Salmiana: the large maguey behind pulque and plateau mezcal

Salmiana (Agave salmiana) is used for pulque, mezcal and agave syrup. Aguamiel is the sweet liquid collected from a living agave, or maguey; the piña is its heart, which is harvested and cooked for mezcal. Large cultivated forms grow in central Mexican pulque fields, while spiny wild forms supply mezcal makers in San Luis Potosí.

Two harvests lead to two drinks

Both drinks begin with a mature agave. For pulque, a collector prepares the living plant’s center and gathers aguamiel. For mezcal, the piña is harvested, cooked, fermented and distilled.

Pulque production and alcohol content · Machetazo salmiana specifications

Recognize the broad leaves and deep rosette

Salmiana’s fleshy leaves form a rosette—a cluster growing from a short or concealed stem. Younger leaves stand upright in the center; older leaves curve outward. Each leaf’s surface curves inward, with prominent teeth along its edges and a substantial dark spine at its tip. Leaf color varies from green to gray-green.

Large salmiana forms can grow taller than a person and several meters across. Their broad leaves commonly reach 1–2 m long and 20–35 cm wide. A fully grown quiote, the flowering stalk, can rise 6–8 m above the ground. Plant dimensions.

Two giant pulque plants with different leaves

A. mapisaga also grows into an enormous pulque plant, with long, relatively narrow leaves and smaller teeth than salmiana. In Hidalgo, pulque growers selected larger plants with less thorniness, abundant aguamiel and easier handling. Flora key, Hidalgo study (2021).

Verde, Negro and other local maguey names

“Maguey pulquero” covers several agaves used for pulque, including salmiana and mapisaga. Growers also use local names such as Verde, Negro and Corriente.

Michoacán growers (2020), Hidalgo names, Table 2 (2019–2020 fieldwork), Derrumbes. The agave names guide covers other species and regional names.

A. salmiana includes the subspecies salmiana and crassispina, and the variety ferox. These scientific names distinguish forms within the species; local names such as Verde and Negro come from growers’ naming traditions. Botanical names.

Pulque fields and plateau mezcal country

Salmiana is native to Mexico. Pulque-growing communities in Hidalgo, Morelos and Michoacán cultivate it; wild mezcal plants occur in San Luis Potosí, including the studied populations of Aquiles Serdán, El Cuervo and Ipiña. Kew distribution, San Luis Potosí study (2016).

In Tehuacán–Cuicatlán, the large cultivated form grows around settlements and field boundaries, and in several vegetation types at 1,500–2,600 m. Introduced salmiana also grows in the Canary Islands, the Cape Provinces of South Africa, Portugal and Spain.

Mature agaves for both drinks

A mature salmiana has built up carbohydrate reserves in its piña. Those reserves support growth of the quiote and flowers. For mezcal, the maker harvests the mature piña. For pulque, the tlachiquero, or aguamiel collector, removes the central growing point before the flower stalk develops, then prepares the plant for collection. Maturity and harvest timing.

Xaminí and Mutá are locally named cultivated salmiana forms in El Cubo, Hidalgo. Xaminí is identified as subspecies crassispina, while Mutá belongs to subspecies salmiana. Growers reported 9–10 years for Xaminí and 12–13 for Mutá to be ready for aguamiel collection. Machetazo gives 10–12 years for its wild salmiana used for mezcal in Charcas, San Luis Potosí. Local age examples.

Collecting aguamiel and fermenting pulque

The tlachiquero, or aguamiel collector, removes the central growing point and prepares a cavity called a cajete. Scraping sustains the flow of aguamiel. Traditionally, a long gourd called an acocote draws out the liquid.

When we visited our friend Juan in Estado de México in October 2022, he collected aguamiel with a tube and a reused plastic bottle. The liquid had gathered in a cavity in the maguey’s center.

In Huitzilac, Morelos, Salvador Cueto, “Don Chava”, left prepared plants for five weeks before beginning twice-daily scraping and collection. One salmiana he managed had an estimated yield of about 335 liters of aguamiel over its full collection period. Huitzilac collection study.

Fresh aguamiel is sweet. Fermenting it with an active starter produces pulque: yeasts and bacteria turn its sugars into a milky, gently sour alcoholic drink with a viscous texture. In Tarímbaro, producers used sediment from the previous day’s pulque as a starter. Santiago Undameo producers briefly boiled the aguamiel, cooled it, then added their starter. Pulque fermentation, Michoacán practices.

Agave syrup from salmiana

Salmiana is also used to make agave syrup, alongside blue agave (A. tequilana). Fresh salmiana aguamiel can be heated to evaporate water and make a thick, sweet syrup. Agave syrup can also be made from harvested piñas and used in drinks and cooking. Sources.

Cooking the piña for mezcal

Above ground steam cooking is traditional in San Luis Potosí and often gives its salmiana mezcals a less smoky profile. Machetazo and Derrumbes are two examples of the state’s salmiana mezcal. San Luis Potosí production · Regional history.

Machetazo’s wild salmiana from Charcas

Machetazo steam-cooks its Charcas salmiana in an above ground masonry oven, crushes it with a tahona, a stone mill, ferments naturally in masonry vessels and distills twice in copper. Its US expression is 45% ABV in a 700 ml bottle. Machetazo describes floral and citrus aromas, a silky texture and fresh jalapeño on the finish. Machetazo’s US sheet.

Manuel Pérez’s Derrumbes San Luis Potosí

For Derrumbes San Luis Potosí, Manuel Pérez uses wild A. salmiana subsp. crassispina from the Altiplano, the Mexican high plateau. Derrumbes uses dry agave leaves and quiotes as fuel and describes its mezcal as floral and herbaceous, with a touch of sweetness. Derrumbes’ account.

Salmiana’s small share of certified mezcal

In Mexico, Verde (A. salmiana) accounted for about 1.3% of certified mezcal production in 2025, compared with about 85% for espadín. COMERCAM’s 2026 report, page 7, Table 2.

Volumes are standardized to 45% ABV, with blends listed separately.

Pulque work, cooking leaves and Hñähñu fiber

Pulque haciendas supplied Mexico City during the colonial period; railways expanded the trade in the nineteenth century. Ignacio Torres Adalid, known as “El Rey del Pulque”, led efforts to preserve the drink for transport as beer became a growing competitor. Escalante and colleagues (2016).

Salmiana also grows in living fences and supplies fiber and cooking leaves. Hidalgo growers described Corriente in fences and fiber work, and Mutá leaves used to cook barbacoa de borrego, a regional lamb dish. In Ixmiquilpan, Hidalgo, Alicia Reyes Samilpa’s 2016 research records Hñähñu (Otomí) communities weaving salmiana and mapisaga leaf fibers into ayates, traditional fiber cloths. Hidalgo uses, Table 2, Reyes Samilpa’s fiber research.

Renewing a magueyal

Michoacán growers selected vigorous offsets, the young plants beside a parent, and transplanted them into their agave fields, or magueyales. Pulque plants rarely flowered because preparing the center for aguamiel collection prevents the flower stalk from developing. Michoacán study.

A 2016 study of three San Luis Potosí populations of A. salmiana subsp. crassispina found substantial genetic variation within them and identified poorly managed extraction as a pressure. Allowing some mature plants to flower and set seed helps sustain that diversity. Wild salmiana study.

Questions about salmiana

Does “maguey pulquero” always mean Agave salmiana?

No. “Maguey pulquero” describes an agave used for pulque; salmiana, mapisaga and other species can supply it. In Hidalgo, Penca larga at El Cubo is mapisaga; Corriente penca larga at Rancho La Coyotera is salmiana.

Is salmiana mezcal always smoky?

No. Steam cooking is traditional in San Luis Potosí’s salmiana mezcal industry and often produces less smoky spirits. Machetazo’s Charcas expression is one example. CIATEJ regional history, pp. 180–181.

Related reading

• Agave syrup: production methods and uses in drinks and cooking.
• Agave names used for mezcal: species, local names and bottle terminology.
• What a tlachiquero does: the collector’s work and aguamiel extraction.

Source notes

The scientific name A. salmiana Otto ex Salm-Dyck was first published in 1859. The older name “var. salmiana” used in field studies corresponds to subspecies salmiana. The regional flora’s subspecies tehuacanensis is now treated under variety ferox. Kew taxonomy · Ferox synonyms.

Pulque production and the approximate 4–7% ABV range: Escalante and colleagues (2016).

Machetazo’s US salmiana is 45% ABV; its technical sheet also describes Charcas production and plant age: Machetazo salmiana.

Large-form dimensions: UNAM Botanical Garden and García-Mendoza’s flora (2011), pages 53–55. The botanical ranges include smaller forms; the drawing uses a selected 2 m high plant.

Mature salmiana before and during quiote development: Godínez Hernández (2017), chapter 5. Aguamiel preparation before flowering: Escalante and colleagues.

Hidalgo ages and local names: Hidalgo grower study, Table 2; Charcas age: Machetazo. The accounts give local age estimates without stating when they begin counting the plant’s age.

Salvador Cueto’s salmiana yield and collection practice: Huitzilac study (2020), methods and Table 5. Collection photographs and Juan’s visit: our tlachiquero article.

Selected cultivation areas: Michoacán grower study, the Hidalgo and Huitzilac studies above. Charcas mezcal: Machetazo. State outlines: INEGI; Mexico locator: Natural Earth. Kew records salmiana as native to Mexico.

Steam cooking in San Luis Potosí: CIATEJ regional history, pages 180–181.

Salmiana and blue agave for syrup: NMX-FF-110-SCFI-2008 declaration. Concentrated salmiana aguamiel: González-Montemayor and colleagues (2020), abstract and study description.