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Structure First — Tequila · Sourcing List

What to buy
to run the course

The one thing the course can't supply is the tequila. This is the shopping companion: a short, prioritized set of bottles and kit that lets you actually taste every lesson — organized by the aging spine and the production forks, and built around the two filters that matter most. Buy 100% agave, and favor additive-free where you can verify it. Tick items as you go.

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Where to buy & the two filters

Retailers. Total Wine is the primary — the widest in-store additive-free selection (Fortaleza, Tapatío, El Tesoro, Tequila Ocho, G4, Cimarrón). K&L Wines is a strong secondary. For harder-to-find verified bottles, specialist online sellers (Sip Tequila, Wooden Cork, ForTequilaLovers, Don's) let you filter by additive-free directly. BevMo and Costco carry mainstream names but require more checking.

Filter 1 — 100% agave. Non-negotiable. If the label doesn't say "100% agave" / "100% de agave," it's a mixto — skip it for learning.

Filter 2 — additive-free, where verifiable. The stronger filter, and the one labels won't give you. Cross-reference the bottle's NOM and brand against an independent source before buying (see the last item). A quick home test once you own it: rub a drop between your palms — dry = likely additive-free; sticky or oily = additives present.

Read before you rely on any "additive-free" claim
The additive-free certification landscape is shifting: Mexico's CRT restricted "additive-free" labeling in 2024 and took legal action against independent certifiers (incl. Tequila Matchmaker / the Additive Free Alliance) in 2025. Independent brand lists still exist and remain the best consumer tool, but seals and lists can change. The brand names below are widely and consistently reported as additive-free as of early 2026 — treat them as strong starting points to verify, not permanent guarantees. Your palate is the certifier no one can sue.
The core spine — buy these first
Four bottles that let you taste the whole aging spine. Bare minimum to run the course meaningfully: one good blanco + one reposado + proper glasses. The rest deepens it.
1 · Reference blanco (your anchor)Core
Buy: A traditional, agave-forward, additive-free blanco. Cimarrón Blanco (~$22, highland, bartender workhorse) or Tapatío Blanco (~$35, 80 proof, grassy/peppery) or G4 Blanco (~$45, mineral, rainwater-clean).
This is the baseline for the entire course — the distillate naked, with no oak to hide behind. Log all six axes on it in Session 1 and return to it for every comparison. Cooked agave and pepper should lead; a clean, warming finish is the quality tell.
Sessions 1, 2, 10100% agave · additive-freeTotal Wine / K&L
2 · A contrasting blanco (terroir)Core
Buy: A blanco from the opposite region to #1 — pair a highland with a lowland. Lowland/Valles: Cascahuín Blanco, Siembra Valles, or Fortaleza Blanco (~$45). Highland (Los Altos): G4, Cimarrón, Tequila Ocho Plata.
Two blancos side by side make terroir real: highland reads fruitier, floral, sweeter; lowland earthier, mineral, peppery. Same category, so the one variable that differs is origin — exactly the comparative discipline of Session 19.
Sessions 15, 19Highland vs lowlandTotal Wine / K&L
3 · Reposado (first oak)Core
Buy: An additive-free reposado. El Tesoro Reposado (soft oak, vanilla, cooked agave, pepper), G4 Reposado (light barrel, keeps the mineral blanco character), or Fortaleza Reposado (the crowd-pleaser).
Tasted against your blanco, the reposado shows exactly what a few months of oak adds — vanilla, caramel, roundness. The lesson (Session 11) is whether the agave still leads under the wood. If it's all vanilla and sweetness, that's the over-oak/additive warning.
Session 11100% agave · additive-freeTotal Wine / K&L
4 · Añejo (deep oak)Core
Buy: An additive-free añejo — ideally from the same distillery as your reposado, to walk one house's spine. Fortaleza Añejo, Tequila Ocho Añejo, or El Tesoro Añejo.
The deep end: caramel, vanilla, baking spice, and the "whiskey convergence" of Session 12. Ask the key question honestly — are you tasting Mexico's agave, or an ex-bourbon barrel? Neither is wrong, but know which you're paying for.
Session 12100% agave · additive-freeTotal Wine / K&L
Production contrasts — taste the forks
Two bottles that make the character-vs-efficiency spine audible in the glass. Strongly recommended — this is where the production block stops being theory.
5 · A traditional tahona benchmarkRecommended
Buy: Fortaleza (any expression) — the modern archetype of traditional: stone-tahona crushing, brick-oven cooking, open-air fermentation, pot-still distillation. Alternatives: Cascahuín Tahona, El Tesoro / Tapatío (La Alteña, tahona).
Your reference point for "traditional done right" — the rich, textured, agave-forward profile the ovens (Session 5) and tahona (Session 7) produce. If one of your core bottles is already a Fortaleza/La Alteña, this box is covered; just make sure one benchmark in your set is unambiguously traditional.
Sessions 5, 7Tahona / pot stillTotal Wine / K&L
6 · A deliberate industrial contrastRecommended
Buy (on purpose): One inexpensive, mass-market or celebrity blanco widely reported to use a diffuser and/or additives. You likely already own or can borrow one; don't overspend — the point is the contrast, not the bottle.
Learning what the warning signs taste like is as valuable as tasting the good ones. Against your traditional benchmark, an industrial blanco reads neutral, faintly sweet, sometimes chemical — the absence of real cooked agave. This is the Session 6 diffuser debate and the Session 19 production flight, made concrete on your own tongue.
Sessions 6, 13, 19The "what bad tastes like" bottleAnywhere
Optional depth
Skip on a budget; add when you want to go further. Both are pricier and neither is needed to complete the course.
7 · Extra AñejoOptional
Buy: An additive-free extra añejo (3+ years). Fortaleza / Tequila Ocho / El Tesoro XA lines, or a standout like Tears of Llorona No. 3 or Fuenteseca Reserva (pricey).
The deepest rung of the spine — toffee, cocoa, long spice, and the strongest test of the "more oak isn't automatically better" argument (Session 12). Sip it neat; never mix it. Optional because the añejo already teaches the convergence lesson.
Session 12Sipping onlyTotal Wine / specialist
8 · A CristalinoOptional
Buy: Any cristalino (charcoal-filtered añejo). Widely available across brands — you don't need a premium one to get the lesson.
Taste the modern trend firsthand: oaky flavor in a clear liquid, and judge the purists' critique that filtering strips character (and that cristalinos often carry additives). A hands-on counterpoint to Session 12 — buy it to understand it, not necessarily to love it.
Session 12Understand the trendAnywhere
Tools & cocktail kit
The glass is not optional — the tasting method depends on it. The rest supports the cocktails-and-pairing block.
9 · Proper tasting glassesNon-optional
Buy: A narrow-rimmed glass that concentrates aroma — a Riedel tequila glass, a traditional copita, or simply a white-wine glass you already own. Get 2–4 so you can taste side by side.
A shot glass tells you nothing. The whole instrument (Session 1) depends on nosing gently from a glass that funnels the aromatics. This is the cheapest, highest-leverage purchase on the list.
Sessions 1, 19Buy 2–4Any kitchen store
10 · Margarita kitKit
Buy: Fresh limes (not bottled juice, never sour mix) and a quality orange liqueur — Cointreau or Combier.
Fresh lime + a 100% agave blanco is the single biggest upgrade to a home margarita (Session 18). Bottled sour mix is the reason most margaritas disappoint. Mix with your blanco or reposado — never the añejo.
Session 18Fresh juice onlyGrocery
11 · Grapefruit soda (for Palomas)Optional
Buy: A grapefruit soda — Jarritos Toronja, Squirt, or Topo Chico + fresh grapefruit.
The Paloma — tequila + grapefruit + lime + a little salt — is arguably Mexico's more popular everyday tequila drink than the margarita (Session 17), and a great home for a good blanco.
Session 17Grocery
12 · A NOM lookup habit (free)Resource
Get: The Tequila Matchmaker app / site, or any independent additive-free brand list, on your phone. Free.
Not a purchase — a habit. Before buying any bottle, look up its NOM and brand to see who really made it and whether it's reported additive-free (Sessions 13, 14). Given the shifting certification fight, treat entries as strong signals to verify, not gospel — but it's still the best consumer tool that exists.
Sessions 13, 14Free · verify-current
13 · A tasting journalOptional
Get: Any notebook, or a notes app. Record bottle, NOM, category, production (where known), and your six-axis reading.
Notes are what turn tasting into a trained palate. A month of logged pours will teach you more than any single session — and it's what carries the method onward into reposados, other regions, and eventually mezcal.
All sessionsFree

A sensible order of purchase

If you're building this over time rather than all at once:

Total for the full non-optional set runs roughly $200–300 depending on the bottles you choose — spread it out, and remember the industrial-contrast bottle can be the cheapest thing you buy.

Structure First — Tequila · Companion sourcing list. Prices are rough US estimates as of early 2026 and vary by market — verify at the retailer. Brand additive-free status reflects widely-reported standing as of early 2026; the certification landscape is actively changing, so re-verify before relying on any specific claim.
Checklist saves under sf_tequila_shopping_v1, separate from your course progress (sf_tequila_progress_v1) and from every other course. Tasting requires actual tequila — the one thing the course can't supply. Drink responsibly.