THE AGAVE
We allow our blue weber agave plants to grow and mature for at least 8 years before they are harvested by jimadors at the peak of ripeness. All plants are cut by hand, no machines in sight, using a very sharp coa de jima (similar to a machete). Below ground is the heart of the plant, or piña, the sweetest, juiciest part of the plant. Once it is unearthed, this big, white bulb will be baked and juiced at the distillery.
THE HORNOS
Once the piñas are harvested and transported back to the distillery, they begin the transformation into tequila. Next, we slow cook the piñas for 26 hours in above ground, clay brick ovens called hornos, using pressurized steam to cook the agave. The goal is to convert the raw agave piña’s carbohydrates and starches into fermentable sugars.
FERMENTATION
Once the agaves are perfectly cooked, and after a cooling off period, they come out of the oven softened, sticky and very sweet and ready for the next step – extraction of sugar. We use the traditional method of crushing the piñas with a “tahona,” a giant grinding wheel within a circular pit, to separate the fiber from the juices. Once the piñas are minced they are washed with spring water and strained to remove the juices. Next, we allow the natural airborne yeast to do its job: eat sugars and produce alcohol.
DISTILLATION
The fermented tequila is now ready for distillation whereby unwanted compounds are naturally removed from the liquid. Our tequila is distilled twice in traditional copper stills – which have been in place for generations. Distillation is done slowly at low temperatures to preserve as much of the agave flavor as possible.
AGING
Dano’s aged expressions rest in 200 liter virgin white oak barrels. We do not use old whiskey barrels, so all you taste are sweet agave flavors. Our Reposado is rested in barrels for 9 months, while our Añejo is aged for 18 months, maturing to a deep golden amber.
INFUSION
We believe that the only way to make a truly great infused tequila is to use fresh, locally sourced ingredients. That’s why we’re so proud of our fresh fruit infused tequila made with our proprietary method. We start by selecting perfectly ripe, locally sourced pineapples and jalapeño peppers, which are then cut, de-seeded and then infused into our Blanco tequila. We then rest the infusion for just the right amount of time before being lightly filtered and bottled. Leaving a little fresh fruit in the bottle reminds our customers we are the only certified fresh fruit tequila in the world! This process allows us to maintain as much of the natural flavors as possible—and it results in a delicious tequila that you won't find anywhere else!
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