The City of Tucson was named America’s City of Century Plants during the 2022 Agave Heritage Festival, a uniquely southwestern event that embodies and celebrates all things agave.

Industry proponents say the recognition could up the appeal and value of Sonora's regional spirit.

Looking back at the last time the spirits panel tasted mezcal, I was shocked to realize that almost a decade had passed. The flavors and the sense of discovery we experienced still seemed so fresh.

Ten o’clock, Friday night, Tucson. I play the first song of a four-hour set. It’s a remix I made of my favorite El General song, “Pun Tun Tun.” The backbeat is reggaeton-influenced, and El General’s vocals are drowned out with some woozy synthesizer chords.

You can sip me, you can eat me and you can moisturize with me—what am I?
The agave plant.

Like the potato of Northern Europe or the yam of Western Africa, the agave plant fits a crucial culinary and cultural niche in the Sonoran Desert. For centuries, locals have harvested the plant's broad jutting leaves to make food, create art and black out on tequila. Now, Tucson is once again paying homage to the plant of centuries with the 10th annual Agave Heritage Festival.

The Agave plant is a cherished succulent Tucsonans know and love. We find it in the wild, we see it in our neighbors yard and yes, we eat and drink it! There’s a slew of spirits produced from the agave plant, most notably tequila, But what about the others?

Check out Arizona Daily Star's roundup of events!

Kendall Kroesen and Mario Nuño-Whelan tell us about the upcoming Agave Heritage Festival and San Ysidro Festival at the Mission Garden.

“Why do you care about a spiny succulent? Because this indigenous plant sustained Tucsonans for thousands of years before we came along. And more recently, agave gave birth to a little drink we call Tequila (or mezcal if you're serious about it). Now that's something to celebrate!"

“Explore and celebrate the cultural, commercial, and culinary significance of agave on the border region through a festival of seminars, trade shows, and world class culinary events. Events include a Hohokam agave tour, firing the agave roasting pit, El Tambo Fest, Agave Fiesta, art exhibits, garden plantings and tours, dinners, documentary showing and more."

“Tucson’s Agave Heritage Week is back and better than ever with the 10th annual Agave Heritage Festival from Friday, April 27 – Sunday, May 6. This year, look for agave tastings, seminars, art exhibits, garden tours, world-class culinary events, and much more. Additional events and revised events will join the celebration, such as the downtown stroll known as the MEZCrawl and the Agave Heritage Dinner at Maynards Market & Kitchen. With the amount of events happening throughout the week, you’ll need to plan wisely, accordingly, and with the utmost dedication to all things agave. “Best Danceparty,”

In the fall of 2012, I discovered the best hot sauce in the United States in, of all places, Tucson. I had just finished a lecture at the University of Arizona on my then-new book, Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America. My host was Maribel Alvarez, a professor of anthropology at the school who is the executive program director for the Southwest Folklife Alliance. She documents food traditions of the Arizona-Sonora borderlands, and she sent me back home with a goody bag of regional delights: carne seca (sundried beef), tepary beans (a small, meaty legume grown by natives since time immemorial) and flour tortillas called sobaqueras that are the size of a basketball hoop.

When you sell your company for $1 billion, it can be easy to lose your hunger for business. But apparently George Clooney and Rande Gerber still have a thirst for more. The longtime friends, who sold their five-year-old tequila company, Casamigos, to Diageo last year for $700 million (with the potential for another $300 million based on sales performance over the next decade) are expanding the Casamigos portfolio with their first mezcal—which will be available on April 1, across the United States, Australia, the U.K., and Canada at $60 for 750ml.