Dios Help Us: Herradura’s ULTRA Tequila Debuts in the U.S.

By TJ Carter Published June 26, 2015

Tequila is an untameable spirit. If you’ve ever spent the night with it, then you’ve experienced its unbridled power first hand. When you drink a liberal amount of tequila, it’s common to wake up feeling utterly wrecked, yet with a vague sense of having had fun the previous night.

Good news for those who have survived their encounters with tequila: Herradura — the premium, 140-year old tequila maker from the Mexican state of Jalisco — is debuting their new ULTRA Tequila in the U.S., where it’s bound to do some serious damage.

Recommended Videos

Related: The Manual’s Liquor-Laden Gift Guide for Booze Enthusiasts

ULTRA is comprised of an Añejo base with a healthy amount of Extra Añejo blended in. For non-Tequila drinkers, Añejo is spanish for “aged,” or “mature,” and in this context refers to tequila that has been aged for at least a year. Extra Añejo is tequila that has been aged for longer than three years; the Extra Añejo used in ULTRA is aged in American White Oak barrels for up to 49 months (just over 4 years).

The tequilas are imbued with a hint of agave nectar for sweetness, then filtered and bottled. The end result is a carnival of delicious flavors, including cooked agave, vanilla, honey, toasted almonds, dried fruits, and caramel. The aging process makes ULTRA extraordinarily smooth — it’s the kind of tequila you want to sip, not slam. Definitely a gentleman’s tequila.

Herradura was founded in 1870 by a man named Felix Lopez. The word “herradura” is Spanish for horseshoe, which explains the bottle design AND the horse-kick-to-the-head feeling you get after you’ve had too much. Despite other tequila companies’ willingness to blend their products, Herradura always insisted on 100% agave tequila — and they still do to this day.

For the best taste, the folks at Herradura recommend that you stir ULTRA with ice, then serve it chilled and neat in a shot glass. Starting this month, ULTRA will roll out in Southern U.S. markets, including California, Nevada, Georgia, Texas, and Florida. Hopefully we’ll see this tasty tequila come to the rest of the country real soon.

(Feature Photo by Michael Bezjian/Getty Images for Tequila Herradura)

Former Digital Trends Contributor

TJ Carter wears many hats, both figuratively and literally. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 2011 with a degree…

Food & Drink

North Spore launches its first-ever mushroom coffee — here’s why it matters

Should you switch to mushroom coffee?

Wine cap mushroom spore

Leading mushroom supplier North Spore has launched its first-ever mushroom coffee product. To create this delicious concoction, the team has paired antioxidant-rich coffee with 100% organic fruiting body extracts from five adaptogenic mushrooms: Lion’s Mane, Chaga, Reishi, Cordyceps, and Turkey Tail. For coffee drinkers, this new mushroom coffee pairing offers all the benefits of caffeine, plus stress reduction, immunity support, mood enhancement, and mental clarity.
To learn more about this exciting new medium roast mushroom coffee release, I interviewed Matt McInnis, co-founder of North Spore. McInnis is passionate about the new launch, sharing that the North Spore team believes in the power of mushroom fruiting body extracts and thinks what it has to offer is a great alternative to many mushroom coffee products on the market right now. With a mission to offer mushroom coffee that's good for you and tastes good, too, here's what sparked the launch of North Spore's new mushroom coffee.

The story behind North Spore mushroom coffee

Food & Drink

Lime lagers are having a moment—here’s why they’re perfect for summer

Lime lagers are nothing new, but they're trending

Troegs

The lime lager is nothing new. This style has been around for a number of years. While there’s no official “first lime lager”, Bud Light Lime was launched less than two decades ago in 2006 (and drinkers have been adding lime to Mexican lagers for as long as they've been brewed). And, while the style has been available to drinkers in the US for around twenty years, it’s having a bit of a moment this spring.

While many brands have been around for years, like Stone Buenaveza, Half Acre Green Torch, Founders On Cloud Nine, and Great Lakes Mexican Lager w/ Lime, there are a few new offerings this spring. These include the zesty, fresh, and refreshing Brooklyn Playa de Brooklyn and Tröegs Let The Sunshine In.

Food & Drink

From sangiovese to syrah: the ultimate guide to dry red wines

Some of the greatest wines ever made

Cut of grilled steak with glass of red wine

Chances are your favorite red wine is dry. I know that not because I have a crystal ball, but because pretty much every popular red wine is dry. (I urge you to discover the many delights of sweet red wine, but not right now.) Before we get into types, let’s address the big question: What makes a wine dry?

Wines are called dry when they have comparatively low amounts of residual sugars, meaning they taste less sweet (technically below 1%, or nine grams of sugar per liter). All wines would be dry if fermentation weren’t halted or they were back-sweetened. Yeast will “ferment until dry,” meaning it will gobble up all the sugar there is, no crumbs left. This dry descriptor applies to all types of wine – sparkling, white, red, and rosé. The first time dry appears in writing referring to wine was in Richard Ames’s 1691 poem “The Last Search After Claret, &C.” in which the narrator is looking for a red Bordeaux but is offered sweet port instead: