What On Earth is 100% Agave Tequila? (and why it really matters)

Understanding tequila - knowing the truth behind the world's fastest growing spirit and why it matters to be 100% agave.

To understand tequila is to honour it. And like any good story, it has everything you'd want: heritage, passion, and that lightbulb moment when it all finally clicks into place. Its history has been told and retold across generations, passed down like a favourite tale, refined with each telling: a particular understanding of the agave, the terrain, the weather, the process… earned one chapter at a time.

So, as we set the scene for our Naked Margarita journey to producing our own ultra-premium, 100% Blue Weber Agave Tequila (see blog To Tequila, Or Not To Tequila?), we first wanted to take you on your own journey of understanding tequila and what 100% agave really means - and why, when it comes to a truly luxury margarita, it matters more than anything else in the glass.

Tequila, some say, translates to 'the place of harvesting' or 'the place of wild herbs', though historians still argue over where the name really came from. What we do know is that it gave its name to a town, and that town gave its name to everything we do. A town that sits in the shadow of the Tequila Volcano, whose ancient volcanic soil gives the agave grown there its remarkable depth of character.

Tequila is also one of the most fiercely protected spirits in the world, and rightly so. Much like Champagne, it carries a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO): to legally carry the name, a spirit must be made in Mexico's approved tequila regions. Jalisco, where our own premium tequila is crafted and distilled, is the true heart of it, home to the vast majority of everything made, with only a handful of smaller approved pockets across four neighbouring states making up the rest. Within Jalisco itself, the highlands and lowlands each produce their own distinct character - a reminder that tequila, like the finest wines, is as much about terroir as it is about technique. Every step along the way is checked and certified by the CRT (the Consejo Regulador del Tequila) the body making sure nothing carries the name without earning it.

What is agave, and why does it matter so much? Blue Weber Agave is the specific succulent primarily found in Jalisco used to create the highest quality tequila, and the only plant Mexican law permits for its production. As an agave spirit, tequila draws everything from this remarkable plant: its sugars, its character, its soul. The Blue Weber Agave takes years, sometimes a decade, to reach full maturity before it can be harvested. That patience is part of what makes it so special, with an almost unmatched combination of natural sugar content, resilience and depth.

Now… not all tequila is created equal. Legally, a tequila spirit only needs to be 51% agave to carry the name, the rest of its sugars can come from cane sugar or corn syrup, added in during fermentation. This is known in the industry as a mixto: a blended product that, while technically legal, is a very different thing from what we consider real tequila. Remember those rough mornings after a night on 'tequila'? There's a good chance that was a mixto, not really tequila at all, not in the way we mean it.

Our Naked Margarita tequila is 100% Blue Weber Agave: every sugar that goes into fermentation comes from the plant, full stop. Crafted and distilled at our own distillery in Jalisco, this is an artisan tequila made the way we believe all premium spirits should be - with complete transparency, total commitment, and absolutely no shortcuts. No cane sugar, no corn syrup, no compromise… just agave, done properly.

Next time you see a bottle of tequila in the shops or at home take a closer look: does it say 100% agave? If it does, you know what's in the bottle. If it doesn't… well, now you know exactly what it's not.

And there you have it, a brief introduction to what 100% agave really means, and why it forms the foundation of every luxury margarita we make. Because when we had the choice between the easy way and the way that actually delivers, we always knew which one we'd take… the harder road, the longer wait, all so we could bring you nothing but the very best in every Naked Margarita. Made with you in mind.

[The process of making tequila itself is a beautiful journey, one that takes years of nurture and passion. A full dedicated blog to the process of how our tequila is made is coming soon, but if you'd like to get ahead, we think the Difford's Guide is a great place to start. If you'd like to dig a little deeper, we'd also recommend The Tequila Ambassador by Tomás Estes or Tequila: A Global History by Ian Williams.]