Tequila is a regionally specific name for a distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, 65 km (40 mi) northwest of Guadalajara, and in the highlands (Los Altos) of the central western Mexican state of Jalisco.
Tequila is most often made at a 38% alcohol content for domestic consumption, but can be produced between 31 and 55% alcohol content. Although some tequilas have remained as family-owned brands, most well-known tequila brands are owned by large multinational corporations.
Planting, tending, and harvesting the agave plant remains a manual effort, largely unchanged by modern farm machinery and relying on centuries-old know-how. The men who harvest it, the jimadores, have intimate knowledge of how the plants should be cultivated, passed down from generation to generation.
