Tecate is a brand of
Mexican beer, named for the town that it is brewed in. It was first brewed in 1944, and now claims to be the #1 selling
canned beer in the
United States, although I doubt the veracity of this claim.
History
Tecate was first brewed in the town of Tecate, located in Mexico, in 1944. In 1953, Tecate first appeared in a regional
market. One year later, it was distributed nationally as the first canned beer in
Mexican history. In 1955, Tecate was aquired by
Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc Montezuma. Other
dubious historical firsts for Tecate are introducing an
environmentally friendly cap (1989), introducing the first 12-packs in Mexico (1991), introducing Mexico's first
light beer (1992), introducing Mexico's first twist-off cap (1995), and introducing Mexico's first wide-mouthed can (1997).
Today, Tecate is distributed to over 30 countries worldwide, and claims to be "the most authentic Mexican beer".
Qualities
From the Tecate website:
- Beer Style: Mexican Golden Lager
- Unique Ingredients: A lager beer with a delicious aroma of malt and hops, Tecate has a delicate balance in its subtle, refreshing and thirst quenching taste.
- Color: Golden hue
- Taste: Refreshing and thirst quenching taste.
- Serve: Chilled (38 degrees) with a squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of salt.
- Alc. By Vol.: 4.55%
- Calories: 142 per 12 oz. serving
A Mexican-style Golden Lager is lightly hopped, and low to medium bodied in character, with a high amount of carbonation and low head retention. (In the style of Corona.)
Sponsorships
Tecate sponsers the Telemundo Mexican National Futbol (sic) Team broadcasts.
Tecate is also the official sponsor of the Grand Prix of Long Beach, and the Grand Prix driver Adrian Fernandez.
Corporate Information
Tecate is brewed by Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma in Mexico, and is distributed by Labatt USA, the company responsible for the importing, brewing, and distribution of beers such as Rolling Rock, Labatt Blue, and Dos Equis.
But what do *I* think?
Bleh. This beer is quite bland, watery, and lacking in character. Furthermore, it is only barely tolerable with a good amount of lime, and is quite thoroughly pwn3d by Dos Equis as far as Mexican beers go.
On the other hand, it's cheap, and their commercials have hot chicks. So drink up!
I suck. What do *other* people think?
Well, according to the folks over at The Opinionated Beer Page, Tecate is quite good, securing a rating of 8 mugs out of 10, and apparently knocking Carta Blanca from the top as their favorite Mexican beer.
According to the Ohhh... My Head... homepage, on the other hand, it was rated only a 2.15 out of a possible 5.33, with the comments that it was a "poor tropical style lager".
Contradictory! Let's go with some averages. On ratebeer.com, with 257 people rating this beer, it secured an average score of only 1.93 out of five stars, with reviews that include the phrase "yellow piss corn swill".
Let's try one more source with open ratings, shall we? So we'll head over to the BeerPal website, where with 20 reviews, Tecate got a rating of 2.80 out of five.
It could very well be that, :gasp!: opinion of this beer is completely subjective. However, it is quite clear that this is far from a high-end brew, even though some people apparently enjoy it very much. Cheers!
Sources:
www.cervezatecate.com
http://www.beerpal.com/beerinfo.asp?ID=4223
http://www.ratebeer.com/Ratings/Beer/Beer-Ratings.asp?BeerID=226
http://ohhh.myhead.org/comm/beer2541.html
http://www.tobp.com/review/beer.asp?t=228