MURRIETA, Calif. (AP) — Leo Ortega embarked on the cultivation of spiky blue agave plants on the arid hillsides of Southern California to please his wife’s aesthetic taste.
Fast forward ten years, and Ortega’s property is now adorned with thousands of these plants, which he and others see as a potentially lucrative crop for the state in the wake of a long and punishing drought, as well as efforts to reduce groundwater pumping.
Ortega, a 49-year-old mechanical engineer, is joining the ranks of Californians growing agave for the purpose of distilling spirits, similar to tequila and mezcal production in Mexico. The trend is driven by the need for drought-resistant crops and the growing demand for premium alcoholic beverages amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
This pursuit has attracted entrepreneurs like Ortega, as well as various California farmers striving to transition to more water-efficient crops and irrigation methods to cope with impending restrictions on groundwater pumping and the anticipated effects of climate change. Agave, unlike most crops, thrives on minimal water.
“When we watered them, they didn’t really grow much, and the ones we didn’t water actually thrived better,” Ortega noted while strolling past rows of succulents.
Impressed by the success of his initial batches of spirits made from Agave americana, Ortega plans to invest in a distillery. These spirits have been sold at a premium price of $160 per bottle.
The pandemic shutdowns prompted consumers to spend more on high-quality spirits, thereby boosting the demand for premium beverage products, including tequila and mezcal, which were the second-fastest growing spirits category in the United States in 2022, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.
While tequila and mezcal are proprietary spirits protected by Mexican laws, some agave farmers and distillers in California, Texas, and Arizona are hoping to capitalizing on the popularity of agave-based spirits, even if they cannot be labeled as tequila or mezcal since they are produced outside of Mexico.
Erlinda A. Doherty, an agave spirits expert and consultant, said, “We seem to have this insatiable thirst for agave, so why not have a domestically grown supply? I am kind of bullish on it.”
Although agave farming is not yet a large-scale operation in California, and its expansion would take several years, spirits made from agave are gaining popularity. Henry Tarmy, the owner of Ventura Spirits, who distilled his first batch of agave spirits five years ago, stated, “We’ve sold everything we’ve made.”
California has taken steps to protect its emerging agave spirits industry. A law was enacted last year mandating that “California agave spirits” must be made exclusively from plants grown in the state and without additives.
In addition, a group called the California Agave Council was formed last year by a dozen growers and a few distillers. Since its establishment, the council has tripled in size, with Craig Reynolds, the founding director who grows agave plants in the Northern California community of Davis, stating that all members are eager to expand their cultivation of agave plants.
Agave cultivation presents unique challenges, despite its low water requirements. The plant typically takes at least seven years to mature and is difficult to harvest due to its weight, as mature plants can weigh hundreds of pounds. Furthermore, once harvested, the plants need to be regrown.
Nevertheless, many believe that agave is a viable alternative as California, one of the largest suppliers of produce in the country, looks for ways to conserve water. Although a winter of record rain and snowfall alleviated the state’s three-year drought, more periods of drought are expected, and the state imposed regulations on groundwater pumping nearly a decade ago due to excessive pumping drying up some residents’ wells and causing land subsidence. Scientists also predict that extreme weather patterns will become increasingly common as the planet warms, leading to more frequent droughts.
Stuart Woolf, a Central Valley farmer who grows tomatoes and almonds, began considering agave as a farming option after realizing that due to water restrictions, he would only be able to cultivate 60% of his land in twenty years. Despite investing in solar energy and groundwater recharge projects to protect his family’s multi-generational farm, Woolf decided to plant around 200,000 agave plants on land that would otherwise have been left fallow. He noted that each acre of agave requires only 3 inches of water per year, which is significantly less than what row crops and even pistachio and almond trees consume.
In a bid to foster research into agave varieties and its potential as a low-water crop, Woolf and his wife Lisa donated $100,000 to the University of California, Davis.
“I have been trying to figure out what is a crop that I can grow that is somewhat climate-resilient, drought-tolerant, so I can utilize our land,” Woolf explained. “The amount of water I am giving them is so low, I don’t think I am ever going to have a problem.”
