LAUSR

ABSTRACT In this work, an open-ended coaxial probe was used to characterize the dielectric properties of different tequilas and agave-distilled spirits in the range from 500 MHz to 20 GHz. The alcohol content of these beverages was clearly identified at these frequencies. From a Cole–Cole plot, the relaxation time (τ) was extracted and it was observed that there was a linear correlation between alcohol content and τ, where lower τ corresponds to lower ethanol content. In addition, dielectric differences were also found between silver, aged, and extra-aged tequilas. As aging increased, the real and imaginary parts of the permittivity increased (p < 0.05). These findings offered a new method for detecting alcohol content in tequila as well as for identifying tequila aging.