The Silver Mines of Hostotipaquillo Part 10 of 10: Ex-Hacienda Santo Tomas (the silver refining area)

The patio where the crushed silver ore was mixed with mercury. The large metal door just to the right of center is the entrance to the zaguan (entrance hall) which leads to the casa grande's courtyard. (See Parts 7, 8, and 9). The structure to the right of the casa grande was used for storage of mercury and the equipment used for processing the ore, and possibly to safeguard the finished silver ingots. The fountain in the middle of the patio was a decorative touch that was probably added after the hacienda switched its focus from silver refining to distilling tequila. 

This is the final posting on ex-Hacienda Santo Tomás and it also finishes my ten-part series on the silver mines of Hostotipaquillo. In this part, I'll show you the patio where the silver was separated from the ore by amalgamating it with mercury. I'll also take you into the area where furnaces and an oven were used in the final stage of the refining process. Behind the ovens are the stables for work and riding horses. 

Another view of the storage building, taken from the atrium of the capilla (chapel). The main gate is on the right side of the photo, under the red tiles. On our third trip to ex-Hacienda Santo Tomás, we were finally able to gain access to the interior of the property when we found the main gate open. On the theory that asking for forgiveness is easier than asking for permission, we decided to go inside to look for someone who might allow us to explore. The families who own these old places are nearly always proud to show them off. True to form, the hacendado's son was in residence and he invited us in.

The patio, looking toward its northeast corner. My friend Jim B is the figure photographing the fountain. The storage building is in the upper left, with the main gate just to its right. Barely visible behind the palm trees to the right of the gate is the capilla shown in Part 7. In Part 8, I showed a couple of carriages parked in the zaguan. These would have entered through the main gate and off-loaded their passengers at the entrance of the zaguan, which is out of sight to the left.

Once the silver ore was delivered by pack mules from the mines, it was crushed into a thick powder by the grinders connected to the water wheel seen in Part 9. It was brought to this patio and spread out on the cobblestones to form a large, flat, circular pancake. Using the  hooves of horses, the ore was then mixed with mercury, copper sulfate, and a salt water brine. After several weeks of mixing, the silver amalgamated with the mercury and could be recovered for the next step. For a complete description of the amalgamation process and the history of its development, click here.

The enclosure containing the furnaces, oven, and the stable is accessed here. This doorway is located on the east side of the courtyard. The capilla is out of sight to the left. The figure in the doorway is Tom, another of our Hacienda Hunters. He rarely misses an opportunity to go along on one of these adventures. Tom is also a talented photographer whose photos I have occasionally used to illustrate this blog. 

Ex-Hacienda Santo Tomás has a maze-like layout. Although I got to explore some of the areas inside the casco wall which surrounds the main structures, I did not have time to view and photograph some of it. Hopefully, some time in the future, I'll be able to return for another look.

Looking back out into the patio through the entrance of the ore oven complex. The fountain and the door to the casa grande's zaguan can be seen across the patio. Notice the steel gate on the doorway of the oven complex and the thickness of its walls. Everything about this area, and the hacienda as a whole, says "security".

The oven complex

Two furnaces created the heat for burning off the mercury. At the far end of this structure is a metal door that is standing open. The outside of the door has a temperature gage. Based on descriptions I have read, I can make an educated guess about how these ore furnaces functioned. Fires in the furnaces created heat, which was then funneled to the large room where the silver/mercury amalgamation was placed. 

The heat caused the mercury to evaporate into fumes. These fumes condensed on specially placed surfaces. This allowed the collection and reuse of the mercury, which was expensive and could sometimes be difficult to obtain.  

The temperature gage is mounted at the center of the large metal door. The "C" with the degree symbol indicates that the gage uses the celsius scale. The highest temperature is 110C which translates to 230F. Although the boiling point for mercury is 376.73C, it is a volatile metal that can even evaporate at room temperature in some situations. Mercury's evaporation temperature can be lowered by applying heat.

During the Virreinato (Viceroyalty or colonial period), the Spanish Crown maintained a monopoly on mercury. Because it was an essential part of the refining process, this raised considerable revenue for the Crown. However, it also created a means for controlling the colonial mining industry and the men who were growing rich from it. 

A major problem grew out of Spain's involvement in various wars during much of the 16th, 17th, and early 18th centuries. Its ports were sometimes blockaded and ships carrying mercury to Nueva España (Mexico) were often captured. All this caused periodic supply shortages and sometimes even led to mine shutdowns and widespread economic disruption. 

The remains of various pieces of machinery are scattered near the ovens. The geared wheels of this one were driven by the large, smooth wheel which was once turned by a strap. It is not clear exactly what role this machine played in the refining process. 

Each of the two furnaces has a small arched opening on its back side The purpose of the openings may have been to draw air into the furnace to increase the heat. Notice the small sign in the upper right which says "PROD. FINAL", meaning "Final Product". This was where the finished ingots would have been collected after the molten silver was poured into molds to form them.

A small office stands between two of the oven complex's buildings. This was probably the office of the man who was responsible for the refining process. This manager would have been a key figure who reported to the hacienda's mayor domo (administrator). Education and technical training would have been necessary for anyone who occupied this position.

The stables

Behind the ovens are stables for the hacienda's work and riding horses. There are two wings, shaped like a capital "L", with five stalls in each. The lifespan of the work horses that were used to mix the mercury into the ore was probably fairly short. The chemical is very toxic to animals as well as humans. The horses trudged around a post centered in the pancake of ore spread out in the patio. 

This process occurred over a period of weeks, during which the horses' legs were in direct contact with the mercury. They would have also breathed it in through their lungs. When work horses were not available, human workers were sometimes used in the same way, 

A friendly horse comes over to say "hi!" The carriage or riding horses kept for the use of the hacendado and his family faired much better than the work horses (or the low level workers, for that matter). Fine riding horses were especially prized on Mexico's haciendas. They not only provided excellent transportation but they were a way of displaying status. Pride in the ownership of horses and in horsemanship is still found all over Mexico, but particularly in the state of Jalisco, which is the heart of Old Mexico.

Ths completes Part 10 of my Silver Mines of Hostotipaquillo series, as well as completing the series itself. I hope you have enjoyed it and have perhaps learned something about the role of silver in Nueva España and the early Republic. If you would like to leave your thoughts or any questions, please do so in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please include your email address so that I may respond in a timely fashion.

Hasta luego, Jim

 

The Silver Mines of Hostotipaquillo Part 9 of 10: Ex-Hacienda Santo Tomás (the aqueduct and water wheel system)

Water cascades from the aqueduct sluice down into the waterwheel structure. A still-functioning aqueduct provides water to Hacienda Santo Tomás. The non-functioning waterwheel once powered machinery used in the silver refining process. Water was also necessary for the tequila production that, over time, replaced silver refining as the economic focus of the hacienda (see Part 8 of this series). Santo Tomás was not the only hacienda de beneficio (refinery) in the area that employed a waterwheel. Those who have been following this series will remember a similar arrangement at ex-Hacienda Mochitiltic (see Part 5).

In this posting I will show you the aqueduct and waterwheel and describe how they worked together. I'll also tell you a bit about the long history of waterwheels. Those wishing to visit ex-Hacienda Santo Tomás will find directions in Part 6 or you can use this interactive Google map.

The aqueduct

The aqueduct brings water from a source above and to the east of the hacienda. The two pillars are part of some ruined hacienda structures. Behind them, crossing the hillside, you can see the dark line of the aqueduct's wall. In order to reach this point, you need to walk down the street past the capilla (chapel) and take the right fork up the hill. You reach the point seen above near the end of the cobble stone street. From here, you need to scramble up the hillside to the aqueduct wall.

Access to water was essential at every hacienda. It kept livestock and crops alive, as well as providing for the needs of the human inhabitants. However, water was especially important on a hacienda de beneficio, where it provided power for the machinery in a time before electricity was harnessed. In order to do so, the water needed to originate from a source that was higher than the waterwheel in order to utilize the force of gravity. As a result, haciendas de beneficio--including Santo Tomás--were nearly always constructed in canyons or arroyos. 

The aqueduct still provides a steady stream of year-round water. The wall on the right is about 1 ft. (1/3m) wide and is walkable, if you have a sure sense of balance. However, you probably should not try this if you are not comfortable with it. The aqueduct continues around the bend in the hill. I was impressed by the quantity of water it carried in this arid region.

Aqueducts have been used for millennia by civilizations all over the world. Four thousand years ago, the ancient Minoans on Crete developed what may have been the first system of aqueducts for irrigation. In other places, aqueducts were used to transport water to support urban life. For example the ancient trading city of Petra (in modern Jordan) used a system of tunnels and channels carved from solid rock to provide water to their city.

Around the bend, the aqueduct heads toward the spillway structure. The spillway turns at a right angle from the aqueduct and drops its load of water several meters down into the waterwheel structure. As you can see, the hillside leading from the hacienda up to the aqueduct is pretty steep. The hill continues up to the left to where it meets the fence that lines the edge of the 15D cuota (toll road).

The Deccan civilization of India built some of the earliest aqueducts. One of them was 24km (15mi) long and, among other uses, supplied water to the royal baths. During the Iron Age, the people of Oman in Arabia used underground aqueducts constructed as "a series of well-like vertical shafts connected by gently sloping horizontal tunnels". One of the longest ancient aqueducts was built by the Assyrians (in modern Iraq). It was 80km (49.7mi) long and 10m (32.8ft) high where it crossed a 300m (984ft) wide valley.

The spillway juts out like the prow of an 18th century galleon. Just above the wall on the right, you can see the north wing of the casa grande. The adobe wall on either side of the spillway is the south part of the casco wall that surrounds and protects the main structures of the hacienda. The modern pueblo of Santo Tomás rises up the hill on the other side of the arroyo.

The Roman aqueducts are, of course, the most famous. Their water projects were built all over Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. The various aqueducts feeding water to the city of Rome alone "totaled over 415km (258mi)...and set a standard of engineering that was not surpassed for a thousand years". 

This arch supports the spillway above. The view is to the west along the south casco wall. In the distance you can see a tall conical structure, which is one of the bastions that protect this side of the hacienda. There is another view of it in Part 6. One defect of the hacienda's defenses is the hill to the left which rises high enough that an enemy could look down into the courtyard inside the walls. Snipers in that high position could make movement difficult for the defenders.

Aqueducts were also present in pre-hispanic North and South America. Around 540 AD, the people who designed the famous Nazca lines in the Peruvian desert brought water to their communities with aqueducts that are still in use today. In Costa Rica, a unknown civilization of ancient people built another still-functioning system of aqueducts. Finally, when the Spanish arrived at the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán (today's Mexico City), they discovered two large aqueducts to bring fresh water across the salty Lago de Texcoco to the island city. The Spanish conquered the city, in part, by destroying its aqueducts. 

The water wheel structure

Another view of the water spilling into the water wheel structure. The long pipe running diagonally across these structures is a 20th century addition to the water system. The lower arch in the upper left provided the view of the casco wall and bastion seen in the previous photo. The large arch just above the pipe is the opening for the axle of the water wheel, which extended out to power ore-grinding machinery on both sides . Above the large arch is a row of square holes. These are for rafters which once extended out to support the roof of a structure that sheltered the grinding machinery.

The origin of the water wheel is even more ancient than that of the aqueduct. The very first may have been the shaduf in Egypt. It was developed around 4000 BC--six thousand years ago! A shaduf has a lever with a weight on one end and a bucket on the other. It is used to lift water out of the Nile up to the bank and into an irrigation ditch. Shadufs are still in use along the Nile today. Like they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

The waterwheel structure, viewed from the courtyard. The structure is approximately 50m (150 ft) long and 7m (21 ft) tall at the lower end. This waterwheel structure is much more complex than the one in my posting on ex-Hacienda Mochitiltic.

It was a long time before water wheels were used for anything but irrigation. People had been grinding grain using something called a quern stone since around 4000 BC. Around 500 BC, a rotary quern stone was developed as a way to grind grains using human or animal power to turn the stone. However, by 400 BC, a Greek had the bright idea of harnessing water to do the grinding, thus creating one of the first automated machines. Sometime between 200-100 BC, people began using horizontal water wheels ("Noria wheels") to turn the grindstone.

An arch was constructed in the wall in order to allow easy access to work areas. Two of our Hacienda Hunters can be seen in the courtyard through the arch, along with the portales of the casa grande in the distance. At this point in its base, the waterwheel structure is about 1.5m (4ft) thick.

Archeologists speculate that the idea of a horizontal wheel came from the widespread use of pottery wheels in the area around Sidon (on Lebanon's coast), which also has many mountain streams. In any case, a Greek from Sidon called Antipater wrote about Noria wheels in 100 BC. Previous to this, about 250 BC, other Greeks had developed gears made of wood. Not too long after the invention of the Noria wheel, someone else figured out that if you made the wheel vertical and used the previously-invented gears, the result was much more efficient than using un-geared horizontal wheels. 

Openings on either side allowed access to the slot within which the wheel moved. I am not sure of the purpose of these openings, but they may have provided a way to maintain and repair the wooden structure of the wheel. 

The first vertical water wheels were of the "undershot" type. This involved immersing the paddles of the wheel in the stream passing below, in order to push them and turn the wheel, which then turned a horizontal axle. The axle rotated the gears, transferring the energy to the vertical grinding quern. This was a great advance over the horizontal wheel, but the velocity of the water could vary according to wet or dry weather, reducing efficiency. Then the Romans got involved and created the "overshot" wheel, which drops the water onto the paddles from above at a controlled rate. The one at Santo Tomás was of this type.

Another access point in the structure. This one has a row of rafter holes above it. Jutting out from the wall, just below each hole, is a wooden nub which gave extra support to the rafters. Although the opening and the rafter holes are lined with brick, the overall structure is constructed with rough stone, covered with plaster.

The Roman invention of the overshot wheel occurred sometime in the 1st or 2nd century AD. The Chinese also developed an overshot wheel about this time and may have gotten the idea through trade with Rome. The overshot wheel was more expensive to build, since it usually required a dam to create a pond and a mill race to carry the water to the wheel. However, the increase in efficiency made up for the initial expense. The velocity of the water could be controlled and additional torque was produced from the weight of the water falling on the paddles. 

The arched opening at the base of the structure is the exit point for the water. Another aqueduct beginning at the opening carries away the water. The stone-lined ditch turns sharply to the right and continues down the hill past one of the buildings in the courtyard.

The ruins of a great Roman mill have been found in southern France near Arles. The mill used 16 water wheels, two abreast, in stair steps down a hill, to produce enough flour to feed 12,000 people. Over the following centuries, water wheels were used for many other purposes, including sawing wood, running bellows in forges, and pumping water out of mines. After the Middle Ages ended, water wheels became central to the birth of the industrial revolution. By the early 1900s, they were being used to produce electricity. And it all began with the shaduf, six thousand years ago.

The grinding disks

Several circular pits are located near where the waterwheel axle emerges from the wall. I took this telephoto shot from above, on the aqueduct spillway. During my second visit, I was as yet unable to gain access to the interior of the hacienda and so had to perch precariously on the aqueduct spillway to photograph what I could. I was somewhat mystified by the circles, but their proximity to the waterwheel structure strongly suggested a relationship.

View of the inside of a roofless room on the west side of the waterwheel structure. The opening in the wall is where the axle emerges on this side. Barely visible in the lower right is another of the circular pits. There were at least a dozen of the pits near the axle hole, with about half of them on each side of the wall, . The rafter holes above the axle hole show that this area, like the one on the other side, was also roofed at one time.

Full view of the circular pit seen in the previous photo. Each of the pits has a hole in its center. I finally concluded that these were the bases of grindstones, which had once been placed horizontally over each pit and turned on an axle projecting up from the center point. The grindstones themselves are long gone, along with the geared apparatus that turned them,  However, this must have been a complex mechanical operation, with the waterwheel providing the power to turn multiple grindstones simultaneously. 

The large chunks of ore were first broken up outside the mouths of the mines, usually by women and children. The smaller rocks that resulted would have been packed down the mountains by mules and then fed into the grinding apparatus. This would have created a coarse powder, ready for the application of mercury in the "patio process". 

This completes Part 9 of my Silver Mines of Hostotipaquillo series. I hope you have enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or comments in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please include your email address so that I may respond in a timely fashion. In the last part of this series, Part 10, I will show you the area where the silver ore was further processed into ingots and discuss how it was done.

Hasta luego, Jim

 

The Silver Mines of Hostotipaquillo Part 8 of 10: Ex-Hacienda Santo Tomás (administrator's house, courtyard, and fabrica)

The administrator's house is mostly in ruins but still photogenic. The two story house stands on the southern edge of the courtyard, facing the casa grande (see Part 7). Immediately in front of the ruined house is a large rectangular pond, which once may have been a swimming pool. The mayor domo (administrator) was an important figure on any rural estate, but particularly so on a hacienda de beneficio. His knowledge needed to extend not only to the general administration of a hacienda but also to the particulars of the silver refining process.

In this posting, we'll look at the mayor domo's residence and I'll discuss his role on the hacienda. In addition, I'll show you a bit more of the courtyard and its central focus, the reloj de sol (sundial). Finally, we'll examine the remains of the fabrica de tequila (tequila factory) that stands to the west of the mayor domo's house. I'll talk about the tequila production process and its evolution as a source of profit when the silver industry declined. For directions to Hacienda Santo Tomás, please refer to Part 6 of this series.

One of the corner pillars of the mayor domo's residence. My friend Jim B can be seen walking through the ruins in the background. Brilliant bougainvillea grows up one of the arched portales along the front of the arcade. The remains of additional arches can be seen at the top and on the side of the pillar. In the distance is a wall with a line of rafter holes and a door. This is the great waterwheel, which we'll examine in the next posting.

Sizable haciendas and those in remote locations were run by mayor domos and only occasionally visited by the hacendados (owners). Sometimes the purposes of these visits were to examine the books, to inspect the property, and to consult with the mayor domo on various problems. At other times, the hacendado and his family simply wanted a break from city life and to enjoy a short rural adventure. On these latter occasions, they might hunt game or fish the river or socialize with folks from neighboring haciendas. If the visit coincided with a fiesta, they might go into the local pueblo to enjoy the spectacle.

View through one of the portales toward the pond, courtyard, and the casa grande. Beyond the casa grande, the pueblo of Santo Tomás rises up the hillside. The mayor domo's house must have been impressive in its own right, with arcades lined with portales on two levels. Unlike the tile floors of the casa grande, this one is made of flagstones. Much of the the house was made from bricks, probably dating it to the 19th century, when brick became an affordable building material.

Unlike most of the people working under him, a mayor domo would have been literate and familiar with basic accounting practices. He needed to write reports and letters to the hacendado and various officials and to keep the books for the operation. He was a professional and needed to comprehend every aspect of the operation so that he could act in the hacendado's absence. The position of mayor domo made him part of the managerial class of Nueva España and the early Republic. 

Coutyard and sundial

The courtyard and its sundial, with the mayor domo's house in the background. Given the size of the mayor domo's residence, it may have needed a staff of its own, possibly including a maid and a cook. The courtyard is expansive, with a rolling green lawn and a number of shady trees. The centerpiece of the courtyard is a reloj de sol (sundial). I found this interesting because hacienda courtyards are usually centered on a fountain. Of course, such courtyards usually don't have large ponds like the one in front of the mayor domo's house. 

An effective mayor domo also needed to be a good manager of people, particularly in a large operation like Santo Tomás. He would have had several subordinates to directly supervise the various crews working in the refining operation and the tequila distillery. The casa grande also needed supervision, as well as the tienda de raya (company store). Depending upon their actual jobs, some subordinates might have been literate. If a hacendado owned several haciendas, as was often the case in the Real Hostotipaquillo (the mining district), a mayor domo might run them all, with a subordinate at each to handle day-to-day operations.

The reloj de sol sits on a pedestal, not far from the casa grande. Haciendas such as Santo Tomás also had clocks, of course, and the hacendado and his mayor domo would have possessed pocket watches. However, most workers were unlikely to own something as valuable as a watch, much less be able to tell time with it. In addition, clocks would have been kept inside the casa grande and mayor domo's house. Only people who worked in those structures and those who had business there would be allowed inside. However, anyone could check the sundial simply by walking through the courtyard.

The sundial is shaped like a half-moon. Roman numerals line the curved edge. At the center of the top, barely visible, is a thin metal rod that extends forward. The shadow of this rod indicates the time as it touches the various numerals. The clock has numerals for 6am to 6pm, which are generally the hours of daylight. There would, of course, be no way to read the reloj de sol at night. I saw a very similar sundial in the plaza of the pueblo of Jamay, on the northeastern end of Lake Chapala. Indigenous workers had crafted it in the 18th century for the Franciscan church there. It is possible that this piece has a similar pedigree.

Fabrica de tequila

View of the mayor domo's house, the casa grande, and the courtyard from above. The structures along the south side of the courtyard are placed on a series of ledges that rise as steps up a steep hill. I took this shot from the ledge that would have been at the level of the 2nd story of the mayor domo's house. In the center of the photo, just below the pillar and portales, is machinery that was part of the fabrica de tequila (tequila factory). 

From the point of view of the Spanish Crown, the colonies were established to benefit the home country and its ruler, the King. One of the ways these benefits were to be accrued was through Crown monopolies such as the one on mercury, a vital part of the silver refining process. Another monopoly was on alcoholic beverages, such as rum and brandy.  This not only financially benefitted the Crown but also protected the markets of alcohol producers and merchants back in Spain.

Fields of agave azul, north of Hostotipaquillo. The high desert succulent known as agave azul (blue agave) is a derivative of the original wild maguey. Pre-hispanic people used the maguey for a variety of purposes, The fibre from the spikey leaves was used for thread, rope, and sandals. Women sewed using the needle-like spike at the tip of the leaves. It was also used for blood-letting in self-sacrifice rituals. The piña (pineapple) that is left when the leaves are chopped off looks like a Hawaiian pineapple, only several times larger. The sap from the piña was used by natives to make pulque, a mildly alcoholic drink that is still popular.

The Spanish had little interest in the maguey until the Crown monopoly made imported liquor expensive. In response, Spaniards in Nueva España started distilling the sap to make mezcal, a hard liquor. At first, this was confined to outlying haciendas for local consumption. However, mescal became very popular and hacendados in maguey country gradually recognized its commercial potential. In the 18th century, near the pueblo of Tequila, a man named José Cuervo planted huge numbers of magueys at his hacienda. Agave azul evolved from these wild plants and the liquor they produced became known as tequila.

Pit where agave piñas were roasted. After the spikey leaves were cut off by a man called a jimador (named for the tool he used, called a coa de jima), the piñas were brought to this pit where they were heaped up and roasted. You can still see the carbon soot on the sides of the roasting pit. 

José Cuervo quickly became the 18th century's leading producer of tequila. Other hacendados soon followed, including members of the Sauza and Orendain families. All these names may be familiar to tequila fans because the companies established by them still dominate the tequila industry, almost 300 years later. Under Mexian law, only liquor made with 100% agave azul and distilled in the state of Jalisco (and a handful of municipalities in Guanajuato, Michoacán, Nayarit, and Tamaulipas) may be called tequila. 

Daniel studies a large grindstone set in a mysterious stone circle. Daniel was one of our group of Hacienda Hunters on this trip. I have often found old grindstones on the various hacienda sites I have visited and I thought this arrangement was a bit odd. Why was the stone standing on its edge and what was that circle about? There was no sign giving any explanation, so I took a quick shot and moved on.  Later, when I was preparing this posting, a distant memory of a visit to Oaxaca tugged at me and I went back and looked through those old photos.

The grindstone in operation. Back in 2010, Carole and I took a day trip into the country outside the city of Oaxaca. We visited a fabrica which still makes mezcal in the old-fashioned way, much like tequila was once made at Hacienda Santo Tomás. The Fabrica de Mescal Artesanal contains a small museum and this was one of its displays. The same sort of grindstone, rolling on its edge and pulled by a horse, grinds piñas laid out inside of a stone circle. Mystery solved! This grinding process is the second step in making mezcal. 

The ground up piñas were further processed here. The mash was placed in the circular drum, which was then heated by fire, fed through the opening in the small brick structure seen above. The drum was turned on its axis using the wheel, either by hand or possibly by a belt arrangement. Water, cane or corn sugar, and various yeasts would be added to the mash to encourage the beginning of the fermentation process.

Next, the partially fermented mash would be placed in this large vat. The mash would be further heated through the oven below it. The fermentation process lasted anywhere from four to thirty days. After the fermentation, distillation was accomplished in two steps, with the piña fibers removed for the second distillation. The low grade alcohol produced in the first distillation would be added back during the second. Blanco (white) tequila is clear when distilled. That which has aged in barrels from 60 days to a year has a slight amber tint and is called reposado (rested). Anything aged longer has a dark color and is called añejo (mature).

Añejo is considered to be the highest quality tequila and is always the most expensive. While blanco is often used in mixed drinks like margaritas, añejo is supposed to be sipped straight. Blanco is supposed to be harsher than the other grades, while reposado is less so, and añejo is smooth. However, I have consumed all three and have often found blanco to be perfectly smooth and enjoyable, at least to my north-of-the-border palette. I think that the most important aspect is the particular brand, and there are hundreds to choose from.

The smoke resulting from the process would have been channelled through these brick chimneys. The machinery from the last couple of photos is near the base of these chimneys, but is obscured by the foliage. I took this shot from one of the ledges along the south side of the casco. The bricks used to construct the chimneys indicate that they were probably installed during the 19th century. However, tequila manufacturing probably got started at Hacienda Santo Tomás in the 18th century, using more primitive facilities. 

The tequila production area is well within the high casco walls, with their protective corner bastions (see Part 6 of this series). Raids to steal the barrels of liquor would not have been an uncommon experience at tequila producing haciendas. In addition to being a lucrative target, hard liquor has always been popular with bandits and rogue soldiers, who were often in need of a brief escape from their hard lives. So, the fortifications originally constructed to defend newly cast silver ingots would later have helped protect another valuable product of the hacienda.

A tree has grown up in this storage room since the last time it was used. The purpose of the room was not clear, but barrels of tequila may have been stored here. This is likely since the room is quite near the distillation structures. Tequila production would have gradually increased here in the late 18th century and this was probably coincident with the decline of the silver industry during same period and into the 19th century. I don't know when or why tequila production ended here, but it must have been profitable while it lasted. 

This completes Part 8 of my series on the Silver Mines of Hostotipaquillo. I hope you have enjoyed it. Please leave any comments or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. In Part 9, we'll take a look at the aqueduct and water wheel. These helped power the silver ore grinders and provided water to the hacienda. 

Hasta luego, Jim