The Agave tequilana plant is commonly called the blue agave due to its color and is primarily used in making tequila. It is native to Jalisco, Mexico and is a valuable lucrative product for the area because it is the main ingredient used in making tequila. The plant prefers a high altitude above 1500 meters and grows in rich, sandy soil. The sugary sap from the heart of the agave plant is removed around its twelfth year of growth to make tequila and other alcoholic beverages including pulque and mescal.

Commercially grown blue agave plants grow large with fleshy, spiked leaves and often are over two meters tall. At the age of one year, the plant produces shoots that are removed to allow for more growth, which produces a bigger heart. The shoots are planted to produce more blue agave plants. In general, the older the plant, the greater amount of accumulative starches that will form in the heart for converting into fermentable sugars for the production of alcohol.

On the other hand, wild blue agave plants sprout a shoot when they are about the age five years old. The shoot grows around five meters tall and blooms yellow flowers, which are pollinated by a native bat. The plant produces thousands of seeds and then dies.