Tequila Train

Friday was Tequila Train Day. We got up early and had breakfast as advised by the hotel staff to fortify us for a day of more tequila than any one person should be able to drink! We took a taxi to the train station where we were joined by hundreds of other folks, mostly women. The festivities began with a performance by a young group of mariachis who accompanied us through our day.

We were then separated into two lines, men and women, for a search of bags and a trip through a metal detector. There were probably 10 men for every one woman, and we had fun speculating why. But the men's line moved quickly through the security checkpoint, and if I had been running the thing I would have then opened the men's line for women, but no one asked me. I did strike up a conversation with two women in line speaking English, and when we emerged from the other side, there were our husbands also chatting with each other. We gringos do tend to find one another. They were from Palm Springs.

We boarded the train according to the color of the card they gave us to wear around our necks, and then we were off. We were dismayed to find ourselves riding backwards knee-to-knee with a grumpy dad and teenage son. But they switched with a young couple so they could ride backwards on the other side of the aisle with the wife and other teenage son.

We were still a little cramped, but soon got used to riding backwards, and this young couple was friendly and tried English as we tried our Spanish.

The first part of the trip took us through the back side of Guadalajara, passing homeless encampments and grafitti covered walls. But by and by the city gave way to the green of the countryside, and we began to relax and enjoy ourselves, especially as there were (masked- I will discuss the masks in a separate post) waiters coming around already giving shots of tequila, or soft drinks, or canned mixed drinks containing tequila. I figured I had better wait, because if I had started drinking then I would have just had to curl up for a nap the rest of the day.

During the trip, our young mariachis came through the car and played a few songs. They were really pretty good, and they, along with everyone working that day for us, worked their butts off to give us a terrific time. But more about that later.

Traveling by train is always a treat for me, because usually the train goes places cars don't go. In this case, we saw mountains and farmlands and herds of cows and sheep and goats, and kids waved to the train. And pretty soon everywhere we looked were fields of blue agave. Rolling hills covered with the spiky plants, alternating with corn fields.

After about an hour and a half, we arrived at our desitnation: the tiny village of Amititan, home to the Herradura Tequila factory. We disembarked and got onto buses, which took us to the factory. There we were split into English and Spanish speakers. Guess which one we were! Interesting that a boy and his mom from D.F. chose to be in the English speaking group. The boy is a fifth grader in a dual-immersion school in Mexico City and was very eager to speak English with us. He stuck to my side all day, and was a charming and smart kid. His English was only slightly better than my Spanish, so it made for some unclear communication along the way, but we had great fun with him.

Our tour started with a demonstration of how the agave plant is harvested by men called jimadors who chop the spiny part off till all that is left is a round pulpy pit, called the pina. This is then cooked and squeezed and left to ferment a few days, then set to ferment again a while and then distilled then put into wooden barrels to age 60-90 days (reposado) up to three years (anejo) or longer (seleccion suprema).

We saw a video explaining the history of this company, and after seeing it we understood why this brand is about the most expensive out there. Everything is very modern and up to date, but there is nothing artificial in this tequila. According to the video, most other tequila companies add yeast to speed up the fermentation, but Herradura does not. And I have to say, that it is worth it to have the best tequila if you are going to drink as much as we did that day! We did not feel bad the next day at all, and I am here to tell you that that is not always the case.

The walking tour also included the old factory which was built in 1870. It was very pretty with its old brick and copper pots and coils. Something like six generations of families have lived and worked there, though we were told that Jack Daniels owns the company now. What that means for the future of Herradura is hard to say, but they have a great product and I hope the Jack Daniels company recognizes the quality and will make a comittment to keeping it up.

After the tour, we sat at big tables in a shady enclosure and ate a delicious buffet lunch. More tequila. More food. More tequila. More food. We were also treated to a show featuring our mariachis, some dancers, some singers and a family that did rope tricks. Our tour guides even danced for us!

Finally it was time to get back on the train. As we climbed the platform we were greeted by a quartet of boys, maybe 7-12 years old, who had built musical instruments out of garden hose and car parts and were enthusiastically singing and playing to entertain the tourists. We gave them a coin, and I tried to grab some video, but things were moving too fast, and I didn't get but a second of it. This time we got to ride frontwards, and we had even more tequila. Mind you, these were tiny little cups, with probably less than an ounce each time. All you had to do was catch a waiter's eye, and you would have another little cup. The mariachis came through and played and posed for pictures (this started right from the beginning: these kids having their pictures taken every minute. I was surprised that they could keep any music going at all for the lurching train and the adoring crowd!) The train rattled on through a rainstorm, and finally we arrived back in Guadalajara, none the worse for the wear.

There were all together probably 10 or so waiters, at least 4 tour guides, and the musicians. There was also a sound crew, cooks, drivers, and who knows how many other people involved in making this a really fun and interesting trip. We were so impressed with how friendly they all were and how tirelessly they all worked. It was a very long day for them, and they took excellent care of us from start to finish. The trip cost us I think around 950 pesos each, and we think it was money and a day well spent.