All About The Agave: Will American Tequila Consumption Continue To Stand The Test Of Time?

Many Americans have stories about parties that feature Tequila. 

The Mexican spirit, which has been around for hundreds of years, has remained a staple despite historically somewhat fickle American tastes and trends. 

According to Statista, the sales volume of tequila in the United States in 2021 totaled 27 million 9-liter cases. Since 2004, when U.S. tequila sales volume stood at nearly 8 million cases, the numbers have increased each consecutive year.  

The spirit has not necessarily shown signs of waning after the Tequila Sunrise fad of the 1970s and has taken its space among bourbon and scotch on shelves and in bars. Though its origins are in Mexico, tequila is fondly respected as “America’s Native Spirit”.

But tequila isn’t tequila if it's not drawn from the blue agave of the Mexican state of Jalisco. Only spirits made of the Jalisco area blue agave are officially recognized as authentic tequila. Agave tequila is ideally suited as a distilled alcoholic beverage because of its high production of sugars. 

The Deep Roots of Agave

There are more than 200 species of agave and more than 100 varieties in Mexico. Agave grows in sandy soils in warm climates at an altitude of around 5,000 feet. Its leaves grow to as high as 7 feet tall. 

The town of Tequila in Jalisco is on a hill above rolling fields of agave, where you'll find hundreds of distilleries using a 2,000-year-old process to attempt to make the best tequila in the world.
And while tequila producers and distributors pop up every year in the U.S., the liquor has strict Mexican government rules to adhere to. Among them is making sure each bottle is made in the location it advertises and has the exact ingredients that identify it as tequila. The different varieties also must be correctly aged, not unlike Kentucky bourbon. 

Though new inviting and inspirational varieties of tequila are released regularly, the traditional market is still dominated by large public companies such as Diageo plc’s DEO Don Julio; Portland, Oregon’s Eastside Distilling Inc.’s EAST Azuñia Tequilas; and Constellation Brands Inc.’s STZ Casa Noble. 

But a newer trend affecting tequila sales and tastes is spirits that boast a clean, sweet and robust flavor. Among them is Salt Tequila, a naturally flavored, 100% Blanco agave tequila grown, hand-picked, distilled and bottled in Jalisco. The tequila comes in berry, citrus and salted chocolate varieties.

Owned and distributed by Ft. Lauderdale, Florida-based Splash Beverage Group, Inc. SBEV, a portfolio company of various beverage brands, Salt is part of what the company calls its beverage innovation philosophy. The company, in addition to nonalcoholic beverages like its TapouT performance hydration and recovery drink, also owns a growing portfolio of alcoholic beverages, including Copa di Vino wine by the glass and Pulpoloco sangria. 

The company recently announced it has secured distribution through Gulf Distributing of Alabama for Salt in the state of Alabama and participating military bases.
For more information about Salt Tequila, visit www.drinksalttequila.com. 

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Image by Efrain Hernandez on Pixabay