Marie Sarita Gaytán’s “Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico” – A Book Review by Amanda Leavitt, MA Gastronomy

Marie Sarita Gaytán’s “Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico” – A Book Review by Amanda Leavitt, MA Gastronomy

In “Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico”, Marie Sarita Gaytán asserts that tequila is core to Mexican identity, but the world’s “understanding of tequila as Mexico’s spirit is not the result of some natural affinity but rather the cumulative effect of U.S.-American relations, technology, tourism, film, music, and literature” (Gaytán 2014, np). Throughout the book, she intends to explain the “political, economic, and social relations of tequila as a symbol of national identity, an emblem of resistance, a touristic destination, and its link to a rural town that is associated with its namesake” (Gaytán 2014, 2). 

The book is divided into six chapters, each thematically and chronologically exploring the history of tequila, beginning with tequila’s creation. In each chapter, Gaytán succinctly supports her argument by providing examples of each of the pillars she presents in the introduction. The sources that she chose are a combination of primary illustrations, as well as interviews and even tequila tastings and classes. In discussing mezcal, Gaytán mentions in the first chapter that “beyond these records, very little is known about the production of mezcal”, speaking to the limited resources she had at the beginning of the book. However, her use of images which she indexes prior to the introduction provide the historical context necessary to understand the evolution of tequila and its consistent representation in media. 

Gaytán’s book supports her claim that tequila is endemic to “lo mexicano”, or  “Mexicanness” (Gaytán 2014, 5). She presents another definition for tequila by Carlos Monsiváis, “the nation at play” (Gaytán 2014, 6). The first chapter begins with positioning tequila, previously known as mezcal de Tequila (mezcal of the town of Tequila), among the spirits of the era. Economically, in the early to mid-1800s, mezcal from Tequila was gaining importance. She begins the conversation around the proliferation of this spirit, and how technology like improved transportation – railroads – aided in enhancing tequila’s consumption and popularity. Moreover, from a media standpoint, newspapers were also “[promoting] nationalism and nostalgia for their readers’ country of origin”, during a time when the Mexican identity was unstable (Gaytán 2014, 39). Moving into the second chapter, Gaytán speaks about Pancho Villa, the infamous historical character-turned-symbol for tequila. Villa represented “symbolic ties to the Mexican Revolution”, and he rose to infamy as the symbol for tequila due to the “factious interplay of clashing political ideologies, racial stereotypes, notions of masculinity, and media representation” (Gaytán 2014, 44). Post-revolution, Mexicans were trying to “break free from the domination of European standards”, and characters like Pancho Villa and drinking tequila were symbols of rebellion (Gaytán 2014, 46). In this chapter, Gaytán also illustrates the tumultuous relationship between the US and Mexico, and how the impression of Villa in the US “[justified]…US expansionism”, while for Mexicans, he seemingly “[portrayed]…Mexicans as degenerate” (Gaytán 2014, 59). 

The third chapter focuses largely on the genre of comedy and how the media continued to morph tequila’s reputation. Simultaneously, tequila also impacted social constructs and norms. In this chapter, Gaytán cites numerous female characters in telenovelas and comedies, known as comedias rancheras. Doña Rosa in Dicen que soy mujeriego uses tequila as a way to show strength, echoing the symbol of resistance tequila became for Mexicans at the time. Concisely, tequila equaled machorra, “female masculinity” (Gaytán 2014, 77). In this chapter, Gaytán supports her claim that film and television played an important role in evolving tequila’s reputation.

Revisiting the notion that tequila is characteristic of Mexican culture, she visits the town of Tequila in the fourth chapter. She introduces the concept of “hacienda fantasy heritage”, which arose from the “equation of tequila as a heritage destination and an iconic object” (Gaytán 2014, 91). In this discussion, she introduces the racial and social implications of seeking familial success within the hacienda household. In preserving the past, “tequila is memorialized as indelible to the idea of Mexican heritage” (Gaytan 2014, 99). Gaytán asserts that there is a marketing strategy behind advertising tequila as from a specific town – a “uniquely Mexican location” (Gaytán 2014, 92). She details her experience on a train tequila tour and tasting, describing the mariachi and the short film that detailed the history, providing insight into the simultaneous “cutting edge technology used by companies to promote product quality” and “time-honored traditions” that are presented on these tours (Gaytan 2014, 95). 

The fourth chapter also presents two additional characters, beginning with the Jimador, or agave worker. This historical and social identity, with iconic garb, harvests the agave for tequila. Historically, the identity of the jimador “affirms the attributes of obedient mestizo masculinity”, and this identity is so firmly entrenched in history that established Tequila as “an idealized site with workers whose ancestral lineage not only ties them to the land but also to the product” (Gaytán 101, 2014). Secondly, Mayahuel, “the Aztec goddess of agave and fertility”, is a prominent historical and current symbol for Tequila (Gaytán 2014, 107). 

The final two chapters focus on Mexican identity and the relationship between Mexico and the US. It is fitting that Gaytán would conclude her book with these chapters, as they bring us to a modern understanding of this relationship. The Distinto T initiative ensures that all tequila is certified and authentic, protecting the spirit that is central to Mexican culture (Gaytán 2014, 131). Moreover, Gaytán explains in this chapter the different ways Mexicans and US Americans perceive and portray tequila; drinking tequila is a “familial tradition” for Mexican or Chicana families, and for non-Mexican Americans in the United States, tequila represents both sophistication and “Girls Gone Wild” (Gaytan 2014, 145-147). She ends the book with a glimmer of hope for the families in Jalisco who are enduring increasing poverty, ensuring the reader that scholars, artists, and enthusiasts are drawing more attention to the region. 

In referencing popular television series, attending live classes, interviewing native Mexicans in Jalisco, and sourcing primary materials like photographs of Mexican Americans, actors, and historical figures, Gaytán provides a well-rounded collection of visuals to illustrate the depth of the impact tequila has on society and culture both in the United States and Mexico. Each chapter provides a synopsis of its theme, but the chapter on comedia ranchera could be an area of further and deeper exploration. 

Gaytán, Marie Sarita. ¡tequila!: Distilling the Spirit of Mexico. Stanford University Press, 2020.