A Few Tequila Recommendations
I do not consider myself a tequila expert, but I do live in Phoenix where the tequila aisle at the liquor store is longer than the beer aisle in most other places. Of late, I have discovered that while I am may not be the world's expert, a lot of my friends and family in other places are buying bad or overpriced tequila. So here are some good choices (these are not the only good choices, but I would rate these as "you can't go wrong" at each price point).
Inexpensive: Altos. I prefer the reposado, but both it and the blanco are good and they often can be found at the supermarket at a price that will make you hesitate to buy it because it is so cheap. But get it, way better than that Cuervo stuff. If I remember right, it was created by an British company trying to take on the high price of tequila in that country.
Moderate to premium: Cazadores. My go-to brand for general use. If you want to pay a bit more the super anejo is really terrific. As presents we give bottles of homemade pepper-infused tequila to our friends and when we want it to be really good we infuse the Cazadores super anejo
Expensive: Clase Azul Reposado: Don't even think about putting this stuff in a margarita. It is an amazing sipping tequila. I did not even know there was such thing as a sipping tequila until I drank this. Honestly, it is an entirely different experience than most any other tequila you have had. It comes in a distinctive bottle that looks great on the shelf, too.
Postscript: The tequila descriptions relate to the amount the tequila has been aged. Regular or blanco tequila is clear and has not been aged. Reposado is a golden color and is lightly aged -- I think personally this is the sweet spot in the aging scale. Anejo and Extra Anejo means aged even more (anejo means "old" in spanish).
