Where Do You Really Learn Tequila? 2 Educational Resources You Should Know

[00:00:00] If you really want to understand tequila, stop learning from people who only tell you whether a bottle is smooth. I get asked this question all the time, hey Brad, where can I actually go and learn about tequila? And I'm not talking about watching somebody on TikTok tell you whether they like a bottle or not. I mean, learning about agave cooking, fermentation, distillation, terroir, aging. Why two bottles that both say 100% Blue Weber Agave can taste completely different. So let me tell you a couple of places that where you can actually educate yourself about tequila. And one of them is completely free. First place I'm going to mention is Package Group. Package Group University. It's an online educational platform from Package Group. Package Group is an importer of great producer owned brands. And what I like about it is they get into the production side of agave spirits instead of just giving you a basic brand marketing package. You don't have to be a bartender or work in the spirits industry to learn from it. They have Tequila 101, but they don't stop at just tequila. There's educational information on Mezcal and Raisi as well. So if you're starting to explore the bigger world of Mexican agave spirits, there's a lot to learn. They also have producer brand specific courses involving names like G4, El Vijito, which I'm going to pour some of the Anejo right now, Dos Locos, Paloma, Mezcal, Ultramundo and others. I think these courses are really useful because you can understand how a particular producer makes their spirit. You can start connecting with those production methods to what you're actually smelling and tasting in the glass. And here's probably the best part of Package Group University. It is free. Now if you want to take your tequila education to a further level, you got to check out the International Tequila Academy or ita. ITA takes more of a structured certification approach with different levels of tequila education, starting with the fundamentals and then progressing into a much deeper study. As you move through these levels, you get further and further into tequila regulations, agave cultivation, production methods, sensory evaluation, and understanding what's really happening inside this glass. [00:01:59] They have both free and paid educational options depending on how deep you want to go. And here's something I think is really important. You don't have to become a tequila sommelier to enjoy tequila, but the more you understand about how tequila is made, the more interesting tequila becomes. We when you start learning about mature agave learning the difference between brick ovens and autoclaves, learning about roller mills to honas, learn about fermentation methods and different yeast can do and learn about copper stills, distillation proof barrels, terroir. Then it go back to taste some of the bottles you already own. You might be amazed at what you start noticing because the tequila education that you've just received and it teaches you why the tequila tastes the way it does. Package Group University is a great place to start, especially because it is free. And then when you decide you want more structured education, head over to the International Tequila Academy, their website. I'll stick it up here, go check it out. Another great place to learn for yourself is drink tequila. Read as much as you can. Follow the Tequila [email protected] the stories are very educational and I also recommend diving on as many podcasts as possible. Maybe listen to Doug Price at the Agave Social Club. You can learn so much from his brand interviews and how he gets the brand owners to explain how their tequila is made and it really lets you understand what you're tasting in the glass. So there's a lot of great content creators where you can learn a lot. But if you want to dive into real education, check out those two sites that I mentioned. Let me know if you have any questions about learning more in tequila and agave spirits. I'll give you all the info that I have. Cheers. Thanks for watching. Have a great night.