Thirsty Thursdays: Touring the Tequila and Mezcal Museum in Mexico City, Mexico

“It’s another tequila sunrise, stirring slowly across the sky.” – The Eagles

While backpacking in Mexico sooner or later you will try tequila and mezcal. You might not know the difference, how it’s made or why there are thousands of different kinds. In my time in Mexico we did a Mezcal tasting, a tequila tasting but one of the best ways to understand it all is to head to the museum in Mexico City and get it from the experts.

“Tequila it makes me happy” – Terrorvision

How to get to the Tequila Museum in Mexico City
Mexico City is a monster, a gaping never ending metropolis, a city built on a lake. The Tequila Museum is fairly central though, it is situated in Garibaldi Square and is a relatively new building. We were staying nearby at the cool Casa San Ildefonso so we just walked there. It took us about 22 minutes.

How much does the museum cost?
It’s a fixed price of 50 Mexican Pesos. Included in the price is a tequila tasting in the bar once you’ve seen the museum. You get a turquoise ticket on the way in.

What are the opening hours?
Please check and confirm for yourself through the Museo del Tequila y el Mezcal website as things can change but when we went it was 1pm – 10pm Sunday to Wednesday and 1pm to midnight Thursday to Saturday . The museum has three floors so it makes sense for me to split this short review into floors.

1. Ground Floor.
The main entrance includes the ticket desk to pay, a cool bar and a big souvenir shop. I didn’t have a drink in the bar but I browsed the souvenir shop and got my ticket.

The souvenir shop has hundreds of varieties of tequila and mezcal for sale!

2. First Floor.
This is the main museum part and features two rooms. The first room has videos showing the production process from harvesting agave plants until it goes in your mouth.

There are information boards explaining the process in English and Spanish. There are some displays. There is a massive map of Mexico showing where the agave plants all are.

The important thing to note here is that the drink can only be called tequila if it comes from the tequila region of Mexico. In the same way that champagne is from the Champagne region of France.

There is a full cabinet in the same room displaying hundreds of full bottles of tequila in many styles and varieties! Check out some of my photos of the types of tequila here – unbelievable how many there are.

3. Terrace Bar and Restaurant
The top floor is where the terrace bar and restaurant is and it is here where you use your voucher to get a free sample.

It was quite odd that there was nobody else in the bar other than Panny and I at that time, we kind of expected the place to be packed with tourists necking tequila. I was able to chat away to the barman.

So we drank alone and enjoyed my two free samples, one of tequila and one of mezcal. Yes I like tequila and mezcal and can drink them comfortably enough, well a few shots. Any more isn’t my thing and I’ll be back on the Mexican beer, which is great as well!

After the tour and the tasting session that was it. There’s a great view from the top floor over Mexico City, but then again not as good as the viewpoint from some bars, restaurants and the Torre Latinoamericana of course.

We did loads of cool thing in Mexico and I feel I need to write more about it, you can check out my posts on Cantinas in Mexico City, Estadio Azteca visit, touring Oaxaca, Monte Alban, San Cristobal de las Casas, Agua Azul and Misol Ha.

Here are my videos from my trip to the Mezcal and Tequila Museum in Mexico City: