Pressing

Once  cooked, the agave hearts are cut into small pieces, which are pressed to extract the agave juice, called most to fresco, or “fresh must“.

 

In the past, extraction was carried out using a circular grindstone called a tahona. Today, it is done in several stages, in which the agave is ground more and more finely until it produces the must, with the help of water injection.

 

The extracted juices drain into vats and then pass through pipes into formulation tanks (where blended tequila is made) or fermentation tanks (for the production of 100% ageve tequila), as the case may be.