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In choosing an agave stalk the main thing to look for
is something that you will be able to have the proper sized mouthpiece
and the length desired. It is real nice to find one that fits these
requirements and also has a nice bell at the end too, however these are
not all that easy to find. One of the things that happens while the
stalk is dying is all the juices flow to the bottom, the bell. This
usually causes it to wet rot and makes salvaging a nice bell pretty
difficult if possible at all. The 'bell' of the stalk is actually the
base part of the plant itself so if you do find one intact you will
have to harvest it lower and remove all the leaves from the base. This
proves to be much more difficult than just sawing the stalk just above
the base, but it is much more rewarding as well. A nice bell really
makes an excellent agave
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didj, but not required. In the picture above
you can see some of the bases of the dried leaves still attached to the
stalk near the bottom. These should be removed to get them out of the way when you are ready to start
Splitting
the stalk. They are much easier to remove when they are dry than when
they are still a little wet. They can usually be removed just by
'peeling' them off with your (gloved) hands, or sometimes a nice sharp
knife can help. Do not clean the exterior of the stalk beyond just
getting some of the big leaves off.
Next clean up the ends by sawing them off straight, as below.
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