How Is Tequila Made? From Agave Field to Glass

Every bottle of tequila begins the same way: with a plant, a field, and years of patience. What happens between that first green shoot and the liquid in your glass is a process that separates the mass-produced from the genuinely crafted. Understanding how tequila is made helps you taste it differently and choose better.

It Starts With the Plant: Blue Weber Agave

Tequila can only be made from one species: Agave tequilana Weber azul, commonly called blue weber agave. This is not a cactus. It is a succulent native to Mexico that spends years storing sugars in its thick, spiky leaves before it is ready to harvest.

By law under Mexico's NOM-006-SCFI-2012 standard, monitored by the Consejo Regulador del Tequila (CRT), true tequila must be produced within specific regions of Mexico, primarily in the state of Jalisco. Every agave plant must be registered with the CRT at planting and again at harvest.

The agave plant matures slowly. It takes between 7 and 12 years for a plant to accumulate enough sugar in its core to be worth harvesting. The Jalisco highlands produce agave with a sweeter, more floral character. The lowlands, closer to the town of Tequila, yield plants with earthier, more herbaceous notes.

The Harvest: What a Jimador Does

The person who harvests agave is called a jimador. This is skilled, physical work that cannot be automated. A jimador uses a long-handled blade called a coa to strip the plant's leaves down to the piña, the dense, pineapple-shaped core that holds all the fermentable sugars.

A mature piña can weigh anywhere from 50 to 150 pounds. Choosing the right moment to harvest is where experience becomes everything. Harvest too early and the sugar content is low, resulting in a thinner, less flavorful spirit.

Cooking the Piña: Where Real Differences Begin

Once harvested, the raw piñas must be cooked. The goal is to convert the complex carbohydrates stored in the agave into simple fermentable sugars.

Brick ovens (hornos) are the traditional method. The piñas are loaded into a stone or brick oven and cooked slowly over 24 to 72 hours. This long, gentle cooking caramelizes the agave sugars gradually, preserving mineral complexity and producing a richer, more nuanced flavor. Brick oven production is slower and more expensive, but the results are evident in every sip.

Autoclaves are industrial pressure cookers that accomplish the same conversion in 6 to 12 hours. The speed is efficient. The tradeoff is flavor depth. Most mass-market tequila is made this way.

For a deeper look at how these two methods compare, read our article on horno vs. autoclave tequila cooking.

Extraction and Milling

After cooking, the soft piñas are crushed to extract the sweet juice, called aguamiel. Traditional producers use a tahona, a large stone wheel that slowly crushes the cooked agave. Modern mills use mechanical roller presses or shredders, which extract juice more efficiently and at greater volume.

Fermentation: Time, Yeast, and Character

Fermentation is where the aguamiel becomes alcohol. Yeast consumes the sugars and produces ethanol along with hundreds of congeners, the compounds that carry flavor.

Natural or open-air fermentation uses ambient wild yeasts from the environment. This process takes longer, typically 4 to 7 days, and produces a more complex flavor profile with a genuine sense of place.

Commercial fermentation uses cultivated industrial yeast strains that work faster and more consistently. The result is reliable but tends toward uniformity rather than character.

Distillation: The Copper Pot Difference

After fermentation, the liquid is distilled. By law, tequila must be distilled at least twice. The first distillation strips out impurities and concentrates the alcohol. The second distillation refines the spirit.

Copper pot stills are the traditional choice and remain the mark of serious craft tequila. Copper reacts chemically with sulfur compounds produced during fermentation, binding to them and removing them from the distillate. The result is a cleaner, smoother spirit that still retains its agave character.

Stainless steel column stills are more efficient for large-scale production but strip out more of the flavor complexity that makes craft tequila worth sipping.

Aging and Tequila Classification

Blanco tequila is either unaged or rested in stainless steel for up to 60 days. It is the purest expression of the agave. The Don Londrès Blanco is built for exactly that: purity and smoothness with nothing standing between you and the agave.

Reposado tequila rests in oak barrels for a minimum of two months up to one year. The wood softens the spirit and introduces notes of vanilla, caramel, and light spice while keeping the agave presence intact. The Don Londrès Reposado rests in American oak to develop a smooth, layered character.

Añejo tequila ages for a minimum of one year and up to three years. It takes on more oak influence, developing a richer, more amber spirit with notes of dried fruit, chocolate, and toasted wood.

For a full side-by-side breakdown, our guide to blanco vs. reposado vs. añejo covers the differences in detail.

What Separates Craft Tequila from Mass Production

Speed and scale are the enemies of depth. A distillery running autoclaves, fast commercial fermentation, and column stills can produce far more volume at lower cost. The tradeoff is a spirit that tastes built rather than grown.

The best tequilas reflect the full weight of their origin. Mature agave, slowly cooked, naturally fermented, distilled in copper, and bottled with nothing beyond what the plant and the process produced. That is what premium tequila actually means.

Don Londrès was built on exactly that standard: mature highland agave, brick ovens, natural fermentation, copper pot distillation, and nothing added. Every bottle is a direct result of the process described in this guide, with no shortcuts taken anywhere along the way.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is tequila made from?

Tequila is made exclusively from the blue weber agave plant. By law, 100% agave tequila contains nothing else. The heart of the plant, called the piña, is harvested, cooked, fermented, and distilled to produce the spirit.

How long does it take to make tequila?

The agave plant itself takes 7 to 12 years to reach full maturity before harvest. Once harvested, the production process from cooking through distillation typically takes 1 to 2 weeks. Aging adds additional time.

What is the difference between a brick oven and an autoclave?

Brick ovens cook the agave piñas slowly over 24 to 72 hours, preserving full mineral complexity and sweetness. Autoclaves are pressurized industrial cookers that complete the process in a few hours. Most craft tequilas use brick ovens because the slow cook produces deeper, more layered flavor.

What does 100% agave mean on a tequila label?

It means the fermentable sugars came entirely from the blue weber agave plant. Tequilas labeled simply as "tequila" without that designation can use up to 49% non-agave sugars. 100% agave tequila is always the better choice for flavor and quality.

Does copper pot distillation make better tequila?

Copper pot stills are widely preferred by craft producers because copper naturally removes sulfur compounds during distillation, resulting in a cleaner, smoother spirit that retains more agave character. Most premium tequilas are distilled in copper pot stills, at least for the second distillation run.

Understanding how tequila is made changes what you look for in a bottle. The process does not lie. A tequila built from mature agave, cooked honestly, and distilled slowly in copper tastes different from one that was not. That difference is what makes the search for a great bottle worth the effort.