Haz clic aquí para leer esto en español
By Ed Avis
FESENKO MAKSYM
There are countless recipes for margaritas. All feature an agave spirit – usually tequila – and nearly all include lime juice for the bite. The third key ingredient is a sweetener of some type, such as orange liqueur or simple syrup (or margarita mix, which is often sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup). But another option has truly risen to prominence in the last few decades: agave syrup.
Why? Read on.
Most agave syrup is made from the same blue agave plants that tequila is made from. The juice is extracted by crushing the pina (the core) the plant. It is then filtered, heated and concentrated to a syrup – sometimes they call it “nectar” – that is slightly thinner than honey. Of course, it does not ferment the way the agave juice does in tequila production.
Since agave syrup comes from the same plant that produces tequila, it makes sense that it’s a good sweetener for tequila-based cocktails.
“If you really think about it, agave syrup is a very natural choice for margaritas, as opposed to using simple syrup made from cane sugar—or even orange liqueurs, like some recipes call for, which can muddle some 100-percent tequilas’ delicate flavor,” said Julio Bermejo in a 2015 article he wrote on the topic. “Agave syrup allows the flavor of tequila to come through more, not to mention give it a more full-bodied texture when made into a drink.”
Bermejo knows what he’s talking about. He was evidently the first bartender to use agave syrup as a sweetener in a margarita. His parents own Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant in San Francisco (his dad is Tomas [Tommy] Bermejo, the founder), and Julio experimented with agave syrup in margaritas when it first became available in 1985.
His family’s restaurant was already known for superior margaritas because they were using 100 percent agave tequilas, rather than the “mixto” tequila that was common in those days. Using great tequila and agave syrup instead of cheap tequila and sickly sweet, highly processed margarita mix made Tommy’s margaritas a great success.
“Back then, this full-bodied new texture in margaritas proved to be more than just my family’s secret restaurant business advantage that kept our customers coming back for more,” continued Bermejo in that article on Vice. “It also helped me transition my customers from expecting a blended slushy with way too much salt. Back then, 99 percent of margaritas were blended—until my restaurant came around and started making them on the rocks. I helped educate my customers with agave.”
So that’s one key reason agave syrup is used as the sweetener in margaritas – it simply goes well with tequila and helps create a great cocktail. But there are other reasons.
For one, in the early 2000s the campaign against high-fructose corn syrup really took off. Health officials blamed the sweetener for the obesity crisis. Margarita mixes commonly use high-fructose corn syrup as the sweetener, so consumers and bartenders started looking for healthier alternatives.
Agave syrup is equally high in fructose, but it is not nearly as processed as high-fructose corn syrup is, so it’s a more natural product. That doesn’t mean agave syrup doesn’t make people fat – it can! – but it’s much closer to the natural fructose found in raw fruit than high-fructose corn syrup is.
Finally, in 2002 the USDA began Organic certification, and some agave syrups earned it. That means they are produced without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers and meet other health and sustainability standards.
All of those factors – the taste compatibility with tequila; the health attributes; and the organic labeling – fueled agave syrup’s rise as a sweetener for margaritas.
“The new agave nectar-based margarita allowed Mexico to showcase their quality tequila and the taste of a margarita improved dramatically,” says Sean Ryan, president of Simply Agave, an importer of triple-filtered agave syrup designed for margaritas. “In addition, the removal of the mixto tequila (cut with cane sugar) and the removal of the high fructose corn syrup from the mix dramatically reduced the hangover!”
So the next time one of your customers asks why you’re squirting agave syrup into the cocktail mixer as you’re making their margarita, you can give them a little history lesson. And then they’ll savor that delicious cocktail even more!
Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to el Restaurante's digital publications for free by clicking here.