additives cannot be considered rum. The producers on whatever island could do whatever they wanted, but to sell it in the American or European markets it would have to be pure.

Here's dreaming....
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