Agave is a genus of succulent plants native to Mexico and the southwestern United States. The plant itself is not a sweetener; it is the raw material whose sap is fermented and distilled into tequila and mezcal, or extracted and refined into the products called agave nectar and agave syrup. Agave favors hot, dry climates and has been cultivated across the Yucatan Peninsula, central Mexico, and the American Southwest by indigenous Mexican cultures for centuries.
Because the plant's culinary value is almost entirely as a source for these downstream products rather than as an ingredient eaten on its own, agave is best understood as the raw plant behind tequila, mezcal, and agave sweeteners rather than as a pantry item in its own right.