Agave and Opuntia - succulent and cactus for tequila and other strong drinks

When a cactus is mentioned in a conversation, most of the interlocutors remember a picture with a small houseplant, most often standing on a windowsill or near a computer.

However, cactus (at least some of its species), possessing a rather interesting taste and a very wide range of useful properties, is often used in cosmetology, traditional medicine and cooking, including in the production of alcoholic beverages. It is about the last scope that will be discussed in this publication.

What alcohol is produced?

In the production of alcohol from cacti, two plants are most often used: agave and prickly pear. Although in fact one of these plants is not a cactus (more on this later), we will talk about which strong drinks are made from both of them.

What kind of alcohol is made from agave?

Although just agave in nature is not a cactus, but a succulent, consider what kind of alcohol is produced from it, since the most popular of them is called cactus vodka for some reason. Some of these drinks are popular and famous, others are not. But there are 4 species in total.

Tequila

The most famous and popular alcoholic drink made from agave is tequila. The main raw material for making tequila is Agave tequilana, or its other name is blue agave. Most of this drink, whose fortress is 45-50 degrees, is produced in the Mexican state of Jalisco - this is where Agave tequilana grows in large quantities, both in natural conditions and cultivated for production purposes.

Mescal

It is the progenitor of tequila. It was also prepared by Mexican natives at the time when the agave was only brought from its homeland - the Antilles. The strength of this drink is most often - 43 degrees. Mezcal is produced similarly to tequila, with only two differences.:

• Agave stems, or rather their core, are baked in a special way before the production of the drink, which gives the drink shades of a pleasant smoky aroma.
• Only natural and pure agave juice is used without sugar. Recently, mezcal in popularity almost catches up with tequila.

Pulke

The strength of the pulke does not exceed 2-8 degrees and it is prepared from agave mage or from American agave. This is a very ancient drink that has been made for more than a thousand years. Pulke has a light milky hue, a viscous texture and a sour yeast aftertaste.

Before the appearance of beer and other low-alcohol drinks in Mexico, it was pulke that replaced them.

After the population of Mexico was converted to Christianity, pulka was completely forgotten altogether, since before this drink was considered ritual (according to ancient local beliefs).

Sotol

It is made from agave varieties Sotol (or wheeler disalirion). It was made by the Indians of the Mexican state of Chihuahua back in the 12th century, preparing a weak mash from this plant, somewhat reminiscent of mash. Since the XVIth century, such a mash began to undergo distillation, as a result of which sotol appeared in its modern form, with a fortress of 38 degrees.

Opuntia alcohol

If we take alcoholic beverages made specifically from cacti, then almost all of them are made from Indian prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica). This plant is included in a fairly wide range of applications: it is boiled, fried, baked, pickled, etc. However, the most famous area of ​​application of prickly pear is the production of alcoholic beverages. The variety of the latter is not great, but those that are are rightfully included in the elite of alcoholic drinks from the cactus, their names and descriptions can be read below.

Baytra

It is the most famous licensed alcoholic beverage made from prickly pear. This liquor is the national pride of Malta, so finding it outside of this island is very difficult. Baytra fortress is kept at the level of 21 degrees and often this drink is consumed as an aperitif in combination with sparkling wine.

Maltese tequila

Since agave does not grow in Malta, local natives have long adapted to make a drink that is very, very strong in taste and taste like Mexican tequila. However, unlike Mexico, on the island of Malta, tequila is made from prickly pear. The taste of such a drink is slightly different from its Mexican relative, however, this does not prevent Maltese tequila from being quite in demand by both locals and tourists coming to the island.

In addition to the two alcoholic drinks mentioned above, prickly pears make a lot of different tinctures, which do not make much sense to describe, since they are exclusively local in nature and are not known to a wide circle of true connoisseurs of exotic alcoholic drinks.

How to cook from succulent?

Naturally, preparing a 100 percent original Mexican tequila at home is hardly possible, unless you have a blue agave plantation in your backyard and a mini-plant for the production of this drink in the basement. However, to create alcohol, in strength and taste as close as possible to the original, nevertheless almost everyone can afford.

It’s hardly possible to find the blue agave, namely, its fruits, but replacing it with aloe vera or American agave, tequila can be prepared as follows:

1. The leaves of American agave or aloe vera in the amount of 20-25 grams should be washed, dried a little and cut into cubes about 10x10 mm in size.
2. Pour chopped leaves into a transparent container and pour them with three liters of high-quality vodka or pure alcohol diluted to 50 degrees.
3. Shaking well, leave the container in a dark place for 14-21 days.
4. After this period, the drink should be thoroughly filtered through several layers of gauze and cotton swabs.
5. Measure the strength and if it is more than 45 degrees, dilute the drink a little with distilled water until a 43-degree strength is obtained.

Attention! To lay in the above volume of alcohol more than 25 grams of crushed leaves is strongly not recommended. Otherwise, the drink will taste too bitter and burn the larynx. If it turns out to be a very dark color, set the filtered drink in a transparent container in bright sunlight for 10-12 days.

Excessive use of tequila negatively affects the functioning of the liver and pancreas and can trigger the development of cirrhosis. It is strictly forbidden to use tequila for pregnant or breastfeeding women.

Cooking tequila at home:

About plants similar to cacti, including agave, read here.

How to make a cactus?

With prickly pear, the situation is much simpler, since this plant is often grown as a houseplant and it will not be difficult to make tincture or liquor from it (about whether it is possible to grow cacti at home and what types are suitable, find out in this material). Consider both options.

Tincture

1. 500 grams of prickly pear fruit peeled from thorns and peel are cut into small plates or cubes (on how not to prick a cactus and what to do if it happened, read here, and about the fruits of cacti it is described here).
2. We place the chopped pulp in a wide container, add one glass of sugar, 10-12 pieces of cloves, 20 grams of vanilla sugar and 3-5 sticks of cinnamon.
3. Pour the resulting mixture with 200 grams of orange fresh and one liter of quality vodka.
4. Leave for 24 hours in a warm place, for even distribution of sugar throughout the mixture.
5. After a day, mix the mixture and place it in a fairly cold place for 3-4 weeks.
6. At the end of this period, the mixture is filtered first through a 2-layer cheesecloth, and then through a dense fabric, achieving almost complete transparency of the drink.

This alcoholic drink has no particular side effects. But pregnant or breast-feeding women should abandon the use of this tincture.

Liquor

From prickly pear, the liquor is made in the same way as the tincture is prepared (read about small-haired prickly pear prickly pears here). But, when the tincture is ready and filtered, it should add another half a glass of sugar and 200 grams of concentrated sugar or fruit syrup to reduce the strength of the drink to 20-25 degrees.

The liquor has no side effects, and contraindications are similar to tincture.

As you can see, cacti (and not quite cacti) can be used not only in cooking and in confectionery. Both agave and prickly pear can make very tasty elite alcoholic drinks. The choice of the latter is rather meager, but even with such a small selection, every true connoisseur of Mexican or Maltese strong drinks can find exactly what will appeal to him.