Tequila: How to give it your best shot

Lick it. Slam it. Suck it.

That's how most Americans experience tequila in their formative drinking years. However, between the lick of salt and the lime-wedge chaser, the taste of tequila is hardly experienced at all.

"It's so ingrained in the tequila culture that you're never going to get away from that," said Mike Juarez-Sweeney, general manager of St. Paul's popular tequila bar Barrio. "I would try to steer people away from that, but you're still going to get that group of girls that wants to do it, which is fine.

"At least they're drinking tequila and not doing Jäg bombs."

Despite being typecast as a spring-break spirit where body shots are de rigueur, there is a wide world of tequilas that are better sipped from a snifter than sucked out of someone's navel. Don't waste your time with a lesser libation when celebrating Cinco de Mayo this weekend.

"Tequila is a phenomenal spirit," said Steve Dennis, co-owner of Dennis Brothers Liquors in Cottage Grove, a destination store for tequila connoisseurs. "It should be regarded and contemplated in the same fashion as any of the other world-class spirits that are out there."

All tequilas are made from the succulent blue agave plant, predominantly in the Mexican state of Jalisco. But there are two major types: mixtos (literally, "mixed") and those using 100 percent fermented agave juice.

Furthermore, there are four tequila classifications based on aging: blanco (or silver or plata), reposado, añejo and extra añejo. Dennis, a tequila buff of 25 years, said he considers only añejos (aged one to three years) and extra añejos (more than three years) fit to sip.

As tequila ages, its natural flavors — which run the gamut from caramel to peppery — become more pronounced and its notorious boozy bite is softened, Juarez-Sweeney said. It also takes on character from the oak barrels in which it's aged.

Extra añejos "have much more in common with a fine cognac in terms of how they drink," Dennis said. His personal pick: Herradura's extra añejo Selección Suprema.

For rookies, Juarez-Sweeney recommends reposados. Aged between two months and a year, they are less rich and oaky than añejos — and typically less expensive. One of his favorites is Asombroso's La Rosa Reposado, which is aged in Bordeaux barrels and swirls with fruity and chocolatey notes.

Blancos, aged up to two months (or not at all), embody the "true essence of the agave," Dennis said, tasting peppery and vegetal. Because they're cheaper, they are most often used in margaritas.

"Tequila is associated with people having a good time," he said, likening it to Corona's "change your latitude" tagline. "It puts you in that fun/tropical/forever-summertime type of mind."

Thanks to blissfully hulking releases on Above & Beyond's Anjunabeats label, Mat Zo is a rising star on the progressive house scene. The London youngster recently made headlines after Will.i.am copped to looting the beat from "Rebound," a collaboration track between Zo and labelmate Arty, for a song on his new album. Zo comes to town Friday on the heels of his new single "Easy," featuring fellow promising producer Porter Robinson. David Jones opens.

9 p.m. Fri. • Skyway Theater, 711 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls. • $15-$20 • 18 & older • www.skywaytheater.com

Undeniably, there's a certain demographic that loves its cowboy-themed boozin' and the Wild West Pub Crawl hopes to corral those cowpoke partiers to the Warehouse District on Saturday. The buckaroo bar crawl hits 10 downtown Minneapolis bars, including Cowboy Jack's (naturally), Whisky Park and Insert Coin(s), with $3 Budweisers, $4 vodkas and $5 vodka Red Bulls at each stop.

8 p.m. Sat. • $15-$29 • 21 & older • 612-874-8892 • www.wildwestpubcrawl.com