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In the darkened movie theatre, a crackling screen displayed the faded image of Mexican men with sickles tending to a vast plantation of shoulder-high spiked plants, a mist rising off the field in the romantic glow of fading sunlight. Patriotic music swelled and a voice-over made sombre reference to the national treasure, a "gift that God gave to all Mexicans."

You would have thought we had just finished a film on art history or churches. But no, as the lights came on and we continued our tour of an original 19th-century tequila distillery in Jalisco state, it could only be this ancient "honey water" that inspired equal rapture. Just several hours earlier, we had boarded the Tequila Express train in Guadalajara amid live mariachi music from a 10-piece group (that would follow us the duration of the journey) to explore the history of the famed spirit at one of Mexico's oldest plantations near the town of Tequila.

I hadn't been living in Mexico long before I learned there was much more to tequila than the ubiquitous late-night bar drink swallowed as a shot with a lick of salt and a squirt of lime. I remember visiting a small tequila house in Playa del Carmen where I found a menu of more than 50 varieties and price ranges from several bucks to $20 a glass. A local friend ordered a round and we were served in brandy snifters accompanied by shot glasses of prepared tomato juice and a plate of cut vegetables -- carrots, cucumbers, jicama -- with sea salt and fresh lime on the side.

As I mentally prepared to take the entire shot in one gulp, my friend intervened. "This tequila is too good to drink like that. You need to sip it like a fine wine and chase it with sangrita," he said, pointing to the spicy mixture of tomato juice, orange and lime juice, grenadine and chili powder.

I looked around the tequileria and saw older couples enjoying their drinks leisurely, nibbling on the veggies and savouring the tequila like pre-dinner apéritifs. Nowhere were there rowdy, over-intoxicated tequila drinkers in sight.

Just as France has distinct wine traditions ingrained in its cultural fabric so does Mexico, but with tequila, its versatile national drink. This intoxicating elixir is a foolproof addition to any Mexican family gathering, but it is also a spirit that can be savoured solo by the upper middle class and elite.

Tequila began as a fermented pre-Hispanic drink called pulque taken from the blue agave plant that the Aztecs revered as a gift of the gods. Spanish conquerors introduced a distilling process in the 16th century that produced mezcal. Mezcal from a small town in Jalisco called Tequila became known as the best in the region and lent its name to an even more refined mezcal product we know today as tequila.

Eager to see first-hand the age-old process, we signed up for the day trip on the Tequila Express that would take us to one of Mexico's best-known tequila houses, Herradura (horse shoe in Spanish).

The tequila train took off one Saturday morning from the Guadalajara station in true Mexican form -- late. Even before we boarded, the station was buzzing as the mariachi band primed the crowd with traditional tunes, generating cries, whoops and applause from the mainly Mexican audience along for this popular day trip.

"I can't wait to see them after they get some tequila in them," one of the few Americans whispered to a companion. We had heard of the notoriety of the Tequila Express tour, which started in 1997 in co-operation with the Guadalajara Chamber of Commerce to give visitors insight into tequila traditions in Jalisco, one of five official tequila-producing states (the others are Tamaulipas, Guanajuato, Michoacan and Nayarit). People board the train perfectly sober, and several hours and samples of tequila later, stagger off more than a little tipsy. Determined not to meet that fate -- after all, this was 11 a.m. -- I passed on the first round of drinks as our cheerful car host, Nacho, launched into a history of the legendary spirit.

Of more than 130 species of the spiky agave plant, only the variety of the agave tequilana (Weber's blue agave) produces quality tequila recognized by the Tequila Regulatory Council. Along the 90-minute ride through Jalisco's countryside into the Amatitan valley, we caught glimpses of rolling hills of neatly planted blue-green agaves, which look like cactus or aloe vera but are actually from the lily family.

Years of painstaking care go into producing tequila. Agave can take 10 years to mature and are harvested with a sickle-like jima for the inner core that weighs 36 to 136 kilograms and is referred to as the pina (pineapple). It takes about seven kilograms of pina to produce one litre of 100-per-cent agave tequila.

When we reached the rural train station in Tequila, we were herded onto a bus with the Americans (including some pyrotechnicians who came to Mexico to "drink tequila and shoot fireworks at the same time") and were taken through the dusty town to the original Herradura distillery at the San Jose del Refugio hacienda. There, we saw the gigantic ovens where the pinas are steam-cooked for 26 hours and cooled before being crushed and milled to extract the sweet liquid called mosto. The syrupy aroma of charred agave filled the air and we were given bits of the cooked pina to sample (it tasted like sweet potato).

A fermentation process of seven to 12 days follows (Herradura's fermentation is all natural with no yeast) and then two distillations to produce the rough-tasting, young white tequila referred to as blanco -- the most potent variety that is available only in Mexico. Reposado (rested) tequila is aged six months to a year in oak casks, developing a golden colour and a smoother flavour. Anejo (aged) tequila is aged for more than a year in the casks for a smooth, woody aroma and dark brown colour.

As the tour and talks came to a close, we were led to a tent in the main garden where we dove into a buffet of traditional Mexican delicacies: chicken mole (a chocolate-chili concoction), pozole (a corn hominy stew), fried tacos, sopes, enchiladas and tortas ahogadas "drowned" in tomato sauce. More tequila was served and the mariachis continued to serenade. Several ranchero performers crooned and a family of lasso-throwing cowboys wowed us with a blur of rope-handling prowess. Before long, several people were dancing.

And then, with full stomachs and tequilas in hand, we sat back and let the "gift of the gods" work its magic.

Pack your bags

GETTING THERE

Most flights from Canada connect through Mexico City, about an hour away from Guadalajara. The Tequila Express departs for day trips Saturdays only, and includes passage to the Herradura distillery, a guided tour, lunch, live mariachis and tequila. Tours leave from Guadalajara train station at 10 a.m.; the cost is about $71 a person. For more information and tickets, visit the websites at tequilaexpress.com.mx or http://www.ticketmaster.com.mx.

DISTILLERY VISITS

Tequila is an hour's drive from Guadalajara along Hwy. 15 toward Tepic.

Herradura: Hourly tours at the San Jose del Refugio hacienda are available Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to noon. No reservations are required, but large groups are asked to call ahead: 52 (333) 3641 6709; http://www.guadalajarareporter.com

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Jose Cuervo: Hourly tours of La Rojena distillery run Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The English-language tours are at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Information: 52 (333) 3134 3368.

MORE INFORMATION

For tourism details, call 416-925-0704 or visit http://www.visitmexico.com.