Tequilera TAP Distillery and Visitor Centre, Mexico

Tres Agaves Tequila opened its first proprietary distillery and visitor centre called Tequilera TAP in Jalisco, Mexico, in March 2019.

The new distillery has the capacity to produce approximately 600,000l of tequila a year.

The Tequilera TAP distillery will produce three of Tres Agaves Tequila’s organic tequila products Blanco, Reposado, and Añejo. It will release its Organic Reposado in July 2019 and Organic Añejo in January 2020.

Tequilera TAP distillery location

Tequilera TAP distillery and visitor centre is spread across 18.39ha of land in Tequila Valley in the town of Amatitan.

Located 33km north-west of Guadalajara, Tequila Valley is surrounded by mountains at an elevation of 5,000ft above sea level.

Tequila Valley’s volcanic soil and warm climate favour the growth of blue agave plant imparting distinctive spicy herbal and earthy flavours into the produced Tequila.

Tequilera TAP distillery details

The distillery will use 100% de Agave for producing organic certified Tequila headed by master distiller Iliana Partida.

The distillery is installed with a 20t autoclave four-stage roller mill, stainless-steel fermentation tanks, and alembic distillation stills with copper coiling.

Tequilera TAP distillery also incorporates a brick horno, a tahona, and shallow tanks for the fermentation of agave pine.

Visitor centre at Tequilera TAP site details

The visitors at the Tequilera TAP facility can witness the production process, along with private tastings and single barrel releases sampling.

The barrel room showcases Tequila’s maturation process, as well as the creation of various flavours of Tres Agaves Tequila using more than 700 oak barrels.

The visitors can also witness a cultivated garden of Blue Weber agave plants and experience the surrounding landscape around an outdoor fire pit area.

The tours also provide the guests with lessons regarding the Amatitán and the larger Tequila Valley’s history.

Tres Agaves’ Tequila formation process

Tres Agaves’ Tequila is produced from blue agave plant harvested in the Tequila Valley. The plants are handpicked for harvesting when they reach maturity after seven to nine years.

The agave is roasted slowly in the autoclave ovens for up to 36 hours and then either crushed or shredded to produce sweet agave juice from starch. The sugars are then caramelised and collected from the cooked agave using the roller mill.

The extracted sugars are stored in shallow fermentation tanks and then converted into alcohol by adding the yeast cultivated from the Tequila Valley fields.

The sugars are then fed to the distillation process, which involves double filtering and distilling of the fermented sugars in the pot stills. Natural volcanic spring water from Tequila Volcano is mixed into the distillate for diluting it to 40% alcohol by volume.

Tres Agaves Reposado and Añejo tequilas are aged for approximately nine months and 18 months, respectively, in American White Oak Whiskey and Bourbon barrels obtained from Kentucky and Tennessee.

Marketing commentary on Tres Agaves

Headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, Tres Agaves produces a variety of tequilas products and organic cocktail mixers.

The company was founded by Eric Rubin and Barry Augus as a Mexican kitchen and Tequila lounge in 2005. Tres Agaves’ Tequila is produced and estate-bottled at their El Llano distillery, which has been producing since 1900. Tres Agaves was added to Trinchero Family Estates’ (TFE) portfolio in 2012.

In addition to Blanco, Reposado, and Añejo, Tres Agaves’ product portfolio includes organic tequilas namely Lime Margarita Mixer, Bloody Mary Mixer, Strawberry Mixer, and Cocktail-Ready Agave Nectar.

All the products are US Department of Agriculture (USDA) certified organic and are sweetened using agave nectar sweetener instead of high-fructose corn syrup.

Tres Agaves’ Tequilas received gold certificates in San Francisco world spirits competition, an award of excellence from Beverage Testing Institute for organic non-alcoholic mixers, and also named in Wine Enthusiast’s top 100 spirits list of 2018.

The brand’s sales, marketing and distribution are managed by TFE, which is a family-owned wine and spirits company based in Napa Valley.