Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Raw Blue Agave is a natural sweetener extracted from the core of the Blue Agave plant. Made from organically grown and processed Weber Azul, Organic Raw Blue Agave offers natural sweetness without the blood sugar spike. This sweet, mild nectar is a perfect multi-purpose sweetener for beverages, fresh fruit and general table-top use. With a glycemic index of 39 or less, it is the preferred sweetener of many trying to control their blood sugar. And it is about 25% sweeter than sugar, so you can use less. Raw Blue Agave is non-crystallizing and quick dissolving.

Specially produced at temperatures below 118° F to minimize enzymatic breakdown and deliver a full, natural flavor, Organic Raw Blue Agave Nectar is perfect for everyone, including raw-food enthusiasts! This amber nectar has a distinct and delicious flavor that genuinely enhances foods' natural sweetness. It is 25% sweeter than sugar, so less is needed. It is certified Organic and GMO-Free, and appropriate for vegan and plant-based diets. It is stable, non-crystallizing and quick dissolving.

Organic Raw Blue Agave and Organic Light Blue Agave nectars are made from Mexico's renowned Blue Agave, or Weber Azul. Organic Blue Agave nectars bring pure, succulent sweetness to foods and beverages. With a Glycemic Index of less than 39, Blue Agave nectar metabolizes slowly; it doesn't spike blood sugar.

Cooking tips:

• Use as a one-for-one replacement for sugar, then adjust to your own personal taste. Some chefs prefer to use 75% as much Blue Agave nectar as they would sugar in a recipe, but others prefer a straight 1:1 replacement.


• Reduce the other liquids in a recipe by up to 30%.


• Cook lower and slower: reduce your baking temperature by about 25 degrees and bake for a little longer.

Fun facts

Blue Agave in the kitchen

• Blue Agave is 25% sweeter than sugar and so less is really more!
  
• Because it introduces liquid to recipes, cooks should reduce the other liquids in recipes by about 1/3.
  
• It is highly soluble and non-crystallizing. It has a shelf life of 2 years.

As a source of carbohydrates

• Agave has always been recognized as a good source of slowly metabolizing carbohydrates.
  
• Archeologists found evidence that the indigenous inhabitants of Mesoamerica and Aridoamerica chewed agave fibers more than 9000 years ago.

Blue Agave in the field

• It is one of 13 agave species prehistorically domesticated by native inhabitants.
  
• Historians and ethno-botanists have traced first record of a Blue Agave cultivar, cultivated from wild and domestic agaves, to the late 1800s. Blue agave was selectively bred for its relatively short maturation cycle, baking qualities and compatibility with "industrial" processes. Intensive cloning of the cultivar allowed it to spread quickly.

Agave culture

• Agave as a divine character, Mayahuel (also Mayahuetl), the Aztec goddess of agave embodied Agave's sacredness and symbol of long life & health, dancing and fertility. She was a benign deity related to the gods of wind, rain and crops.
  
• "Agave" is derived from the Greek agavos meaning "illustrious," but those who tend Blue Agave call it Weber azul, chino azul or simply azul.

Other uses of Blue Agave

• String, cordage, rope, shoes, fabrics, nails, paper, thatch, tiles and fuel, as well as personal care products ... soap, bandages and as a snakebite cure.
  
• The pinas' fibrous remnants, called bagazo, are recycled near the agave mills and used as livestock feed, fuel and furniture stuffing and to make bricks.

What is the Glycemic Index--and how does it work?

Glycemic Index is a ranking system for carbohydrates based on their effect on blood glucose levels. The glycemic index of a food is a measurement of the changes in our bodies' blood sugar in the two hours after we eat something. Foods that metabolize quickly, flooding our system with carbs/energy, are generally referred to as high glycemic foods; food that metabolize slowly are low glycemic foods. Low GI foods generally offer our bodies a more sustained, slow release of carbs/energy. (Some believe that low GI foods are especially useful for people monitoring their blood sugar.)
The Glycemic Index is a general guide rather than an absolute reference, and is often reported as a range rather than a fixed number. While the Glycemic Index suggests a certain food's effect on our system, it is influenced by other foods already in our system and our individual metabolic rate (we all metabolize things differently). Each of us will have a different glycemic response to a food.

Glycemic comparisons
(Relative comparisons of sweeteners using glucose as 100 points; foods less the 55 are considered low glycemic)