Respeto Agave Syrup

Respeto Agave Syrup is unlike any other agave syrup on the US market. Co-founded and co-owned by the Trujillo family of NOM 1634 in Tepatitlán (generational farmer-distillers in the highlands of Jalisco), and Grover and Scarlet Sanschagrin (the founders of Agave Matchmaker, formerly Tequila Matchmaker, arguably the most influential agave spirits website and app in the United States), the brand prioritizes transparency, even noting the unique harvest data related to every batch. 

Despite what you may read on the label of an average grocery store syrup (“USDA organic”, “Fair Trade Certified”), most of the agave syrup available in the US is produced in ways that are incredibly damaging to the ecosystem in which the agave is grown. To meet yield quotas and demand, many agaveros harvest young, immature plants (as early as eighteen months) almost exclusively grown from genetically inferior clones of Azul, aka Blue Weber (Agave tequilana), which should typically take 5–10 years to mature before harvest. Wildlife such as the long-nosed bat and the hummingbird rely on the flowering agave as a food source; the agave, in turn, relies on these pollinators as the best method of natural reproduction. This ecosystem helps to diversify the genetic material of the plants, making them stronger and more resilient. But clonal systems spread identical genes, weakening plants with each new generation and increasing risks of disease and infection while reducing yield and depth of flavor. In many agave-cultivating regions, pollinators have been starved of this critical food source for so long that they’ve finally abandoned the area, causing ripple effects we are just beginning to understand. Meanwhile, immature agaves offer much less sugar, so producers increasingly rely on industrial processing equipment like hydrolysis diffusers to extract these limited sugars from more and more plants, supplementing with additives to mask the flavor imperfections of these young clones and chemical extraction methods.

In sharp contrast, Respeto Agave Syrup is made using traditional methods that mirror the first stages of heritage tequila or mezcal production. The mature hearts (piñas) of the agave are harvested and taken to Tequileria Trujillo (NOM 1634) where they are slowly cooked in a brick oven, then milled using both a mechanical roller mill and a traditional stone tahona, extracting the caramelized sugars within. As a result, Respeto plays more like actual cooked agave, and less like the “honey” or sap-based syrups most folks may be familiar with (and even less like the chemically extracted, heartbreaking nonsense that you find in most grocery stores today). 

In Grover’s own words, “Respeto Agave Syrup smells and tastes exactly like a chunk of cooked agave taken direct from the distillery oven. It makes a great ingredient for cocktails, coffee, and cooking, but it also works wonders during educational tequila tastings. Now, you and your guests can finally smell and taste pure cooked agave without having to travel to Mexico.”