A Process of Elimination.

If Tavi was only going to drink 100% blue agave tequila, he wanted one he could drink with anyone. That meant going against a lot of what you expect when you hear the word “tequila.”

To start, the “gasoline nose” had to go. Even amongst fine tequilas you can often smell the harsh, sharp notes that come from contamination during the process.

In even the cleanest distillery you’ll find smells, dust, and particulates in the air that mix with the mosto as it ferments in the open vats. To combat this, Tavi initially produced only during the winter when cooler temperatures and lower humidity made for better air. Eventually he struck upon a brilliant alternative: the world’s highest tequila distillery, over 7000 feet above sea level.

Here in the cool, thin air Tavi’s mosto ferments without intrusion. To keep it pure we change every gasket in our system between every batch, leaving no chance for cross-contamination. Inhale the clean smell of Tavi Tequila and you’ll know why we go to such great lengths.

Difference You Can Taste.

Tavi’s next challenge was getting rid of the sour, bitter taste. Some consider this tequila’s “signature,” but to Tavi it was simply a case of rushed production and poor craftsmanship.

For example, like many premium tequilas our agave grows in the Arandas Highlands where it matures more consistently for a sweeter, more tropical flavor. But while all agave is “hand picked” ours is also “hand selected.” We individually choose only agave bearing the red rings of peak maturity for the fullest, best flavor.

Once harvested, we trim our agave down to the piña, leaving absolutely no green stems. This process takes longer than our competitors, but ensures a product that is pure, smooth, and completely removed of any unwanted bitter flavor.

Flavor rules our roasting process as well. A standard high-temperature cook speeds production, but results in a sour-tasting mix of burnt, cooked and semi-raw piñas. We favor a slower, lower-temperature cook that lasts more than twice as long as industry average. We then extract the juice gently, preserving the supple, signature flavors of Tavi Tequila: butter, nuts, and honey with chocolate on the finish.

Tasting Perfection.

Finally, there was the issue of that infamous tequila bite. That coarse finish that makes you wince and question your drink-ordering judgment.

This challenge required the most nuanced solution. Smoothness is a byproduct of quality and purity, but it goes beyond that. Tequila is a living, breathing product. It reacts to the environment around it. A stressful, harried distillery leads to a jagged, harsh tequila.

Step into the Tavi distillery and you’ll feel a sense of calm. No one rushes about. Our tequilas flow through our system via quiet gravity. Vivaldi and Mozart play in the fermentation room, soothing the mosto and live yeast as they do their productive dance.

Once ready, our ordinaro is triple-distilled using only the very heart of each distillate. The bitter heads and tails are flushed away. A final taste from Tavi himself determines if the batch produced meets the standard to be bottled.

All of this incredible effort may limit what we can produce, but the result is a tequila that may make you reassess what a tequila can be.