PATCH ABROAD: Learning About Tequila and the Blue Agave Plant

I don't drink tequila, but I will gladly soak up all of the information I can on the interesting plant used to make it. 

One of the day trips offered during my stay in Mexico last week was a visit to an old-fashioned tequila manufacturing plant. Our little group did not go on the trip, but those who did said it was fascinating and the building itself, very old and very beautiful. My interest was piqued.

By chance on the flight back to the U.S., my seatmate was Mark Littles, president of Capital Wine and Spirits, the largest broker/wholesaler in Pennsylvania. Explaining that I wanted to write an article for Patch about the agave plant and tequila, he told me that his company represents one of the finest brands of tequila, Herradura. I was unaware there was such a thing as "fine" tequila.

Many years ago I watched a movie in which a grizzled outlaw tilted a bottle of tequila to his mouth and drank it to the bottom. There was a worm inside the bottle. He caught it on his tongue and with a wicked grin placed that worm between his teeth and bit down.

It was GROSS!  

From that moment to this day I have never tasted tequila. My impression was of rotgut liquor that causes a nasty hangover.

But, clearly there was more to tequila than I realized and legions of devotees do not think it's gross. There are many websites filled with information about tequila — how it's made and the plant used to make it. With the Web information I can now say with certainty that there are no worms bottled in true tequila, but they are still added to certain types of mezcal, a close cousin of tequila. That is a story for another day.

The blue agave plant, Agave tequilana, is native to the arid highlands of Central Mexico — specifically Jalisco, Mexico. It grows at high altitudes in rich, sandy soil. It is a member of the lily family and is not a cactus as many mistakenly believe. Its flowers are pollinated by the Mexican long-nosed bat.

There are many agave species native to Mexico, but true tequila can only be made from the Agave tequilana and must be made in Mexico.

It is ironic that this plant whose sap is also used for health purposes has a negative side as well. The spines are poisonous and extremely sharp. Their prick is painful if one is unlucky enough to be pierced by them. The raw sap on bare skin will induce an itchy rash similar to poison ivy. But these agave limbs can be cut and stewed for a nourishing soup, and folk healers use all parts of the plant for salves and elixirs.

Herradura's website contains information about the weber blue agave plant used exclusively in their production of tequila. They keep 25 million plants in all stages of maturity in order to guarantee continuous production. The fermentation and distillation process is the same for all batches of the liquid, but the time the liquid is aged — from 59 days to more than four years — in oak barrels, determines the level of quality of their products.

For this gardener, I will stick to a small, container-grown blue agave plant that can beautify my windowsill for the cold months and transition outside in warm weather. When it outgrows my space I will find a new home for it or say fond farewell and add it to my compost pile.

Happy gardening.