How the Gringos Stole Tequila: The Modern Age of Mexico''s Most Traditional Spirit

Tequila is one of the fastest-growing spirits categories in America, the margarita the countrys most popular cocktail. But no longer is it only cheap party fuelit has become Americas luxury sipping spirit. How the Gringos Stole Tequila eloquently traces this extraordinary evolution.
 
As Chantal Martineau makes clear, theres far more to the story than an upmarket trend shift. Martineau spent several years immersing herself in the world of tequilatraveling to visit distillers and farmers in Mexico, meeting and tasting with leading experts and mixologists around the United States, and interviewing academics on either side of the border who have studied the spirit and its raw material: agave.
 
How the Gringos Stole Tequila addresses issues surrounding the sustainability of the limited resource that is agave, the preservation of traditional production methods, and the legal constructs designed to protect tequila from counterfeiting. It examines the agave advocacy movementmade up of agave growers, distillers, bartenders, importers, and scholarsthat has grown up alongside the spirits swelling popularity.
 
But besides detailing the culture and politics of Mexicos most iconic liquid export, this book also takes readers on a colorful tour of the countrys Tequila Trail, as well as introducing them to the mother of tequila: mezcal. Including an unprecedented drinking guide to Mexicos agave-based spirits and a stunning collection of full-color photographs of the production process, How the Gringos Stole Tequila will long remain the definitive look at the evolution of North Americas only truly native spirit. See more