“If you are ’shooting’ you are not tasting anything. In a shot glass you trap all the flavors away from you,” Fowler said. “While tequila in a snifter allows it to open up, to encompass everything it has to offer. Tequila is gonna breathe, it is gonna have a bouquet, making the flavor come more prevalent.”

Fowler is not a sommelier, but a “tequila connoisseur,” or soon to become one thanks to a training on the history and making of tequila the whole staff took from the Consejo Regulator de Tequila. The organization makes sure that what you are drinking is really what’s in the bottle by keeping track of every single Agave plant used to produce tequila with a system of satellite imaging, according to Fowler.

The Consejo Regulator de Tequila, or CRT, wants people to understand “a day in a life of the worker who works the fields,” so that one can really grasp the intense labor behind the harvesting and aging of this prestigious liquor and be able to appreciate it better, said Fowler.

That is why at the end of the course the full staff, chef included, have to take and pass a written exam.

“We just took the test on Monday and it went well, they were ready,” Fowler said.

“Questions ranged from how many distilleries are registered in Mexico to what is the purpose of the CRT and what is the definition of tequila, to how old does Agave have to be.”

Bartender Gabriel Bould has experienced the training first-hand and even though he has been backpacking through Mexico several times and has tasted and enjoyed tequila with locals the way they drink it there — served in a medium-sized glass, with lime juice, a sweet orange liquor and no sour mix — he found the training very enlightening.

“I did not know nearly as much as I do now, I knew what [tequila] was made of and where it came from,” he said. “Now I have learned more [about] the aging process of tequila, the difference between tequila and Mezcal and its taste profile, such as highland and lowland tequilas, depending to the difference in terroir.”

Like the vineyards from where the grapes to make wine are harvested, Agave plants are also grown in different terroir, where the soil, the environment and the microclimate are best for the plants, Fowler said.

The Mexican government dictates that these “five appellations of origins” must be contained within the Golden triangle in the Pacific region of Jalisco, he said.

Everything that will be later called tequila has to come from these regions. Yet there is a major distinction between what is later sold in the United States, he continued — there is the pure 100 percent blue Agave tequila with no additive sugars and then there is the Mixto, which is only 50 percent Agave nectar and the rest can be everything from caramel to coloring.

“All that we serve at Oyamel is 100 percent blue Agave,” said Fowler.

Oyamel customers have enjoyed the pure tequila in the restaurant’s selection of margaritas, because they are “especially good and fresh and never give you a hangover,” according to third-time customer, Kelly Thomasson.

Some customers think the restaurant’s resolution to become experts in tequila etiquette is a positive step.

Drew Callahan is a real estate buyer and seller who just moved to this neighborhood and has already been to Oyamel four times because he enjoys the atmosphere and the delicious drinks. He thinks the certification will definitely increase the restaurant’s bar crowd, especially now that tequila seems to have come back into vogue.

“I think it will definitely command more respect for this place, make it a little more upscale or elite when it comes to fine tequila,” he said while munching on Chilaquiles, a vegetarian kind of nachos and some handmade guacamole.

“Especially now that tequila is the next martini,” he said.

Callahan said he believes people will come to Oyamel to try their varieties of tequila with different expectations from now on and might be tempted to try the Cognac-style drinking of tequila. In the meantime, he is sticking to his house favorite: a Siembra Azul Tequila-based classic margarita made with fresh orange and lime juice.

The Consejo Regulator de Tequila’s latest statistics show that in 2007 the United States imported 135 million liters of tequila and this is a reason to hope that the certification will help boost the clientele who will come in with an open mind to learn about tequila, according to Fowler. Oyamel will be the first restaurant in the District — and the ninth in the country — to receive the certification, he said.

The staff is ready and the stock is plentiful, with more than 62 kinds of tequila, many of which are “boutique tequilas,” made specifically for the restaurant, such as Siempre Ault Tequila.

The only thing missing is a little publicity. And that is why Oyamel is organizing a 12-day Tequila and Mezcal Festival from March 18-20. The event will help inform people that Tequila is recognized in the “spirit of the world” as much as wine, brandy and Scotch.

The first day will host an advanced tasting only open to 20 people, featuring a “massive distiller.” The president of the Sembra Ault Tequila’s company, David Suro, will walk people through a one-on-one tasting of the different samples provided.

On March 19, from 5 to 7 p.m. there will be free tequila tasting for everyone. The next day Ron Cooper from the Del Maguey Mezcal company, the “father” of tequila, will give a presentation on the difference between Mezcal and tequila.

But the staff at Oyamel is not only doing this for business, but also to educate others to enjoy tequila as if they were in Mexico.

“We just want people to enjoy it as much as we do in the CRT spirit of tequila’s in God’s gift to the world,” Fowler said.