page_title: Agave tequilana
section_title: Tequila production
hierarchical_section_title: Agave tequilana / Tequila production
caption_attribution_description: English: Agave azul Plant
context_page_description: Agave tequilana, commonly called blue agave or tequila agave, is an agave plant that is an important economic product of Jalisco, Mexico, due to its role as the base ingredient of tequila, a popular distilled beverage. The high production of sugars named agavins, mostly fructose, in the core of the plant is the main characteristic that makes it suitable for the preparation of alcoholic beverages.
  The tequila agave is native to the states of Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit and Aguascalientes in Mexico. The plant favors altitudes of more than 1,500 metres and grows in rich and sandy soils. Blue agave plants grow into large succulents, with spiky fleshy leaves, that can reach over 2 metres in height. Blue agaves sprout a stalk when about five years old that can grow an additional 5 metres; they are topped with yellow flowers. The stalk is cut off from commercial plants so the plant will put more energy into the heart.
  The flowers are pollinated by the greater long-nosed bat, and produce several thousand seeds per plant, many of them are sterile. The plant then dies.
context_section_description: Tequila is made only from a specific cultivar of Agave tequilana called 'Weber Azul'. This cultivar is larger and blue-gray in color compared to the smaller and green normal A. tequilana. It is a rapid grower and prolific offsetter in keeping with its agricultural advantages. Tequila is produced by removing the heart (piña) of the plant in its seventh to fourteenth year (depending on growth rate and whims of harvester). Harvested piñas normally weigh 80–200 pounds (40–90 kg). This heart is stripped of its leaves and heated to convert the inulin to sugars. Then the roasted core is pressed or crushed to release the sugary clear liquid called aguamiel, which is, in turn, fermented and distilled into alcohol.  Tequila is also made with a sugar formulation 51% agave and 49% other sugars.
caption: Agave azul Plant
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