Tequilaville Rancho Santa Fe style
By Dan Weisman

Rancho Santa Fe is hardly Margaritaville. But, the community does have one main ingredient that goes into Jimmy Buffet’s favorite drink: agave tequilana plants, popularly known as blue agave, from which tequila springs.
The plants are costly. They’re not particularly suited for local landscaping since they need a more tropical climate for optimal growth.
Yet, there they sit at Rancho Soledad Nursery on Aliso Canyon Road awaiting the next cactus collector, or tequila aficionado, who might want to plunk down $344 for a rare, variegated 20-inch agave tequilana plant.
Of course, don’t even think about producing tequila directly from the blue agave plant. Collecting the cactus juice is but a first step in an intricate, extensive distilling and aging process not suitable for home production.
Still, the local tequila plant is an oddity. Aside from a De Luz grower who does indeed make his own stuff bottled as Temequila due to tequila branding restrictions, the only other such plants north of its native Jalisco, Mexico state can be found in Tucson.
"The tequilana will grow here, but like saguaro, grudgingly," said Jeff Harris, an official of the Balboa Park-based San Diego Cactus and Succulent Society. "Most agaves come from central Mexico and, as such, need warm temperatures and summer rains. They also need excellent drainage and full sun. You definitely have to have a nice, tropical climate."
Jalisco and a few immediately surrounding areas are the only places where officially sanctioned tequila is produced.
The Mexican government highly regulates the tequila industry, requiring all tequila to be made from at least 51 percent blue agave grown in specific regions of that state and some surrounding areas. Higher quality tequila for gourmet sipping has far more than half blue agave while cheaper hooch fills in the balance with distilled sugar cane.
Margaritas, and fellow tequila drink travelers, are, of course, quite popular throughout everywhere these days. Indeed, the original owner of Hernandez Hideaway, up the road in Del Dios, claims fame as one of those who introduced margaritas to North Americans.
And tequila is a mainstay around Rancho Santa Fe.

"People like the Patron," said Ko Massiah, a bartender at the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. "They like tequila shots, Patron cafc is popular. It’s an espresso martini with tequila liquor and vanilla vodka. I like tequila late at night myself."

The agave tequilana plant, popularly known as blue agave, from which tequila springs.

"People like the Patron," said Ko Massiah, a bartender at the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. "They like tequila shots, Patron cafc is popular. It’s an espresso martini with tequila liquor and vanilla vodka. I like tequila late at night myself."
As for tequila plants being available locally, Massiah said: "That would definitely surprise me."
Which brings Margaritaville back home. During a previous tour of Rancho Soledad, Rainer Radermacher, former supervising grower at Rancho Soledad, said, "We do sell a lot of these agaves tequilana to people and nurseries around Palm Springs and in Arizona."
What’s more, Enrique Gomez, a nursery worker from Jalisco, noted the lengths people went to make some of the good stuff from native blue agave cactus.
"First of all, you have to wait for seven to 10 years," Gomez said at the time. "Then chop all the leaves and leave only the heart and split it in half. The old-timers do this. They make a little hole in the heart and juice collects every day for five or six months."
Actually, tequila production from said plants has had a sometimes-prickly ride through the years. United States consumers in 2000 went through a tequila shortage, and subsequent price hike, rivaling that of gasoline.
Since tequila distilling required more than seven years of waiting before processing, a 1996 farmer strike protesting low pay started the shortage. A gangland-style murder of a leading Jalisco grower in 1997 further chilled the industry.
Several Mexican distilleries shut down in 1998 due to a lack of raw agave production. Then, fungus blight affected almost one-quarter of all tequila plantations and many distilleries closed.
Good times, however, are back in Margaritaville, at least for consumers
Blue agave production has nearly doubled since 2000 with a projected 46.4 million plants this year, compared to 24.8 million during the shortage, according to Mexican sources.
The Consejo Regulador del Tequila that regulates the tequila industry, said new plantings stemming from the 2000 tequila shortage now were ready for harvest.
What’s more, uncontrolled planting and easy availability of bootleg, or "uncertified," tequila dramatically drove down prices, despite ever-increasing demand, and created purity questions, Consejo Regulador officials said.
That’s a concern for Hunter, of the local cactus society, as well.
"I love El Patron," he said. "People who mix it shouldn’t be allowed to drink it."