David Suros, the president of Siembra Azul Tequila, spoke about the history of tequila and the future of the Mexican distilling tradition yesterday to members of the Harvard community.

Suros said that the making and drinking of tequila had been greatly looked down upon in Mexico until recently but has grown into a thriving culture. He attributed the newfound success to the changed perception of tequila by the media and an increased attention to quality by many tequila manufacturers.

Suros’s lecture was the penultimate event of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies “Mexican Studies Program.” The program features events and lectures that explore the Mexican culture. The event was moderated by Alfredo Corchado, a Nieman Foundation fellow and the Mexico bureau chief for the Dallas Morning News.

Suros said that in the past Mexicans were prejudiced against the consumption of tequila.

“The images that we have are the ranchero, the guy in the cantina, guys getting drunk and singing with a bottle of tequila,” Suros said. “Many people in Mexico, especially the high society stopped drinking. It was for the peasants, the workers. The United States started drinking it. Then tequila became okay to drink again.”

As to past prejudices about the quality of tequila, Suros explained that poor tequila was produced beginning with the outbreak of World War II. The liquor exports of Europe declined and because tequila was made in the Americas its sales skyrocketed in the United States. But demand severely outpaced supplied. The plant used to make tequila, agave, takes an average of eight to ten years to fully mature. As a result, “mixto tequila,” watered-down tequila mixed with unknown materials, was shipped to the United States to feed the demand. This scared Americans of the taste of tequila.

Suros said that thanks to Mexico’s new-found popularity it has become a prominent symbol of the country.

“Tequila is competing with the Virgin of Guadalupe as a symbol,” Suros said.

The event drew many new attendees to the Mexican Studies program series.

“I liked tequila,” Liwei Liu, a Chinese student at the Kennedy School of Government said, adding that it is popular in China.

One audience member asked about the marketing of Tequila. Suros stressed that it tends to be as “plain as possible.”

“Simple bottles, modern, minimalist,” Suros said. “We believe what’s important is inside the bottle, not outside.”