🥃 Blue agave

If you want to know what tequila is actually made from, the answer is blue agave. Blue agave is Agave tequilana Weber, azul variety, the only plant from which tequila may be made under the Mexican standard NOM-006-SCFI-2012. The heart of the plant, the piña, is used; it yields a must that is fermented and distilled. The agave must be grown in the appellation zone.

The category depends on the share of agave. In “100% de agave” all sugars come from blue agave, and the drink is aged and bottled at the producer's plant in the zone of origin. In the “Tequila” category agave must supply at least 51% of the must's sugars, the remaining up to 49% coming from other sources. According to the Tequila Regulatory Council, the zone covers 181 municipalities in five states: Jalisco, Michoacán, Guanajuato, Nayarit and Tamaulipas.

Mezcal is made differently: the standard NOM-070-SCFI-2016 permits any species of the genus Agave, cultivated or wild, but only 100% agave. For “artesanal” mezcal the hearts are cooked in pit or masonry ovens, and for “ancestral” only in pit ovens. In the US, the standard for agave spirits requires at least 51% of sugars from plants of the genus Agave.

Why it matters to you. If a bottle of tequila does not say “100% de agave”, part of the sugars may have come from another raw material. On Mexican labels the agave species for mezcal is given by scientific or common name. The plant itself is only a raw material; the drinks made from it are strong, from 35% vol. WHO: there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.