Organic Raw Blue Agave and Organic Light Blue Agave nectars are made from Mexico's renowned Blue Agave, or Weber Azul. Organic Blue Agave nectars bring pure, succulent sweetness to foods and beverages. With a Glycemic Index of less than 39, Blue Agave nectar metabolizes slowly; it doesn't spike blood sugar.

Join us for a visit to the Organic Blue Agave fields and processing facilities in Jalisco, Mexico...

Blue Agave in the Field

		Blue agave shapes its native landscape, adding color and character to thousands of acres of Jalisco's subtropical region. Blue agave (Agave tequilana var. Weber), a member of the Amaryllis family, is a slow-growing plant that spreads runners from a "mother" plant. The runners are then harvested and replanted; some are cultivated for blue agave nectar (or tequila), while others become new mother plants. Grown to USDA Organic Standards, the agave is cultivated and processed without chemicals or genetic modification.
		After growing for 5 to 7 years, a mature blue agave stands 6 to 8 feet tall and its "sugar" is at its peak. The blue agave's treasure is held in the pina (so called because it resembles a pineapple after the leaves have been trimmed away). Wax in the blue agave's long leaves gives the species its bluish color.
		Farmers hand-cut the blue agave with a simple razor-sharp blade. (A skilled farmer can cut and trim a 100- pound blue agave pina in less than 5 minutes.) The field trimmings are left behind to restore the soil and reduce erosion.
		The fibrous blue agave pina is taken to the mill where it is pressed and its inulin-rich juice is collected and cleaned.

Inulin, a dietary fiber made up of complex carbohydrates, is not sweet by nature. Heating (or hydrolyzing) the inulin transforms it into sweet nectar. When making the Light Blue Agave nectar, the juice is heated to 161ºF (72ºC).  However, when making the Raw Blue Agave nectar, the process is lower and much slower: the juice is warmed to a tepid 118ºF (37ºC), and the low heat is maintained for nearly twice as long. In this simple process, the inulin becomes fructose, a slowly metabolizing simple sugar found in many fruits and vegetables. Filtering determines the blue agave nectars' flavor and color. The Light Blue Agave is simply more filtered than its Raw-Amber counterpart.

Light Blue Agave enhances food's natural flavors while Raw Blue Agave imparts a rich, subtly complex sweetness. Whether Light or Raw, the end result is the same: a sweet, low glycemic organic nectar that's perfect for baking, beverages, fresh fruit and table top use.

		Milling and juicing: the Blue Agave pina is crushed and milled; all of the raw juices are collected in tanks and the rest of the pina is recycled.
		Filtering: The blue agave juices are filtered through carbon-activated filters.
		Hydrolysis: In this stage the inulin in the agave juice is gently converted into fructose.
		2nd Filtering: Minerals, color and flavor are removed by mesh screen and diatomaceous earth (the fossilized remains of diatoms, a hard-shelled algae) filters.
		Evaporation: The blue agave juices are thickened slowly by evaporation at a tepid temperature.
		Finally, packaging .... and sweetening!

 

Fun facts

Blue Agave in the kitchen

• Blue Agave is 25% sweeter than sugar and so less is really more!
• Because it introduces liquid to recipes, cooks should reduce the other liquids in recipes by about 1/3. 
• It is highly soluble and non-crystallizing. It has a shelf life of 2 years.
• By law, Blue Agave is the only agave used in Tequila. In fact, because Tequila is so important to Mexico's economy, cultivation is closely monitored: The plant populations are thriving and new industries are being developed that can make full use of the blue agave's many attributes.

As a source of carbohydrates

• Agave has always been recognized as a good source of slowly metabolizing carbohydrates.
• Archeologists found evidence that the indigenous inhabitants of Mesoamerica and Aridoamerica chewed agave fibers more than 9000 years ago.

Blue Agave in the field

• It is one of 13 agave species prehistorically domesticated by native inhabitants. 
• Historians and ethno-botanists have traced first record of a Blue Agave cultivar, cultivated from wild and domestic agaves, to the late 1800s. Blue agave was selectively bred for its relatively short maturation cycle, baking qualities and compatibility with "industrial" processes. Intensive cloning of the cultivar allowed it to spread quickly.

Agave culture

• Agave as a divine character, Mayahuel (also Mayahuetl), the Aztec goddess of agave embodied Agave's sacredness and symbol of long life & health, dancing and fertility. She was a benign deity related to the gods of wind, rain and crops.
• "Agave" is derived from the Greek agavos meaning "illustrious," but those who tend Blue Agave call it Weber azul, chino azul or simply azul.

Other uses of Blue Agave

•  String, cordage, rope, shoes, fabrics, nails, paper, thatch, tiles and fuel, as well as personal care products ... soap, bandages and as a snakebite cure.
• The pinas' fibrous remnants, called bagazo, are recycled near the agave mills and used as livestock feed, fuel and furniture stuffing and to make bricks.