Some random thoughts...

• The Times-Pic has picked up on the omg-Golden-Compass-is-anti-Christian bandwagon, citing the same e-mail I received about a month or so back. Why do Christians get so up in arms about this stuff? It's a work of fiction. Is it because it isn't the same BS the community wants you to be spoon fed? Sheesh, relax.
  
• Cuervo has done it again. They have now come out with Cuervo Reserva de al Familia. Plata. This has traditionally been a premium anejo. I guess this plata tequila is such a big deal because Cuervo actually makes it in Mexico instead of in Connecticut. I was drunk and really upset when I spied that bottle at the bar while enjoying my Milagro Silver.
  
• This Tonka truck commercial irritates me every time I see it. "Boys are built different." Little girls can't be interested in trucks? Or making messes? So annoying and sexist.
  
• I can't wait for this National Championship nonsense to be over. It's already out of hand and I want to bang my head against my computer monitor every time the talk gets going in my office.
  
• Not a lot of people are talking about it 'round here (except Adrastros, but Dickie Scruggs got busted last week for bribery. As someone once told me, some people have more nerve than sense. Check out the Insurance Coverage Law Blog for a play-by-play in what's going on with that.
  
• Politics With A Punch is Thursday night. The ALTR and I will be attending. Personally I'm hoping to jump Roop Raj after the show.
  
• Lastly, In Matte has joined our esteemed panel of bloggers. Look for her well versed and insightful blogs to appear soon!
  

Here come the Chinese

I like tequila. I'm a little snobby about it. So, of course this caught my eye - 'Chinese' tequila worries Mexico.

The title is a bit more sensational than the actual issue. It appears that parts of China have a similar climate to certain areas of Mexico. Thus, the plants indigenous to Mexico are able to flourish as they would in their natural habitat. The plants in question are maguey and to a lesser extent nopal. While maguey is a form of agave, it is not the blue agave in which true tequila is made from. In fact, it is used to make mezcal, which is a product similar to tequila. In addition to being from another plant, mezcal generally comes from a region other than Tequila - Oaxaca. Mezcal is also of the "tequila worm" fame.

So I guess what it boils down to is that the Chinese are wanting to produce maguey to make mezcal, which the general public (and the media, it appears) generally doesn't differentiate from tequila. Because tequila has grown in popularity the last 10-15 years, China can make some bank in the tequila market.

What Mexico wants is denomination of origin so that tequila (and I guess mezcal) can only go by such a name if it comes from Mexico. This Chinese stuff would have to have another name. You know, like Syrah is from France and Shiraz is from Australia.

See also:
The Grande Enchilada
The Incontiguous Brick

[h/t: Beegs]

ALTL's tequila advice to you: Quit drinking Cuervo Gold, 1800, and Sauza. The 2006 Tequila Trade Agreement allows for tequilas such as these to be bottled outside of the country. They are only required to be 51% blue agave, while the real stuff is, well, 100%. Read the fine print at the Cuervo website: Imported and/or bottled in the United States by Heublein, Norwalk, CT. Get yourself to Dos Jefes or Yo Mama's and order yourself a Herradura Reposado. Neat. No training wheels. Sip it. Give tequila a real chance.