We Could Be Facing A Serious Tequila Shortage

Tequila
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I’ve got some bad news for all you tequila enthusiasts out there.

According to FOX Weather, bad weather over the past few years in Mexico and other parts of the world that produces tequila has hurt crop production of the base and main ingredient in tequila, says Everstream Analytics’ chief meteorologist Jon Davis.

He said:

“At a time when large crops are needed to meet demand, the extreme weather in Mexico is increasing the problems and the potential for scarcity of the product.”

Although the crop can withstand a ton of stress from a drought, the conditions are so extreme that key tequila crops like agave are suffering.

Agave has been grown for centuries in a number of tropical regions in the world, but believe it or not, is actually not native to Mexico.

Davis noted that when the crop is harvested, the sap is extracted and used to create pulque, the base ingredient for tequila.

The largest agave producer is Mexico, and is practically grown across the country aside from the country’s northwest states.

Davis continued:

“Global demand for tequila has been on high side during the past few years, which has increased the need for large agave harvests to fulfill demand.”

Davis says the current extreme dry state of Mexico is the main issue that could lead to the tequila shortage, as the majority of the country suffered a unusually dry winter, along with well above normal temperatures.

The meteorologist pointed to the lack of precipitation issues:

“Precipitation totals across much of the country have been less than 25% of normal with large sections having totals less than 10% and 5% of normal. These are extremely low, and in many cases, record-setting over this long of a period – two and half months.”

He also weighed in on the heat:

“An example of the extreme heat occurred in late February (Feb. 27) when Puente Mezcal reached a high temperature of 110.5 degrees. This was the hottest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere during the month of February.”

Needless to say, this isn’t good news with Cinco De Mayo coming up.

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