At Esperanza, guests can sample more than 100 varieties of Mexico’s most sophisticated tequilas made from pure agave, including those expressly paired with dessert or cigars. To learn more about tequila, weekly tequila tasting classes are available led by the resort’s Master Tequilero Alejandro Enriquez.

During the class, Enriquez takes his students on a historical journey into the origins of tequila and the complex and meticulous process that transforms a member of the Aloe family (the Blue Agave Tequilana Weber plant) into a pure crystalline spirit. He also explains the aging process of tequila in oak barrels and the mellowing characteristics and aromas that can develop, rivaling those of fine cognacs and brandies. Enriquez then offers six different varieties to sample, each with surprisingly different flavors. After completing the tasting, guests are pronounced official “tequila aficionados” and are inducted into the resort’s Blue Agave Society, complete with graduation certificates.

Known as the culturally accepted elixir that serves to extinguish the fire of tequila, homemade sangritas are served at Esperanza to complement the tequila varieties and have a history all their own throughout the different parts of Mexico. Recipes vary from region to region and even family to family. Natives in the Mexican town of Jalisco insist that the sangrita and tequila were both invented there. Others argue that the sangrita came from Yucatan, where it is typically prepared with the juice of native bitter oranges, salt and a mixture of chiles, which sometimes includes the famous Habanero. Sangrita recipes from the western region of Mexico, including Michoacan, Jalisco, and Nayarit, are based on a mixture of orange juice, salt, red chile and pomegranate syrup.

The tequila-tasting classes are held each Tuesday and Saturday from 7-8 p.m. at El Restaurante and the cost is $55 per person. To make reservations for the class, please call the hotel concierge at 011-52-624-145-6400.