Harvested pinas can weigh from 50 to 150 pounds, and 500-pound pinas have been reported, but they are rare. The pinas are taken to the fabrica where traditional distillers split the pinas in half with axes and stack them in ovens called hornos . There they are steamed for approximately 72 hours. Larger distillers may shorten the steaming process by using pressure cookers. The pinas are then crushed by steel rollers or by a tahona , a large wheel of volcanic rock slowly drawn round and round by a mule or horse.
Large distillers use a mechanical crusher, which resembles a wood chipper.
The pinas are then minced and strained to remove the agua miel . This extricated juice constitutes the basis of all tequila. After agua miel is strained, it is mixed with water and placed in large vats where fermentation is started by the yeasts found in the agave. Some agaves have as many as 40 different wild yeasts present. This type of tequila can be sold in bulk for shipping out of the country, and can be bottled anywhere, including other countries where the regulations regarding agave content are not necessarily maintained.