Aguamiél - The fresh unfermented sap of the agave

[Xipe Totec]

From which pulque is made through fermentation and subsequently distilled into mezcal or tequila, tastes as sweet as honey, but smells like smoked cheese.

A strange an unexpected clash of gustatory expectations.

I recommend it if you ever have the opportunity to try it.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

1. Where would one get such a product if one would wish to try it.

We have Agave in abundance here in Tucson. Is it something one could make at home?

[Xipe Totec]

2. You can buy it along the roads of San Luis Potosi, Mexico...

If you wish to make it, you can. There are several videos that show the process.

A full grown agave will produce about a two liters of agamiél per day and will last about three months before it dies.

It takes seven to eight years for the agave to reach maturity.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

3. Wow! My limited shopping Spanish sucks (Took six years of German at a Lutheran private school)

Totally useless in my real life but the videos were fascinating! Sadly, the only thing I have ever bought from Potosi is an (fucking spell check won't let me write the proper word so I will just call it) a piece of eight. Unlikely that I will ever get to Potosi as they won't let my dog in but thanks to you, I learned something today and, in my opinion, any day you learn something is a day not wasted. Thanks

[Xipe Totec]

4. From Jalisco, the land of Tequila

This is a beautiful video about the state; a collection of videos for each of the states in the United States of Mexico prepared for the bicentennial of Mexican independence. It shows at the very beginning a jimalero preparing the piña (the pineapple of the agave) for fermentation. In the actual preparation of mezcal and tequila they harvest the entire plant at once rather than extracting the aguamiel because it is too long and laborious a process.

PS: Don't worry about not understanding Spanish in the previous videos; you can see what's going on even if you don't understand the words.

[Hotler]

5. I sthis the same as agave nector that I see...

in the grocery store next to the honey?

[Xipe Totec]

6. No, it is different. Aguamiél is the raw sap

Extracted after cutting the central flowering shaft when it buds (castration). Then the raw sap is collected.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aguamiel

Agave nectar is made by collecting the entire plant and caramelizing it through cooking.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agave_nectar

[Hotler]

7. Thank you...

In one of the videos the gentleman was getting ready to cut the center out of an agave. The first thing he did was trim the edges off the breanches/leafs. Was that because the edges were sharp?

Thanks again.

[Xipe Totec]

8. Indeed, the edges are sharp and the leaves are hard, almost wood like.

So all the sharp edges and end spikes are removed as a precaution.