Clase Azul
The tequila you recognize by its blue-and-white ceramic bottle. Everything about the taste, the types, why it is so expensive, how to drink it, and the glass that goes with it.
Luxury tequila in a handcrafted bottle
Clase Azul is a Mexican tequila brand founded in 1997 by Arturo Lomeli. The tequila is made from 100% blue Weber agave from the highlands of Jalisco, slowly cooked in stone ovens and distilled at its own distillery in Jesús María. The best-known bottle, the Reposado, is aged for eight months in ex-whisky casks and has an alcohol content of 40%.
What made Clase Azul famous is the bottle: a ceramic decanter shaped and painted by hand by Mexican artisans, in the style of traditional Talavera pottery. Each bottle is unique and is often kept as a vase or decoration after it has been emptied. That bottle, together with the small-scale production, explains the price of more than two hundred euros.
In brief
Clase Azul and comparable premium tequilas
In the Netherlands, the Reposado is the easiest to find. Clase Azul also makes a Plata (unaged), an Añejo and an Ultra, but they are rare. These are the bottles it is most often compared with.
Clase Azul Reposado
The icon in the blue-and-white ceramic bottle. Aged for eight months: smooth, sweet and rounded, with vanilla, caramel and cooked agave.
Don Julio Reposado
The other big name from the highlands of Jalisco. Aged for eight months, smooth and lightly oaky, at one-third of the price.
Patrón Reposado
Handcrafted tequila in the iconic glass bottle with a cork. Fresh, with citrus and a hint of oak.
Clase Azul is a gift and a decorative piece; for cocktails, Don Julio or Patrón is the better buy.
Smooth, sweet and creamy with vanilla
Vanilla & cooked agave
Sweet vanilla, caramel and toffee, with the sweet, earthy aroma of cooked agave and a hint of oak.
Velvety smooth and rounded
Remarkably smooth for a tequila: honey, vanilla and light wood, without the peppery sharpness of younger tequilas.
Long and sweet
A long, warm finish of caramel and agave that calls for another sip.
Flavor profile of Clase Azul Reposado neat at room temperature. The Plata is fresher and pepperier, the Añejo woodier.
Three ways to drink Clase Azul
A tequila at this price is best enjoyed neat. No salt, no lemon and no shot glass: small sips from a tasting glass, at room temperature.
Neat, in a tasting glass
Pour 30 ml into a tulip-shaped tasting glass or a small tumbler and let it breathe for a moment. Smell it, take a small sip and let it roll over your tongue. This is how you taste the vanilla and agave.
Glass: tasting glass →With one ice cube
For those who prefer to drink it cooler: one large, clear ice cube in a tumbler. It cools without diluting quickly and slightly tempers the sweetness.
Glass: tumbler →Tequila Old Fashioned
60 ml Clase Azul, a bar spoonful of agave syrup and two dashes of Angostura, stirred over a large ice cube with an orange zest. The only cocktail this bottle deserves.
Old Fashioned recipe →Cocktails with tequila
Clase Azul is too precious to shake. Make these tequila classics with Don Julio or Patrón; the Old Fashioned can be made with Clase Azul.
Tequila Old Fashioned
Tequila, agave syrup and bitters over a large ice cube. The luxurious way to drink a reposado.
Margarita
Tequila, Cointreau and lime, with a salt rim. The most famous tequila cocktail.
Paloma
Tequila with grapefruit soda and lime. More popular in Mexico than the Margarita.
Mexican cocktails
All cocktails with tequila and mezcal in one overview.The right glass for Clase Azul
A tulip-shaped tasting glass or a small liqueur glass for neat, a heavy tumbler for drinking with ice or as an Old Fashioned, and a margarita glass for the cheaper bottles. These are the glasses we recommend ourselves.
Everything you still wanted to know about Clase Azul
Is your question not listed? Check out our cocktail recipes or contact us.
To the cocktail recipes →