The Wonders of Blue Agave

Fields of Blue Agave

A couple of miles outside of Valladolid, acres of silver-blue plants line the fields in neat rows.  In these fields are the "Future of the Yucatán," a sign proclaims.  The blue agave plant is cultivated to make tequila, as well as several other products including syrup, natural fibers, and building materials.  In the wild, blue agave is pollinated by bats; however, today we see propagation from shoots of the mother plant, which is more common.

Baby Blue Agave

Today, we're visiting a distillery, Mayapán, to learn about the artisanal craft of tequila production. The blue agave can take up to 10 years to cultivate for tequila production. As its spiky, fleshy blades grow above the ground, a large underground cone which looks like a pineapple called the heart or piña develops.  The piña is what is harvested to produce tequila while the blades are used in various ways or discarded.

Agave Hearts harvested for roasting, look like giant pine cones

The first step of the process is roasting the piña, which is cut into smaller pieces, and placed in a wood oven for 4 days.

Looking down into the wood oven

Grinding the heart, after it is roasted

Next, the juices of the piña, which have a sweet smokey flavor are separated from the waste parts of the plant, using a horse-drawn wheel.  The extracted juices are placed into oak barrel with water for 4 days to ferment.  The juice that is extracted is distilled using a cool/steam process.  The distillate becomes Tequila Blanco, the crudest and cheapest form of tequila.  From there, some tequila is aged for 3 months, and labeled as tequila reposada.  The finest tequila, añejo, will be aged for 1 year in oak barrels.  Although the alcohol content of the drink remains the same, the flavor and the color of this smokey liquor vary significantly.  Tequila is one of several traditional Mexican liquors that is prepared from agave plants.  Other types include Mezcal and Pulque, made from different varieties of agave.

Aging in Oak Barrels