Good, moderate-priced tequila key to successful margaritas

By: GARY WARTH - Staff Writer | Wednesday, May 2, 2007 8:06 PM PDT ∞

As the creator of El Duende Tequila, San Marcos resident Phillip Soto Mares appreciates the pure, strong taste of the liquor made from the agave plant.

But even a tequila snob like Soto can enjoy a cool, sweet margarita now and then.

"Margaritas are a favorite of many aficionados," said Soto, director of the only American chapter of La Academia Mexicana del Tequila, founded in 2000 to protect the image of tequila and promote the industry with seminars and educational events.

Margarita fans debate whether the drink should be served on the rocks, with crushed ice or with a tequila chaser, but most everyone agrees that good margaritas start with good tequila.

Soto would never drink a straight mixto, a spirit made with as little as 51 percent agave (the rest is sugar), and he's not going to change his opinion of the imitation tequila just because it's mixed with lime juice and triple sec.

True tequila is made with no ingredients other than syrup from an agave plant, yeast to ferment the syrup, and water. The Mexican government has the rights to the term "tequila" and does not allow any other country to produce the alcohol by that name. Anything made outside Mexico technically is an agave spirit and contains less than 100 percent agave.

While Soto believes good tequilas should be used in margaritas, there's no reason to use the most expensive labels.

"I use El Agave," he said. "That's my first choice. I use their blanco. And I'll use Hornitos. The third is Don Abraham's blanco. These are very good, moderately priced tequilas, but they won some great awards."

Blanco tequilas are clear and less expensive than the amber reposado tequilas that acquire their color while aging in oak barrels.

Tequila is made from the agave plant, a Southwestern succulent with thick, spiny leaves. The leaves are chopped off to reveal a center bulb that is cut into quarters and baked in a wood-fired oven for 24 hours. The caramelized agave is then crushed to produce about five liters of clear, sweet mosto ---- agave syrup ---- that is fermented and condensed in a distiller.

Reposado tequila is aged between two months and a year, and anejo tequila is aged more than a year.

"I think anejos are meant to be sipped, and blancos and reposados just make great margaritas," Soto said.

He said a blanco will give a truer agave flavor, while a reposado will give a margarita a more "rested" flavor.

Margaritas commonly are made with tequila, lime juice and triple sec, a sweet orange liqueur. Soto uses a half ounce of tequila, juice from four limes and, instead of triple sec, a touch of agave syrup, sometime sold as agave nectar, which he buys at Boney's or Henry's markets.

Soto said he uses agave syrup instead of triple sec to sweeten the drink in a natural way that gives a hint of agave flavor. For the subtle orange taste that would have come from triple sec, Soto rims the glass with an orange.

"It doesn't have much tequila taste, but the flavors blend very well, and as you're sipping your margarita, you get that touch of orange," he said about using agave syrup and a real orange.

Soto has been making tequilas since 1994 and decided to make it professionally about five years ago. His label, El Duende, is named after a mythical Latin American gnome and is made in a distiller in Arandas, Jalisco, Mexico.

With about one month before he receives his final permits from the Mexican government, Soto said is about seven months away from having his tequila in stores in the United States.

Until then, people can learn about tequila from Soto himself, who has been asked to create an agave garden in the nursery area of the Del Mar Fairgrounds. On Fridays and Saturdays at the fairground, he'll give talks in a section of the garden where people can sip tequilas.

As director of La Academia, Soto has created a curriculum he teaches to restaurateurs and their employers. Upon completion of the program, restaurants are certified by the academy. This past week, El Agave in San Diego's Old Town became the first American restaurant certified by the academy. Soto said waiters at the restaurant must be able to answer customers' questions about tequila, and before pouring a drink they must bring the bottle to the table to show customers what they are serving.

-- Contact staff writer Gary Warth at (760) 740-5410 or gwarth@nctimes.com.

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