What Type of Agave Plant Makes Tequila? Only agave plants from the officially recognized tequila-producing Mexican states of Jalisco, Nayarit, Tamaulipas, Michoacan, and Guanajuato are used to make tequila.
All tequila is mezcal, but not all mezcal is tequila.
Not all mezcal is mezcal, but all tequila is mezcal. Mezcal can be created from more than 30 different types of agave, whereas tequila can only be prepared from the blue agave, or agave tequilana (AKA maguey). (Agave espading is used to make the majority of mezcals.)
Agave is not a cactus.
A cactus is not an agave. Cacti and tequila have nothing in common. Unless you are seated next to one and drinking some joven. A desert succulent is the agave plant.
Blue agave typically takes eight years to mature.
In terms of what agave is not, it is difficult to grow. Even under ideal desert conditions, the average blue agave takes eight years to reach maturity. And that merely brings you to the harvest. Add more time if you want your tequila to age in any way!
The blue agave plant only has one life to give.
The fact that blue agave is a single-use plant doesn’t help efficiency. The agave plants’ piasor hearts—called so because they eventually end up looking like pineapples—are torn out when they are finally ready to be harvested. These components will be fermented, mashed, and steamed to create tequila.
Tequila is legally required to be only 51% blue agave.
Although blue agave is the primary ingredient in tequila, it need not be used entirely. Although many tequilas will claim to be “100% Blue Agave,” the legal minimum is 51 percent. A “mixto tequila” is produced when distillers add a neutral spirit made from cane sugar juice to the remaining portion. As expected, these are typically considered to be of poorer quality.
Your tequila bottle should not have a worm in it.
Just so you know, there won’t be any worms in the tequila. The connection between tequila and worms is (presumably) a result of the frequent consumption of maguey plants by “gusano de maguey,” tiny larvae that, if unchecked, would develop into a mariposa, or a type of butterfly. Mezcal, not tequila, is the type of alcohol used when they are placed in bottles as larvae. Basically, if there is a worm in the tequila, don’t drink it. Who knows what else might be wrong in the bottle if the maker made that mistake.
Young tequila is really young.
We consume a great deal of young tequila. Aejo is 1 to 3 years old, reposado is 2 months to 1 year old, and blanco/joven is barely 0 to 2 months old. According to age norms, that is quite young. But there is something known as “extra aejo, elevating tequila maturation to a new level of sophistication” (3 years or more).
You can buy tequila that has been aged for over a decade.
Although three years may seem like a long time to age tequila, one of the oldest “extra aejos” that are currently available is actually 11 years old and costs more than $1,000. It is completely organic blue agave that has been aged in French oak. A fantastic (really, truly fantastic) present for the devoted tequila drinker in your life?
The name tequila carries legal weight around the globe.
Tequila is protected as a Mexican designation of origin in numerous nations, much as products from the European Union with protected designations (such as Champagne and Prosciutto di Parma). NAFTA stipulates that protection for Americans and Canadians. Do not attempt to make anything and call it tequila in your bathtub.
The Tahona process is as crafty as it gets.
Tequila can be as handcrafted and unique as the tiniest, most artisanal spirit you can find. even if a major producer made it. See, those enormous pias are steamed and crushed to create tequila. The Tahona technique, which essentially involves dragging a huge volcanic wheel over the steaming agave hearts, is one way that pias can (and have been) pulverized. Donkeys have historically and continue to do so in at least one location. We are unsure what qualifies as artisan if the usage of a donkey does.
The basics
Agave is a desert-adapted plant native to Mexico and the southern United States. However, just because they originate from the same country does not mean they are related. Actually belonging to the same family as asparagus is agave.
Less than half of the agave species used for landscaping have sufficient natural sugars to be distilled into tequila or mezcal. However, all agave have prickly leaves that protrude from the pia, which is the plant’s center region. The plants develop after seven to twenty-five years and typically live for about fifteen to thirty years. A tall stalk emerges from the plant’s center at the conclusion of its lifespan.
Agave plays a significant role in the ecosystem of the desert and is essential to comprehending the area as a whole. The lesser long-nosed bat, a vulnerable species, relies on flowering agave to exist, and agave’s genetic makeup may be able to help plant researchers develop more drought-resistant varieties.
Antonio Rodriguez, Patrn’s director of production, explains to me that each agave is unique.
Their makeup, and consequently the quantity of sweetness and flavor that the terroir develops, are all significant distinctions in the production of tequila and mezcal.
Agave for tequila
Tequila must by law be produced in the Mexican states of Jalisco, Nayarit, Tamaulipas, Michoacan, and Guanajuato using Tequilana Weber or Blue Weber agave. The final spirit must include at least 50% agave to be considered tequila, although the best tequilas are created with 100% agave.
Rodriguez explains that the Weber Blue agave was chosen as the preferred agave for tequila because of its higher sugar concentration when compared to other agave plants, as well of its life cycle, reproductive strategy, and overall plant strength.
In its most basic form, Blue Weber features citrus and herbal spice aromas. However, manufacturers like Patrn and Olmeca use the “tahona process” for certain of their goods to extract additional tastes. According to Rodriguez, this method, which comprises crushing the agave with a stone wheel, can provide sweet flavors resembling those of sweet potatoes.
The tequila absorbs a range of flavors while maturing in barrels. The tastes of vanilla and caramel are added by American oak, dried fruits by French oak, and citrus and fresh wood by Hungarian oak to the spirit.
The best-selling tequila brands of 2017, according to a rating by Drinks International, are Don Julio, Calle 23, Ocho, Tapatio, and Patrn.
Agave for mezcal
Mezcal is a homegrown beverage that has been manufactured in Mexico for at least 400 years, mostly by small families and rural communities. The Nahuatl words “metl, which means agave, and “ixcalli, which means cooked or baked, are the source of the name.
Mezcal certification is under transition right now. One thing to keep in mind is that, while mezcal is a type of mezcal, tequila is not. Mezcal can only currently be produced in eight states as of this writing. Espadin agave from Oaxaca state is used to make the majority of mezcal. According to Richard Betts, the creator of Sombra Mezcal, the agave is collected when it is just about to reproduce, when “its energy stores are the largest and the pia is the most mature.”
One or more of the numerous varieties of wild agave permitted for mezcal production are employed in traditional methods (the website MezcalPhD lists more than 30 types of agave plants known to be used in mezcal). The plants are first burned underground beneath stones and soil, after which fermented agave juice is distilled in copper stills or clay pots that fire wood.
According to Danny Mena, a co-founder of Mezcales de Leyenda, the type of agave a producer employs mostly depends on the region in which it is produced.
Mena reports that Guadalupe, one of our producers, grows Americana, Inaquidens, and Cupreata exceptionally well in Michoacán.
Each of these agaves has distinctive characteristics. The only actual requirement for an agave is that it have enough sugars to support fermentation.
There is no defined flavor profile for mezcal because of the different agave species and the terroir of the areas where they are farmed and distilled. Customers should anticipate a sweet nose with lingering, sweet flavors in the United States, where the bulk of mezcal bottles are created from espadon. Espadn also takes in more smoke during the distillation process, according to Mena, giving it a more burnt appearance.
In 2017, major multinational liquor companies began investing actively in the mezcal industry, as evidenced by Pernod Ricard’s acquisition of Del Maguey.
What plant produces tequila?
In Mexico, the sole agave species known as blue agave (Agavetequilina) is fermented to make tequila. In actuality, the Weber Azul cultivar of the blue agave is where the majority of tequila is derived from.
Although it can also be found in the surrounding states of Colima, Nayarit, and Aguascalientes, the blue agave grows mostly in the Mexican state of Jalisco. In rich, sandy soils above 5,000 feet in elevation, it flourishes.
The blue agave grows to a height of five feet or more, and its leaves are as long as your arm. To get to the heart (or pia) inside, these leaves are chopped off during the harvesting process.
The larger long-nosed bat pollinates blue agave.
Regards, bats! Unfortunately, farmers typically develop blue agave by planting shoots rather than seeds, which is bad news for biodiversity. Long-nosed bats have few floral sources in places where farms predominate because removing the reproductive stalk causes the agave’s heart to enlarge. Due to the lack of genetic mixing between parent plants, this reproductive method causes a loss of genetic diversity. This makes blue agave susceptible to blight and disease.
Blue agave—is it a cactus?
Agave plants, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, are members of the century plant family Agavaceae, whereas the perennial cactus species are members of the Cactaceae family.
The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Service states that the agave plant is not a cactus, despite the fact that both are considered succulents, or “plants with highly specialized anatomical features such as thick waxy cuticles, fleshy or minimal leaves, modified leaves (spines), and roots with extra storage capabilities for food and water.”
The vast majority of the hundreds of agave plant species are monocarpic, which means they only blossom once before dying. Included in this are species like the well-known century plant, Agave Americana, which can live for up to 30 years or more but never for a century before flowering. The majority of cacti flower frequently, depending on the species.
The presence of leaves—the agave has them, whilst the cactus has not—is another notable distinction between an agave and a cactus. Again, depending on the species, many agave leaves can be eaten as long as they are cooked. However, in the past, Native Americans frequently poisoned the points of their arrows with extracts from the raw agave leaf. Stems are what make up a normal cactus’ green parts.
Which agave plant component is utilized to make tequila?
The succulent blue agave plant, which is only found in Mexico, is used to make genuine tequila. Tequila is made using seven distinct processes: harvesting, cooking, fermentation, distillation, aging, and bottling. The Consejo Regulador de Tequila controls every process, ensuring that general rules are followed to provide the highest level of quality. Each distillery has its own agave source, production methods, quality control measures, and other processes that will impact the flavor of each tequila.
The agave plant is still planted, cared for, and harvested manually, relying on centuries-old knowledge that has been passed down from generation to generation. In the distillery’s own fields, which have been farmed for three generations, the agave used to make IZKALI’s tequila is grown. The plants are carefully handled until they are mature and ready to harvest, during which time they grow in orderly rows for six to ten years.
or the harvester “Jimador uses a Coa, a sharp, curved tool, to remove the agave leaves. Before the entire heart of the agave, known as the pia, is removed from the ground, he trims the 200 or so leaves that surround it. the heart alone, or “Tequila is made from pia, a component of the agave plant. The size of the agave heart is not nearly as significant as its sugar content, despite mature pias weighing roughly eighty to three hundred pounds. The pia will need more time to build up the starches that will eventually ferment into sugars when the agave ages. To make one liter of exquisite tequila, about 15 pounds of agave pias are needed.
In this step, a chemical reaction within the pia that transforms complex carbohydrates into simple fermentable sugars is triggered via steam injection in conventional brick ovens or stainless steel autoclaves. Additionally, cooking softens the pia, which facilitates the simpler extraction of sugar.
The cooked agave heads are then taken to a milling room to extract the sugar. To liberate the juice from the cooked pias, they are either crushed, “Aguamiel will undergo fermentation. Crushing the pias with a pestle is the customary procedure “tahona, a large grinding wheel that is driven by oxen, mules, or tractors inside of a pit. Nowadays, mechanical crushers are used in distilleries to separate the liquids from the fiber. The pias are minced, then strained to remove the fluids and rinsed with water.
In sizable wooden vats or stainless steel tanks, carbohydrates are converted to alcohol during the fermentation process. In order to speed up and regulate the fermentation, yeast may be introduced. The yeast that naturally grows on agave leaves is still utilized today in many distilleries, but it has been cultured. Depending on the technique, fermentation usually takes seven to twelve days.
The majority of the barrels used to age tequila were previously used to age bourbon and are either French or American white oak. Reposados range in age from two to twelve months, Aejos range in age from one to three years, and Extra Aejos range in age from three years and beyond. Tequila will have more color and tannins when it has aged for a longer period of time. The taste of the tequila will also be influenced by the condition of the barrels, including their age, previous use, and whether or not their interiors have been burned or toasted.
Similar to champagne, the manufacturing of tequila is restricted to five Mexican states: Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacn, Nayarit, and Tamaulipas. Jalisco is incredibly proud to be the tequila producing hub. It is the only state that is recognized as an Appellation of Origin as a whole. It is regarded as the origin of tequila production and the setting of industry standards. The other states are only allowed to cultivate blue agave in specific, constrained areas. All tequilas made from 100 percent agave must be bottled in the authorized Mexican regions and display “Hecho en Mexico/Made in Mexico” labels not made entirely from agave “La, or “mixtos,” can be purchased in bottles and sold wherever in the world.
Each of the seven stages contributes a variety of environmental and human elements that each give tequila its distinct flavor. To achieve its wonderful and distinctive flavor, IZKALI collaborates closely with its distillery.