Agave fields are planted from mecuates, small offshoots growing from the base of adult plants, but they can also be grown from seed. The offshoots are usually started in a nursery for a year and then transplanted to the fields. Usually 1,500-2,000 mecuates are planted to each acre and each plant requires 7-10 years to reach mature. When fully grown, the plant will reach a height of 5 to 6 feet. At this stage in the wild, agave begins to grow the central flower-bearing stalk, which can grow to as much as 3 meters in height. Flowers are pollinated naturally by long-nosed bats (Leptonycteris nivalis), and then the plant dies. Under cultivation, however, just before the stalk emerges, jimadores, the field workers who harvest the agave, remove the elongated, sharp pointed leaves with long-handled knives called coas, leaving the central core of the plant exposed. This core is called a pina and resembles a pinecone. The pina is allowed to continue growing, becoming riper and much larger. Harvested pinas can weigh from 50 to 150 pounds, and 500-pound pinas have been reported, but they are rare. The pinas are taken to the fabrica where traditional distillers split the pinas in half with axes and stack them in ovens called hornos. There they are steamed for approximately 72 hours. After cooling another 24 hours, the pina is soft, fibrous and caramel-colored with a taste resembling that of honey-dipped yams. Larger distillers may shorten the steaming process by using pressure cookers. This process is much more rapid and takes only about 8 to 12 hours (3,p.3).
The pinas are then crushed by steel rollers or by a tahona, a large wheel of volcanic rock slowly drawn round and round by a mule or horse. Large distillers use a mechanical crusher, which resembles a wood chipper. The pinas are then minced and strained to remove the agua miel. This extricated juice constitutes the basis of all tequila.