Agave cupreata

Agave cupreata grows primarily in Guerrero, Michoacan, Puebla, and in parts of the Oaxacan Mixteca. This agave likes pastures or pine, oak, and palm forests. The pencas are large, wide and bright green in color. The needles are slightly curved and the color of copper. A. cupreata can grow up to six meters (19 feet) and flowers between January and March. It reproduces by seed, and while some semi-cultivation projects are underway, it remains at risk of being over-harvested.

Cupreata is one of the more confusing names in the agave world. Varieties include Papalometl, Papalote, Ancho, papalome, chino, yaabendisi (mixteco), cimarrón, tuchi.

Clearly it is one thing in Michoacan and Guerrero where this short and stubby agave is the source for many full-bodied mezcals. A common local name is “papalome” or a variant that comes from the Nahuatl for “butterfly” because of an alliterative resemblance. The same cupreata is made into mezcal in the Oaxacan Mixteca Alta and potentially other states. But the name “papalometl” can also be used for different agaves in different areas. In some areas of Oaxaca, papalometl refers to Tobala–which can be very confusing!