Categories of tequila

Every tequila falls into one of two categories, and one of five classes. The category tells you what went into the fermentation tank; the class tells you how long it spent in oak.

Mixto or 100% agave

A 100% agave tequila is made only from the sugars of the blue agave. It must be bottled in Mexico, inside the appellation territory, and says so on the label.

A mixto needs only 51% of its fermentable sugars to come from blue agave. The other 49% can come from other sources, usually cane sugar, sometimes corn. All the sugars have to be fermented together; adding neutral alcohol afterwards is not allowed. Mixtos can be shipped in bulk and bottled abroad, and they are what most people drank in margaritas for decades.

The rules have moved over time. A 1949 standard required tequila to be made entirely from agave. By the 1960s up to 30% other sugars were allowed, and the limit later rose to 49%, partly in response to agave shortages. 100% agave tequila was a small share of the market in the 1990s; today it is a large and growing one.

The five classes

Blanco or plata

“White” or “silver”. Unaged, or rested less than two months. Only water may be added.

Joven or oro

“Young” or “gold”. Usually a blanco with colouring and flavouring added to make it look aged. A 100% agave joven can also be a blend of blanco with reposado or añejo.

Reposado

“Rested”. At least two months in oak, in containers of any size.

Añejo

“Aged”. At least one year in oak barrels of 600 litres or less.

Extra añejo

“Extra aged”. At least three years in oak barrels of 600 litres or less. Added as a class in 2006.

Cristalino

Cristalino is one of the biggest tequila trends of recent years. It is an aged tequila, usually añejo, that has been filtered through activated charcoal to strip out most of its colour, keeping some of the smoothness of oak while looking like a blanco. Filtering also removes flavour, and some producers add it back.

The style dates from the late 2000s: Maestro Dobel Diamante, launched in 2008, is often credited as the first, followed by Don Julio 70 in 2011. Cristalino is not one of the five official classes. The CRT permits it, but it is sold under the class of the tequila it was made from, and it may be formally defined in a future revision of the standard.

What may be added

Apart from blanco, which may contain only water, the rules allow a small amount of additives known as abocado to adjust colour, sweetness and texture: caramel colouring, oak extract, glycerin and sugar-based syrup. The limit is generally understood to be 1%, though the wording of the standard is vague about how it is measured. Labels do not have to declare them.

Whether additives belong in tequila at all is one of the livelier debates in the category. Enthusiasts have pushed for “additive-free” tequila, and for a while an independent list of verified additive-free brands was widely followed, until it was taken down in 2024 under pressure from regulators. For now, the label alone will not tell you.