Chawarmishky means “sweet water” and is harvested from the blue agave plant. Yes, if you have a still which I don’t (darn it) you can make tequila. It is an ancient art of collecting the juice from the core of the agave.
It is a skill that has been looked down upon in the recent past meaning you were in a lower class if you harvested. That being said in some places it has become a lost art. Me being of the lower class I fit right in and was all in to learn.
Not one person in the family knew how to do it so I hired the neighbor to show us. First I needed to have an agave scoop. It is a metal spoon to clean out the agave each time you harvest. Maribel found her families and they loaned it to me so game on. The plant I had my eye on was on her families property. In reality I thought the scoop was going to be much bigger, Elena got a good laugh when it was given to me and I was like “this is it”. I’m not sure why I expected something bigger.
I was told the plant was perfect and the time was right so let’s get it on. First you trim a few of the leaves to get access. After that start digging into the core. I harvest twice a day. It is like a cow you have to milk to keep getting milk. After you gather the juice you scrape the inside a little then cover up the hole to keep the critters out.
You then take the juice and strain it. After that you boil it on the stove for a few minutes then it’s ready to drink warm or cold. It tastes very sweet and is healthy for you. You can let it sit for a few days and it ferments into an alcoholic drink with a little bite. I guess it has a good punch but you need to drink quite a bit.
It has been a fun project and everyone has enjoyed the end results.
Funny note Daniela posted a video of us harvesting on Tik Tok and in less than 12 hours it had more than 17,000 hits and 400 comments. She’s famous. Haha.
Ya all have a wonderful day!
