Tequila is a strong clear alcoholic drink from Mexico, made from the blue agave — a big spiky desert plant that looks like a giant aloe. The heart of the plant is roasted, crushed and the juice fermented, then distilled, which is why it is strong: usually about 40% alcohol, in the same class as whisky or vodka, not like beer or wine. Two things you should know about how people talk about it. First, it is famous for being drunk fast — a small glass swallowed in one go, often with salt licked from the hand and a slice of lime bitten afterwards — so in English tequila often carries the smell of a wild night out, and when someone says "there was tequila involved", they are explaining why the evening went strange. Second, good tequila is not that at all: it is sipped slowly like a fine whisky, and can be expensive. It is also the base of the **margarita**, the most famous cocktail made with it. Note it is a countable-ish word in a bar: "two tequilas" means two glasses of it. Say it teh-KEE-la — the qu sounds like k, and the middle is the loud part.