Piña literally means “pineapple” in Spanish but in Mexico it is also used to describe the heart of the agave because it so closely resembles a pineapple. The piña has become one of the main motifs in the agave world and suffuses tequila and mezcal culture. It’s one of those key images that triggers all sorts of nostalgic associations about the hand made nature of agave distillates and centrality of agave to Mexican culture. As one example, Fortaleza tequila has a ceramic piña for its bottle top but you’ll see it repeatedly in the marketing and media coverage of agave distillates. Just take a look at three images from our travels below to get a sense for how dramatic and evocative it can be.
Read more of our entries in the Mezcalistas Encyclopedia of Mezcal and email us questions or ideas for future entries.
Super interesting, love the photos!
Thanks! If you have any extras send them over and I’ll post them!
Looking to buy mezcal and agave pinas, preferably cooked/charred. Any ideas?
Are you looking to buy mezcal in bulk and to bottle and sell as a brand? You might start with COMERCAM one of the certifying bodies for mezcal as they may be able to lead you toward producers.