★ “SOME IDIOT’S GUIDE TO TEQUILA”

Via American Drink (of course):

If you’re looking to get drunk real quick, do what you gotta do, but why take something that tastes as great as tequila and hurry it past your taste buds like an embarrassing one night stand? And forget lime and salt. Are you sick? The practice of taking lime and salt with tequila began in 1918, when tequila was used as medicine to combat the Spanish Flu. Did it work? Not so much. Now it’s just a gimmick. If you want lime and salt with your tequila, have a margarita.

and

Yes, when I was young and my eyepatch shiny and new, I had my share of Jose Cuervo gold. As it has with many others, it gave me a bad impression of tequila that lasted until I was much older and finally tried the good stuff. What I didn’t know then was that Cuervo gold, and many others, is really only half tequila, known as “mixto”. In the heavily regulated world of tequila production, tequila can only be made from the blue agave plant. Due to a shortage of blue agave in the mid-20th century, the Mexican government declared that tequila could be processed with as little as 51% blue agave sugars. You can bet your skee ball swag that any tequila not labeled as “100% blue agave” uses this bare minimum in their product.

Now, setting aside the increase in hangover-inducing congeners you get from the additives comprising the other 49%, just ask yourself this: Would you rather eat a hamburger made of 100% beef or one mixed with 49% fillers?

Great points but I’ve never purchased tequila that’s not 100% Agave and I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t. I guess, no matter what my take-home salary was, I never saw a point in drinking anything if it wasn’t the real thing. I knew Jose Cuervo was terrible quality and I couldn’t afford anything better so I just didn’t buy tequila. Problem solved.