Tuesday 136 - May 22 - 8 to 4, Tender, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Cabo San Lucas, at the southernmost tip of Baja was, twenty years ago, little more than a fishing village occasionally visited by itinerant Californian surfers and sport fishermen with the means to sail in or fly down.  In recent years, however, it has rapidly become the focal point of Los Cabos, the catch-all term for the beaches and resorts ringing the toe of the peninsula. Condos have sprung up, palms transplanted, water piped in and everything is kept pristine. We were here for the first and only time in 2002 on a HAL ship with our oldest son and his wife. We were doing a cruise from Florida to Seattle. We did a dive trip and then walked around and had lunch in town at Carlos and Charlie’s. Today we’re doing a free ship's tour. We first signed up for a 4x4 Beach Ride and Snorkeling, but it was a long day and at the beginning of this segment they added a two hour "Tequila Tasting" tour so we changed to that one. As it turns out it is a great choice!!

We do not get set for tender operations until about 9AM so we have plenty of time for breakfast. Our tour, “Tequila Tasting,” is not due to meet until 11:10AM. We get our tickets and are soon called and proceed to the tender dock on Deck 4. It is a beautiful day, a cool breeze at this time but a little hazy.

Once ashore, we are met by our tour guide otherwise known as the Mexican Comandante. She wants us to line up in two lines and “hold onto the rope.”  Dick is past tired of demanding tour guides and, as he walks by her, he says, “You are walking too slow. I am going ahead.” He does not see her face but hopes he pissed her off. He has gotten a bit testy with bus tours! After a short walk, past innumerable Pharmacies, T-shirt shops and jewelry shops, we board a very nice bus and head out for the 20 minute ride to the restaurant where the tasting will take place.

Our group are the only customers in the open-air restaurant. It is cool inside and there is a private, air-conditioned room with tables set up with four champagne flutes at each place plus there are ample servings of guacamole, chips, salsa and pico de gallo for each table. There is a video about the production of Tequila playing and our instructor, dressed as a vaquero, soon begins his talk about the history of Tequila production and the various types of Tequila. He quickly instructs us that we should only drink 100% Blue Agave Tequila as any other is adulterated with corn and/or sugar cane syrup. He specifically rails against the Jose Cuervo brand as being not 100% but does not specifically recommend any particular brand. 

He also said do not buy Tequila Gold - Joven or Oro as these are mixes with colors and flavoring added before bottling. He cautioned that there are exceptions to this as a “Gold” or “Joven” Tequila can also be the result of blending a Silver Tequila with a Reposado and/or Anejo Tequila while keeping the 100% Agave classification.

In addition to the guacamole, etc. we are served a small tasting of food to go with each of the three types of Tequila being served. The first, Tequila Blanco, Plata, White or Silver is paired with some very good Tequila marinated shrimp in a Tequila cream sauce with bits of carrot and onion in the sauce. This Tequila is the Blue Agave spirit in its purest form, has not usually been aged and where the true flavors and intensity of the Agave are present. It is bottled directly after distillation and is very strong; a/k/a “White Lightening.” It has its place but is not for the weak of heart. Put bluntly, "it knocks our socks off!” Some Blanco products are aged up to two months to provide a smoother “Suave” product.

Next is Tequila Reposado. This Tequila is the first stage of “rested and aged.” The Tequila is aged in wooden barrels (French or American oak) between two and 11 months. It takes on a golden hue and becomes a good balance between the Agave and wood flavors. This one is paired with a small pastry containing shredded pork on top of smooth, refried beans with a BBQ flavor.

Finally, we are given Tequila Anejo (old, aged or extra aged) paired with a small portion of a white chocolate cake or pastel. After aging for at least one year, ours has been aged 25 months, Tequila can be classified as Anejo. The aging process darkens the Tequila to an amber color and the flavor becomes smoother, richer and more complex.

Next we have a bit of fun and are encouraged to mix a blend of the three different Tequilas to find a mixture that suits our own taste. We are offered more Tequila if needed or wanted. At this point several people have had the equivalent of three or more shots and are feeling no pain!

While we are not offered any, there is, since 2006, a classification called Tequila Extra
Anejo (ultra aged); a Tequila that is aged a minimum of three years in wooden barrels. With this extended amount of aging, the Tequila becomes much darker, more a Mahogany color, and is so much richer that it becomes difficult to distinguish it from other quality aged spirits. After this extra aging, the alcohol content must be diluted by adding distilled water. These Extra Anejos are extremely smooth and complex.
         
We are writing like experts here and we are as we have a certificate to prove it! We really enjoyed this presentation and got a lot out of it. Dick can’t wait to start reading the labels on Tequila bottles when he gets home.

We head back into town and walk back toward the dock area. After some text messaging with our son for advice we purchase some Rx meds we use that seem to be doled out very sparingly and very expensively at home. This is a first for us as we have not been taking any medicine to speak of when here before. 

We want a Mexican lunch but there is only one place near us, Senor Frogs, and the music is blaring from their speakers. They even have a sign saying, “If the music is too loud, your are too old.” We told the waiter, he shrugged and we walked off.

Returning to the area some time later, the music is still loud but not as much and we have a serving of guacamole, chips, a Tecate for Dick and a coke for Carolyn. While sitting there, at least one other group sit down and then leave complaining of the noise. Seems to me, since we are the only customers, they ought to turn the music down when the old folks are in town and there are no 20-somethings to “enjoy” the music. Just saying.

Returning to the tender, we try to get on but cannot access the available empty seating on the opposite side since the area in the middle, reserved for “the halt, the lame and the blind,” had been taken over by the more able bodied and one wheel chair. We get off and board one of the local tender boats and enjoyed the breeze while it fills up. The funny thing is we catch up with the ship’s tender. We are back at the ship around 3PM. 

We do a little packing and organizing and promise ourselves to finish tomorrow afternoon. We won’t have any choice by then! But right now sitting on the balcony watching our sail away is much more interesting. 

We go to Compass Rose for dinner and order a hamburger and fries! Vishnu accommodates us with a smile and they arrive promptly from the room service kitchen. It is a treat and much appreciated.

For reasons known only to the AC gods, our room is pleasantly cool (71F). We will see if this comfort last. A time or two over the last six weeks the temperature has briefly come down to this but it only lasted a few hours. We turn the clocks back an hour and are now on Pacific time. Carolyn lays down to read and, you guessed it, is promptly asleep. Dick is not far behind and we are both asleep by 8PM tomorrow time.