Tahona is another one of those words that does double duty in the Spanish vocabulary. It used to mean mill or mill house, but in Mexico it also means the large stone wheel that is used to crush the roasted hearts of agave (known as piñas) into a fermentable mash. As you can see from the images below, a tahona is quite a dramatic sight.
The tahona is usually pulled by a donkey, and that donkey frequently has a jocular name like “Superman” that gives credit for keeping the entire distilling operation going. Horses and oxen can also provide the labor, and many palenques, tabernas, or vinatas now use tractors.
Traditionally, tequila was also made using a two-ton tahona but the industry moved to mechanical extraction processes and only a few traditional distillers like Fortaleza and 7 Leguas still mill their piñas using this age-old method. Patron also has a brand defined entirely by the use of a tahona. (This is interesting because some aficianados argue that differnces in milling techniques don’t ultimately make any difference in the flavor of the final product.)
Read more of our mezcal definitions in the Mezcalistas Encyclopedia of Mezcal and email us questions or ideas for future entries.
[…] In Spanish tahona has a double meaning. Commonly the word means mill or mill house but in Mexico a tahona can also refer to a large stone wheel that is used to crush the roasted hearts of agave known as piñas into a fermentable mash. The tohana is usually pulled by a donkey but also horses and oxen can provide the labor. In contemporary times palenques often use tractors whereas more remote palenques have a tahona made out of wood. (Source) […]