What is Sugar Extraction?

por Roberto Carlos Nuñez Roberto Carlos Nuñez | Dec 15, 2021 10:28:26 PM

extraction of agave sugars casa sauza tequila
As an Agronomy Engineer, and with 9 years of experience working in the tequila making process, particularly in the gentle extraction of agave sugar method, the most frecuent questions our visitors ask are about the sugar extraction process.

In Casa Sauza, we care about keeping the purest flavor of the agave original plant, with the best final sensory notes, wanting our customers to enjoy the best tequila we can offer.  So the answer is: we do the extraction using a hot water dilution.

First of all we must define: how do we obtain the sugar? It is the result of the separation of the pulp or juice from the original agave piña. And how can we extract the sugar from the agave? To achieve this goal.

There are three different methods:

1.- Extraction by crushing:

This extraction method its done by a pressing process using a stone against a container, squeezing or crushing the raw material, obtaining this way,the juice from the agave piña peel and the pulp (sugar) from the raw material and the fiber.

2.- Extraction by blending:

This extraction method works by using a vessel which has round blades in the bottom that whirl around cutting the raw material. They crush and press the agave fibers, and usually we must add some water if the raw material  its dry. The result is having the juice, the pulp and the fiber all together, that is what we call a liquefied beverage.

3.- Extraction by extractor:

In this specific method, we use the centrifugal force (whirling at a high speed), using bladers or special knifes that crush the product and then leave it in a basket. The juice must be used inmmediatly due to the possible oxidation the equipment may cause because of the high speed juice extraction. The bagasse or fiber is storaged in the basket as well.

4.- Extraction by dilution:

When we do the extraction taking advantage of this method, we cut the raw material in small pieces (agave piña), to be able to drawn it in hot water afterwards, and by doing so, achieve the extraction of our desired product, which is the sugar or pulp, in the hot water dilution.

5.- Extraction by pressing and squeezing:

In this method, the extraction is done by using a mechanic press squeezer, first the raw material is cut, and then it is placed in the press to make the juice extraction. According to the pressure level of this method, the final juice will have specific characteristics of flavor and essence.

To select which extraction method to use, first you have to know what kind of juice you want to drink, in this case, which sensory features you want your final tequila product to have. I hope that with this information you could get a deeper understanding of the extraction of agave sugar process, because it is a determinant factor in the final juice quality and flavor notes.

I invite you now to discover what is the gentle extraction process of agave sugar, and the different benefits that this kind of extraction method brings to our final product.

Come to Casa Sauza yourself and see how with the modernization of our tequila production processes, we have managed to deliver the purest tequila in the industry. 

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