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The Fabled Pour

Agave nectar

Also called agave syrup, miel de agave, jarabe de agave

A liquid sweetener made by pressing and heating the juice of agave hearts until their fructans break down into simple sugars, then concentrating it. Light or amber, mostly fructose and sweeter than sugar, it dissolves instantly in cold drinks and is the sweetener in a Tommy's Margarita.

  • clean sweetness
  • light caramel
  • faint cooked agave
  • neutral
  • amber grades add toffee

Origin

Agave syrup is made mainly from blue agave (Agave tequilana) and Agave salmiana: the piña is pressed, the juice filtered and heated, or treated with enzymes, to convert its fructans to fructose and glucose, then concentrated. Agave syrup is mostly fructose (60% or more of its sugars, often far higher), which is why it tastes sweeter than sugar weight for weight. Blue agave is the only agave permitted for tequila inside the appellation declared in 1974, which is why the two products share a history and a flavor.

Production and safety

For cocktail use, dilute 2 parts agave nectar with 1 part warm water so it measures and pours like a syrup; the diluted mix keeps refrigerated for about a month. Undiluted agave nectar is shelf stable. Not a 'healthier' sugar: it is a concentrated fructose sweetener and should be treated as sugar.

Allergens: None

Common uses

  • margarita (Tommy's style)
  • Paloma
  • mezcal sours
  • any cold drink where sugar will not dissolve

Pours that use it

Sources

  1. Agave syrup (Wikipedia), Wikipedia · tertiary source, retrieved 2026-10-11
  2. Appellation of Origin Tequila (CRT), Consejo Regulador del Tequila · primary source, retrieved 2026-10-11
  3. Agave syrup: chemical analysis and nutritional profile, applications and health effects (review), PMC, National Library of Medicine · secondary source, retrieved 2026-10-11