Blue Agave and Its Importance in the Tequila Industry :: Botany

Blue Agave and Its Importance in the Tequila Industry Tequila, North America's first distilled spirit and first production alcohol, is known to most North Americans as a fiery beverage consumed during week long vacations in Mexico or by inebriated college students. Vast over-commercialization and misinformation concerning the product obscures the economic importance of the Blue agave (Agave tequilana Weber) the tequila-making industry, and their place in Mexican history. There are 136 known species of agave, but only one is used to produce tequila (2,p.4). During their exploration of the New World in the late 1400's and early 1500's, Spanish conquistadors discovered a fermented beverage called pulque that was produced by the Nahuatl. The Nahuatl are the original inhabitants of the area of western Mexico who primarily used pulque in religious ceremonies and for medicinal purposes in their culture. The primary ingredient in the fermentation process of pulque was the agave. As the early Spaniards ran out of brandy, they searched for a source of fermentable sugar for distilling. They experimented with the agave, which was abundant in the volcanic soils in the Sierra Madre region surrounding Guadalajara. The species that produced the most full-bodied taste was the Agave tequilana Weber, the blue agave or agave azul (1, p.1). In 1600, the first tequila factory was established by the "father of tequila," Don Pedro Sanches de Tagle, Marquis of Altamira. Don Pedro also was the first to begin cultivation of the blue agave for distilling (2, p.2) and in 1636, Governor Don Juan Canseco y Quià ±ones authorized the distillation and manufacture of mescal, in order to facilitate tax collection on production. However, Spanish rule suppressed tequila production and in 1785, the production of all native distilled spirits was banned. In 1792, the ban was lifted but tequila production did not flourish again until Mexican independence in 1821. In the early to mid 1800's, many tequila distillers began large-scale production. Some businesses eventually failed but two of the largest are still in business today. The first licensed manufacturer was Jose Antonio Cuervo who began cultivation in 1758. His Casa Cuervo proved very profitable. By the mid-1800's, his families fields had more than 3 million agave plants. Cuervo was also the first distiller to put tequila into bottles. Today Cuervo is the largest manufacturer of tequila, with a huge export market. In 1873, another major distiller, Don Cenobio Sauza, acquired La Antigua, a company founded in the early 1820's.