Page 50 - Summer2008

NEKUTLI’S AGAVE hydrolyze the sugars. This process results in the
Nekutli’s agave is extracted from the salmi- removal of many of the mineral salts and amino
ana agave plant. When the plant is seven or eight acids.
years old, it produces a long ower stem called While I have heard mention of a company

a quiote. Soon after the quiote rst appears, it is selling what appeared to be traditional agave

removed, leaving a hole in the center of the plant. syrup, I could not get in contact with them. When
The plant tries to heal this wound, and aguamiel I tried to ascertain why nobody was selling tradi-
collects in the hole. Agua means water, and miel, tional agave syrup, I discovered that the  avor is
honey. This aguamiel is the true nectar of the too strong to be palatable for most people. That
agave plant. It is not the sap of the leaves, but “most people” surely does not include many of
the juice the plant stored to prepare to grow its the members of the WAPF, who relish their potent
quiote. cheeses and fermented “smelly” foods of various
The aguamiel can be collected twice per sorts!
day, each plant producing 6-8 quarts of aguamiel In order to sell agave sweeteners to a wider
daily. This production continues for approximate- market, commercial manufacturers decided to
ly eight months and can at times last for several create a more delicate product with a more palat-
years. The aguamiel is carefully removed by able  avor and this is the agave nectar we see on
indigenous farmers using a gourd and a suction store shelves.
device. The aguamiel is placed in an evaporator
to remove moisture. Here is where raw agave BLUE AGAVE AND TEQUILA
nectar is produced. If the vacuum evaporator is The story goes that IIDEA, originally a
controlled to stay below 115° F then it is called tequila manufacturer, one day approached the
raw nectar, and if it is not controlled, evaporation University of Guadalajara to  nd out what to do
proceeds more quickly, and this creates regular, with all of their extra agave plants from a year of
not raw, agave. high agave yield. The University suggested and
The resulting syrup is next hydrolized us- devised a way to make a sweetener.
In order to ing enyzmes. So rather than using a heat process, When the Spaniards came to the New
sell agave Nekutli uses an enzyme process with organic World around 1535 they brought with them a
enzymes to convert the carbohydrates into sugars. passion for brandy. When their supplies ran out
sweeteners Finally the agave is ltered, which results in a they had to  nd a new alcoholic beverage to re-

to a wider light syrup. place their lost brandy. The Spaniards found that
market, INDIGENOUS AGAVE SYRUP by distilling the juice of the plant now known as
the blue agave plant they could produce a potent
commercial Some indigenous peoples of Mexico make alcoholic beverage which over time has evolved
manufacturers a sweetener with the aguamiel, called in Spanish into what we now call tequila.
decided to miel de agave, or miel de maguey. The produc-
tion of this sweetener is quite simple: pour the AGAVE OBSERVATIONS
create a more agave nectar into some type of pot and then boil Using the term “agave nectar” for a sweet-
delicate it. The result is a very dark, thick liquid with a ened syrup produced from the aguamiel of an

product with characteristic smell and strong avor. Even to this agave plant, or from the juice of the heart of the
day this dark syrup liquid is used to treat several blue agave plant, seems like mislabeling to me.
a more illnesses. Some agave sellers properly label their nectar
palatable The strong syrup has a high concentration as syrup. And that is what this really is, a syrup

flavor and this of mineral salts such as calcium, magnesium, produced from the agave plant; it is not nectar.
sodium and potassium, as well as amino acids. It To me, nectar would be the aguamiel or some
is the agave has been consumed since prehispanic times. The unadulterated version of it.
nectar we main difference between traditional agave syrup The traditional sweetener and healing rem-
see on store and Nekutli agave syrup is that Nekutli vacuum edy made from boiled nectar of agave is called in
evaporates their product at a lower temperature English a syrup. To be clear, when you are buying
shelves. and then uses enzymes rather than boiling to agave nectar, you are not buying the nectar, but
48 Wise Traditions SUMMER 2008