About Agave 

Agave may have been cultivated for aguamiel as early as 1239 CE, according to archeological records. Aztecs were very strict about its use and only priests were allowed to drink a fifth glass of pulque - often to help keep them in the mood for their frequent ritual sacrifice and cannibalism. Aztec punishment for public drunkenness was beating, loss of public office and even death, except on the five last days of the calendar year, known as the 'Days of the Dead.' Seniors were generally exempt from these laws. Other pre-Columbian Mexicans fermented the agave syrup into a drink the Aztecs called octili poliqhui - which the Spaniards corrupted into pulque.

To harvest the agave syrup, the tlachiquero cuts a cavity into a ripe (10-12-year old) maguey piña. The syrup (aguamiel) flows into this hollow and is siphoned off by hand using a long-necked gourd (acocote) or a hollow stick of bamboo and carried in a pitcher (apilote) . A good maguey can last up to a year and produce 2,500 liters of aguamiel. The syrup is collected in a wooden barrel and fermented overnight in a place called a tinacal. Sometimes it is fermented with cultivated yeast, sometimes from naturally-occurring yeasts (from the air or the leaves of the maguey).

PENCAMIEL Natural Agave Syrup is a natural fructose sweetener extracted from Mexico's Agave plant. Traditionally, the indigenous people of Mexico gathered the sweet juice, "aguamiel", from various varieties of Agave. They also used it as a sweetener and for special celebratory beverages.

Some Agave contains a high level of polyfructose or inulin. A gentle enzymatic process has been developed which transforms the polyfructose into a simple fructose and dextrose syrup, a pure natural sweetener called Agave Syrup.