FAMILY :: LILIACEAE
I made a trip to Mascota, a small town in the State of Jalisco, Mexico, where I spent the good part of a day with the director of the agriculture school there, sharing information and dreams. We share a lot of the same training since we are both botanists.

The school has a project growing Raicilla Agave since this is a well-known, though somewhat illegal growth industry in the area.

Below are pictures of the various agave used in the production of popular drinks in Jalisco (the home of tequila):

The Agave used for Pulque, a beer-like drink.

The well-known Tequila Blue Agave.

Agave Maximiliana, commonly known as “Pata de Mula” (Mules Foot) or lechuguilla is used to make the Mascota version of Raicilla”

The Agave used to make Tuito Raicilla.

Each of these different plants impart different qualities to their respective products. I had often heard that the Raicilla from Tuito and Mascota were different but didn’t know to what extent.

These drinks all were originally developed from wild species growing locally and the methods of production are basically the same for the different versions of Raicilla and Tequila: The mature roots are roasted, the juice is extracted and then fermented and distilled. Pulque is a simple fermented drink from the sap of the plant, skipping the distillation process.

A side benefit of this trip was finding a good Raicilla source in Mascota. This version is a smooth, strong drink that takes about a day to recover from if you drink too much (don’t ask me how I know this).

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Tequila
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