They say it is good in everything, which is true. I’m sure you love tequila and everything about it: color, taste, smell, and most importantly – the bottle. The tequila green bottle is one of the most unique and rare bottles you can find.
Tequila is the best! But not all tequila bottle designs are created equal. Some bottles are small, some are big, and, in this case, some are green.
There are three primary tequila green bottles are; La Gritona Reposado Tequila, Fubar Silver Tequila, and Chichicapa Mezcal.
Chances are you’ve been wondering this for years but were too afraid to ask. Instead, you just grab whichever bottle is closest and hope for the best.
But now you don’t have to make this mistake again. In this article, I’ll explain exactly which green bottles of tequila you should be looking for.
La Garitona Resposado Tequila
Melly Cardenas distills this unique tequila at her modest distillery in the Jalisco highlands of Valle De Guadalupe. It is made from mature agave cultivated at the peak of its sugar production. It is naturally fermented, twice distilled, and aged for 8 months in reclaimed American whiskey barrels.
Melly distills La Gritona with agave aged 9 and 10 years, and each of her pinas must come from the iron-rich red soil of the Jalisco highlands.
It is baked within 24 hours of being cut, spends 24 hours in earthen ovens, and rests for 24 hours before crushing.
They lightly char barrels if necessary, allowing the barrels to be utilized for other rested tequilas before their resting period. This minimizes the residual oak, whiskey, and leached color while the tequila ages.
The distillery doesn’t make use of copper stills or tahonas. After cooking, the agave is crushed with steel shredders, and the liquid is distilled in steel stills.
Every production stage takes place under a single roof, and the distilling facility is managed by a team of local women who work on each process from beginning to end.
In Guadalajara, an hour from the distillery, the bottles are hand blown from recycled glass, giving this bottle its distinctive green color.
Regarding taste, La Gritona is not too sweet and retains the fragrance and true essence of the plant that it was distilled. Although La Gritona has been aged in oak for 8 months, the flavor is herbaceous, with agave remarks that haven’t been “whiskified” through the barreling method.
It’s a highly vegetal tequila, with no oak, pepper, or vanilla, to be found in a usual highland reposado. It holds the refreshing characteristics of a good silver tequila while displaying small clues of Melly’s deliberate aging process.
The overall taste is all-rounded and free of burn. Drinking without any ice, lime, salt, or mixer is recommended by Melly herself.
R Silver Tequila
George Harris and Commander Richard Marcinko, a former Navy SEAL Commanding officer and Vietnam War veteran, established FUBAR Tequila. FUBAR is manufactured at Integradora San Agustin in Jalisco highlands (Los Altos), in Tototalan.
FUBAR is a military term that essentially means you were in the wrong place at the wrong time – ultimately unlucky in battle or feeling the consequences of it. As a result, you have become FUBAR (F’d up beyond all recognition).
This phrase first appeared during World War II and inspired the design of the company’s bottle. The bottle is camouflaged in shades of green, adhering to this company’s war-inspired theme and name.
FUBAR Silver Tequila is bold and enticing, with sweet notes of citrus fruits, melon, and exotic sauteed orange accentuated with a hint of soothing cucumber and mint.
This Silver Tequila is one of the best representations of agave, seamless, smooth, subtle, and luscious on the palate. It’s rounded with unique flavors of lemon/lime, wildflowers, and herbs. Pack with loads of spices and different flavors, this Premium Tequila is ideal for sipping, mixing, or the quintessential shot.
Overall, besides its green tequila bottle, FUBAR is an excellent tequila with a sweet and fruity flavor profile. It’s light, flavorsome, refreshing, and a unique tequila to drink. It is, however, a brave, potent, multi-flavored, one-of-a-kind tequila with an immaculately clean finish.
Even though just the name is FUBAR – the flavor is so unique and delicious that, if you consume copious amounts, the only person to whom this name will apply is you.
Del Maguey Chichicapa Mezcal
Ron Cooper, a world acclaimed artist, and mezcal revolutionary founded Del Maguey, Single Village Mezcal in 1995. Ron opened the world to the initially unavailable 100% certified organic, handcrafted Mezcal.
Del Maguey encapsulates ancient, organic processes through strong cultural partnerships with Zapotec Mexican Indian makers in the rural villages of Oaxaca, Mexico.
Incorporating these techniques with different microclimates and soil characteristics gives each production its distinct, rich, sweet, and smoky flavor.
Individual family producers in old-fashioned villages make each product in their collection. Del Maguey is one of the first manufacturers to name each item after the village where three liquid is produced. Since most of Del Maguey’s mezcals are distilled to proof, the ABV may differ slightly between batches.
Del Maguey is easily identified by its beautiful green bottles.
Named after the village of Chichicapa, Del Maguey’s Mezcal has a gentle nose but a profound and sweet palate with lots of citruses and a complicated personality. It has a lengthy finish with a smokiness that develops with a hint of cocoa and mint at the end.
Chichicapa, depending on the season, is a dry and tropical region native to banana trees, guava, and mangoes.
However, Del Maguey’s Chichicapa is classified as a Mezcal, not a tequila. Even though mezcal is making headway on tequila in most American bars, both Mexican spirits are produced from agave, but that is where the line is drawn.
The Difference Between Mezcal and Tequila
Tequila is a subcategory of mezcal, just as scotch and bourbon are subcategories of whiskey. Any agave-based alcohol is considered mezcal.
This would include tequila, which can only be made in certain parts of Mexico and has to be made from blue agave, whereas mezcal can be produced from 30 different agave plants.
Despite a small geographical overlap, tequila and mezcal are predominantly produced in distinct parts of Mexico. Tequila is made in five different regions:
- Mchoacán
- Guanajuato
- Nayarit
- Tamaulipas
Mezcal, on the other hand, is manufactured in nine different regions of Mexico which account for over 85 percent of all mezcal production:
- Durango
- Guanajuato
- Guerrero
- San Luis Potosi
- Tamaulipas
- Zacatecas
- Michoacán
- Puebla
- Oaxaca
While tequila and mezcal are also distilled from the agave plant’s harvested core, also known as the pina, the manufacturing side’s similarities end there. Tequila is generally made by cooking the agave in factory ovens before distilling it twice in copper pots.
Mezcal, in contrast, is distilled in clay pots after being roasted in earthen pits covered with lava rocks and loaded with charcoal and wood. Although some big mezcal producers have embraced a more modern approach, artisanal producers remain gravitating towards a more traditional method.
The artisanal method is responsible for the smokiness that is closely identified with mezcal.
The flavor of mezcal varies based on the type of agave used and the region it is cultivated. It has a herby vegetal flavor comparable to tequila and is typically shiny and smoky.
The pina of the selected agave is roasted in firepits before being fermented, giving mezcal much more flavor than its more well-known Mexican cousin.
Tequila Green Bottle – Summary
Three distinct green tequila bottles exist; La GritonaResposado Tequila, FUBAR Silver Tequila, and (although not precisely tequila but a cousin) Del Maguey’s Chichicapa Mezcal.
It’s not easy to determine the difference between tequila and mezcal. Tequila is arguably the most famous brand in the world, but all it means is that it comes from a distinct region of Mexico.
Whether you’re an actual expert or just beginning your journey into the world of tequila, I hope you found these facts helpful and stood out in some way.
