A primer on tequila and making margaritas

There were four pours of tequila in front of me in the style of a wine tasting. At the left, José Cuervo Gold Mixto. El Tesoro Silver 100 percent agave followed, with El Tesoro Reposado and Añejo in kind. We -- the Association of Food Journalists -- were in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to taste the difference, with Al Lucero as our host. He's the author of "The Great Margarita Book" and proprietor of Maria's New Mexican Kitchen in Santa Fe, which boasts an eight-page menu of margaritas, 170 of them, priced from $6 to $75. Maria's mixes up 20,000 to 25,000 margaritas a year, so Lucero knows his stuff (including that 95 percent of the drinks he serves are on the rocks).

Mexico has been able to protect the tequila name even better than France's Champagne region has for its beverage of choice, says Lucero. Tequila comes from the blue agave plant grown in certain regions and, if it's 100 percent agave, it has to be bottled in Mexico with a label that clearly states so. Only the mixto variety can be blended and bottled elsewhere. (José Cuervo Gold is 51 percent agave and 49 percent cane sugar dissolved in water.)

The silver, reposado and añejo are all 100 percent agave. The silver variety is clear because it has not been aged in oak. The other two have been aged in oak whiskey barrels, which give the liquid a warm golden cast: at least 60 days for reposado, and at least one year for añejo.

As for that infamous worm, well, it's in mezcal, the "moonshine of Mexico," not in tequila. Made from a different species of agave, mezcal is processed over an open fire to take on a smoky flavor. The worm? It's there strictly for marketing purposes.

The key to mixing a good margarita, Lucero said, is using good ingredients. That means good tequila and fresh fruit. Maria's now uses lemons instead of the traditional limes for several reasons: They're cheaper, available year-round and have a more consistent sugar content, he says. They're also less tart than limes.

His one caveat? Skip the frozen margarita. "It's kind of awful. You're diluting it with ice."

So which tequila is best? Depends on if you like the added flavoring of oak. I prefer the silver -- no oak at all.

Serves 1.

• 1 lemon wedge

• Kosher salt

• 11/2 oz. (3 tbsp.) tequila

• 1 oz. (2 tbsp.) triple sec

Directions

Run lemon wedge around the rim of margarita glass. Dip rim of glass into saucer of salt. Combine tequila, triple sec and lemon juice into cocktail shaker glass full of ice. Shake vigorously about 5 seconds. To serve "up," strain ice and pour into salt-rimmed glass. Or serve with ice.

Variation: Pictured, the margarita from Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe, made with a foam of beaten pasteurized egg white with a little salt to replace the salt that would have been on the rim.