The Blue Agave

One plant, one variety

Only Agave tequilana Weber, blue variety, is permitted for tequila. Other agaves — including those used for mezcal and bacanora — cannot legally produce tequila.

Botanically, agave is a succulent. Its leaves grow in a rosette, and the plant is well adapted to the semi-arid and sub-humid environments of western Mexico.

The piña — the heart of the plant

The usable part of the plant is the heart, or piña (also called the cabeza). It concentrates the sugars that fermentation and distillation will eventually turn into tequila.

To reach it, the pencas (leaves) are stripped away and the plant is separated from the soil in a harvest step known as the jima. The agricultural worker who performs the jima is a jimador.

Anatomy of the agave

• Pencas — The long, fibrous leaves.
• Piña / cabeza — The heart of the plant — the sugar-rich core used to make tequila.
• Quiote — The tall flowering stalk that emerges as the plant matures.
• Hijuelos — Young shoots at the base, used to propagate new plants.
• Root system — Anchors the plant and draws water from arid soils.

Anatomy of the agave

• Pencas
  The long, fibrous leaves.
• Piña / cabeza
  The heart of the plant — the sugar-rich core used to make tequila.
• Quiote
  The tall flowering stalk that emerges as the plant matures.
• Hijuelos
  Young shoots at the base, used to propagate new plants.
• Root system
  Anchors the plant and draws water from arid soils.