Three of Mexico’s symbols to the world came into being in the state of Jalisco. In this practical guidebook we are showing you the very essence of mariachi music, tequila, the country’s national beverage, and the charreada or jaripeo. This threesome touches the soul of this stalwart and amazing land.

Tequila

Is by far Mexico’s national beverage, extracted from a plant called blue agave (tequilana weber), basically harvested in the state of Jalisco. The making of tequila stems from the farming of blue agave in the Quality Guarantee Territory (TDO is the Spanish acronym).

The plant’s circle of life takes a decade before reaching full ripeness and is ready for having its leaves hacked off close to the stalk, leaving the kernel intact. For this beverage to be called agave, it must contain at least 51 percent of the plant –the purest ones carry a full 100 percent content. Depending on the features acquired in the distilling process, tequila is labeled in White, Gold, Rested, Aged and Extra Aged.

Mariachi

MARIACHI is the sound of Mexico. It traditionally consists of a musical band of seven to a dozen performers. The key players are those with the guitar, the big guitar, the vihuela, the violins and the trumpets, though sometimes flutes and harps are added. In the onset, they used to dress like Jalisco hicks, but in the early 20th century they slicked up in the gala charro costume, a garment that has endured many changes in a bid to make it far gaudier and fancier. They usually play sones, jarabes and corridos, as well as Mexican popular and classic music.

Jaripeo

For quite a good deal of people, jaripeo is the harbinger of today’s charreria. For others, though, is just a bull-riding stunt. Let’s stick to the first concept. In jaripeo, different teams square off to execute ten different charra stunts, some individually and other as a team. However, a charro shouldn’t make more than three stunts, even though the complete charro consists of the execution of seven out of ten stunts by just one rider. The ten stunts that make up charreada can be divided in two different groups: the ones done with ropes and the others without. They are: horse holding, canvassing, tailing, bull-riding, the lassoing of the bull by the head and legs, the mare riding, the foot stunts, the horse stunts and the death passage.