Admittedly, before my visit at Corralejo, I had tasted tequila only in the form of Margaritas, and although I knew that tequila was made from agaves, I had assumed that the outer leaves were cut off and used to make the drink, allowing them to grow back for another harvest. In reality, the leaves are removed and only the core of the agave is used in the tequila production. Thus, a plant which requires 8-12 years to grow to maturity, can only be used once before the farmer has to start over and plant a new crop. The core of the agave is called piña because it resembles a huge pineapple. These piñas are piled up in the yard of the Tequileria Corralejo. The machine on the left is used to quarter large piñas, before they are transferred to the ovens in the background on the right-hand side.
After having been slowly steam-roasted in the ovens, the piñas are taken out and and transferred by wheelbarrow to a shredder. We had the opportunity to sample chunks of the roasted piñas at this stage, and they tasted surprisingly sweet and already showed the delicious tangy-caramel flavour that is characteristic of the final product. Apparently large tequila manufacturers are using steam-injected autoclaves at this point to speed up the process, but no such cutting of corners seems to take place at Corralejo.
These two workers are loading the roasted piñas onto a conveyor-belt, which will take them through a shredder.
On the other end, the shredded piñas are again loaded into wheelbarrows to be transferred to their next destination.
Again, the piñas go onto a conveyor-belt, which takes them into a machine where they are mixed with water and transferred to the fermentation barrels.
Piles of shredded piñas with some barrels and the roasting ovens in the background.
A last look at the yard with lots of piñas in the foreground, the ovens in the background to the right, and to the left various machinery for shredding the piñas and mixing them with water.
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