National Tequila Day 2014: 8 Facts About Mexico’s National Drink

It’s only natural that the official National Tequila Day should fall a day after National Hot Dog Day on the calendar.

National Tequila Day is July 24, according to Google and its official Facebook page, and with temperatures rising all over the country, there’s no better day to down a margarita.

In honor of the alcoholic beverage, here are eight facts about tequila you never knew.

And no, it will not make you speak fluent Spanish.

1. Tequila comes from the blue agave plant and is distilled to make the liquor.

2. It specifically comes from the area surrounding the city of Tequila in the highlands (Los Altos) of the western Mexican state of Jalisco where more than 300 million blue agave plants are harvested yearly.

3. Mexican law only permits tequila to be produced in the state of Jaliscoand limited regions in the states of Guanajuato, Michoacan, Nayarit andTamaulipas. Mexico also has international rights to the word “tequila.”

4. However, Americans purchase 12.3 million cases of tequila a year.

5. Tequila contains 38-40 % alcohol content but can also go up to 55 % alcohol content.

6. The first person to bring tequila to the United States was Don Cenobio Sauza, founder of Sauza Tequila and Municipal President of the Village of Tequila from 1884-1885.

7. The Latin Times reports “good tequila” does not give hangovers but rather a “mild hallucinogenic effect.”

8. The most expensive tequila is Platinum & White gold tequila which sold for $225,000 in 2006.