The words “Blue Agave” will ring in your ears after a visit to Tequila, the birthplace of that fiery spirit that makes you wiggle your hips. After a tour through a few distilleries and tasting bars you’ll see why tequila isn’t just a shot with lime and salt, but a way of life.

The town of Tequila lies an hour north of Guadalajara and is home to the world’s most famous brands, including Herradura, Sauza and Centenario. The journey into the region takes you through rolling desert hills stretched with fields of blue agave, the cactus plant from which the liquor is brewed.

Tequila is a hot, slow-paced, dusty pueblo centered on a small stone cathedral. The air is thick with the scent of distilled agave roots. The locals wander sluggishly down the main street, which is lined with cantinas selling homemade tequila out of plastic jugs. Start your visit at the museum, where Sauza bottles over 100 years old are aging behind glass cabinets adorned with images of charros and banditos. Stand close enough and you can hear the thunder of horses, crackling pistols and the crash of tequila bottles being tossed to the dirt.

Tequila, which was first introduced to the north as “Mexican Whiskey,” has been around for 300 years. Where better to get a taste of this history than at La Rojena, one of the oldest distilleries in the region, and home to the Cuervo brand.

Quite at odds with the drink’s 300 year-old legacy, the tour begins with an MTV-esque techno-driven video describing tequila’s humble roots. You then go through the production process from soil to bottle. The agave cactus is harvested by hand using flat-nosed shovels to uproot the giant core of the plant, which resembles a mammoth pineapple weighing more than 100 lbs. The cores are lopped in half and thrown into industrial ovens. Baked agave, which tastes like maple brown sugarcane, is shredded and juiced, then fermented and distilled to produce Tequila.

After a few glasses of La Rojena’s golden premium añejo, Reserva de la Familia, you’ll join the locals in their lazy meandering about town. Saunter into a few of the bars to sample the homemade brews straight from the tap. There’s nothing smoother and smokier than an aged tequila created by locals whose hearts ebb and flow blue agave, and you can’t leave without a few bottles of your own.