Alcoholic drink from about 8% ABV to more than 20%. The defining characteristic of mead is that the majority of the drink's fermentable sugar is derived from honey. Pulque is the Mesoamerican fermented drink made from the "honey water" of maguey cacti. The drink distilled from pulque is tequila or mescal. Wine is a fermented beverage produced from grapes and sometimes other fruits. Wine involves a longer fermentation process than beer and a long aging process (months or years), resulting in an alcohol content of 9%–16% ABV. "Fruit wines" are made from fruits other than grapes, such as plums, cherries, or apples.
Agave nectar Agave nectar Agave nectar (more accurately, agave syrup) is a sweetener commercially produced from several species of agave, including "Agave tequilana" (blue agave) and "Agave salmiana". Agave syrup contains fructose as a carbohydrate providing sweetening properties. To produce agave syrup from the "Agave americana" and "A. tequilana" plants, the leaves are cut off the plant after it has been growing for seven to fourteen years. The juice is then extracted from the core of the agave, called the "piña". The juice is filtered, then heated to break the complex components (the polysaccharides) into simple sugars. The main polysaccharide is called