Siembra Azul

By Kirsten Henri
Add Comment Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Apr. 19, 2006

www.siembraazul.com

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"Yeast suffers stress, the same as the human people," says Leopoldo Solis, master tequila distiller, as he explains why he plays Vivaldi and Mozart music for tequilas in his care during the fermentation process.

It might be the mesmerizing gaze of his preternaturally blue eyes, but I think this is curiously touching. While a multitude of animal rights activists fret over puppies subjected to medical experiments in laboratories and depressed monkeys at the zoo, who worries about the mental health of yeast? Only Señor Solis, who cites the "mellow, lovable, tender frequencies that the music provides" as a key component in helping the yeast to properly go about its alchemic work of converting sugar into alcohol.

Although Solis has been involved in the creation of tequilas for the likes of Sauza and Herradura, the tequila we're discussing and tasting is Siembra Azul, a premium 100 percent blue agave tequila produced by David Suro-Piñera, owner of Los Catrines & Tequila's on Locust Street. Suro-Piñera's main goal in making Siembra Azul, he says, "is to fight against the stereotypes of tequila. It's a complicated and delicate spirit."

To bring tequila out of the spring break/body shot ghetto, Suro-Piñera hired Solis as part of his formidable cabinet of tequila advisers, which also includes tequila academics (yes, one can be a professor of tequila), authors and engineer gurus, to oversee the production of Siembra Azul. The agave, the succulent plant that's the raw material of tequila, is sourced and hand-harvested in the highlands of the Mexican state of Jalisco, where it grows best, then distilled nearby.

Suro-Piñera upgraded the infrastructure of that nearby distillery and had a still custom-built for Siembra Azul, which is removable, so that if he changes distillieries, as he says, "We can take it with us and so, the taste of Siembra Azul."

How about that taste? The double distilled blanco, or unaged, version is spectacularly smooth, with citrusy hints of the orange trees that surround the distillery. The golden reposado, aged for three months in American white oak barrels, is more complex and robust, but still remarkably sip-able and mellow, thanks to the hard work of millions of happy, well-adjusted yeast.

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