Additive-free tequila: the list, the 1% rule, and the big names checked

Additive-free tequila is tequila made without the four ingredients Mexican rules let a producer add after distillation: caramel colour, oak extract, glycerin and sugar syrup. The independent list most buyers relied on, started by Tequila Matchmaker in 2020, last showed 134 tequila brands on 6 October 2024, among them Fortaleza, Siete Leguas, Tequila Ocho, G4, Tapatio, El Tesoro and Cascahuín. By the next day every tequila was gone from it, after warning letters from the tequila regulator, and it is still empty. Patrón, Don Julio, Casamigos, Espolòn, 1800, Teremana and Herradura were not on it.

No one certifies it today. The last independent list, archived on 6 October 2024, had 134 tequilas, including Fortaleza, Siete Leguas, Tequila Ocho, G4, Tapatio, El Tesoro, Cascahuín, Arette, Mijenta, Volans and Pasote. The full list is on this page with each brand's NOM, so you can check a bottle against it.

Not for tequila. Tequila Matchmaker took every tequila off its list in early October 2024, after Mexico's Consejo Regulador del Tequila (CRT) sent letters to small brands warning of penalties up to seizure of product over additive-free language, including on third-party websites. The list now belongs to the Additive Free Alliance, a non-profit, and its brand table showed no brands when we checked on October 20, 2026.

Patrón says it uses no additives, and from October 2023 its bottles carried a gold seal reading "endorsed Additive Free by the CRT". It was not on the independent Additive Free Alliance list when that list was last published in October 2024, and in February 2025 the CRT suspended Patrón's exports for four days over its additive-free marketing, lifting the suspension once the phrase came off Patrón's website. Mexican rules let tequila contain up to 1% caramel colour, oak extract, glycerin or sugar syrup by weight, and the tequila regulator (CRT) does not allow "additive free" on labels, so the bottle itself cannot tell you.

Not confirmed. Espolòn was not on the Additive Free Alliance list, the independent list started by Tequila Matchmaker, when it was last published in October 2024, and that list has been empty since. Mexican rules let tequila contain up to 1% caramel colour, oak extract, glycerin or sugar syrup by weight, and the tequila regulator (CRT) does not allow "additive free" on labels, so the bottle itself cannot tell you.

Not confirmed. Don Julio was not on the Additive Free Alliance list, the independent list started by Tequila Matchmaker, when it was last published in October 2024, and that list has been empty since. Mexican rules let tequila contain up to 1% caramel colour, oak extract, glycerin or sugar syrup by weight, and the tequila regulator (CRT) does not allow "additive free" on labels, so the bottle itself cannot tell you.

Not confirmed. Casamigos was not on the Additive Free Alliance list, the independent list started by Tequila Matchmaker, when it was last published in October 2024, and that list has been empty since. Mexican rules let tequila contain up to 1% caramel colour, oak extract, glycerin or sugar syrup by weight, and the tequila regulator (CRT) does not allow "additive free" on labels, so the bottle itself cannot tell you.

None of them was on the Additive Free Alliance list when it was last published in October 2024, and none has an independent confirmation we could find. That is not proof any of them uses additives: brands had to apply to be listed.

Four, under Mexico's tequila standard NOM-006-SCFI-2012: caramel colour, natural oak extract, glycerin and sugar-based syrup. Together they may not exceed 1% of the tequila's weight before bottling, which is about 7.1 g in a 750 mL bottle. Flavoured tequilas are a separate case: they may add sweeteners and flavourings approved by Mexico's health ministry, up to 75 g of sugar per litre, and must name the flavour on the label.

On paper it is the class with the least room for them. NOM-006 defines blanco as "sin abocante", without the smoothing additions, while joven (gold), reposado, añejo and extra añejo may all be abocado. The same definition also points to the clause that sets the 1% limit, so the wording is not airtight, and a blanco is only as clean as its producer. It is still the safest bet if you are buying without a list.

We know of no study that compares them. The amount of alcohol drives a hangover first, and congeners, the by-products of fermentation and ageing, add to it: in a Brown University trial, bourbon left people feeling worse than vodka at the same breath alcohol. The 1% additives are not congeners, and at about 0.42 g a shot at most they are a small dose. Blanco over aged tequila, and fewer drinks, matter more. See the healthiest tequila ranking.