All about mezcal

Mezcal is the drink they pride themselves on in Oaxaca. Tequila is totally second class here.  So despite my tendencies toward things fruit juicy, I had to try mezcal. I gathered a couple of new friends from language school and we set ourselves the task of become more familiar with the drink. But before we get to that, you're all biting and your nails trying to figure out what's the difference.

Since I am no expert, here according to Mezcal PhD [http://mezcalphd.com/2012/08/tequila-vs-mezcal/] (who obviously is an expert) are the three main differences between mezcal and tequila:

• Tequila and mezcal are produced in different states of Mexico (though there is overlap).

• Tequila can only be made, by law, with one variety of agave:  the Blue Agave.  Mezcal can be made with upwards of 30 varieties of agave, though most are made with the Agave Espadin.

• The production process for mezcal is different from tequila which leads to a distinctly different flavour profile for mezcal.

Dr. Mezcal also notes that about 90 per cent of all mezcal is made in Oaxaca and there are pretty passionate about it. And while some of it might be made on an industrial scale, much of the Mezcal that I've had is made by small artisnal producers.

Today I went on a whirlwind tour of many things (more on that in another post) but one of the stops was a small mezcal distillery for lessons on how it's made. First of all as senor PhD notes above that meszcal can be made from any number of agave plants. The one that can be cultivated/farmed is maguey espadin. It's the one that most mezcal is made from. The others all grow only in the wild or naturally and therefore the mezcal from this is much more expensive but also each plant from each area has its own really distinct taste.

The pina, the kiln, the cooked fruite, and the masher.

Back to basics. The plants can take anywhere from 5 to 25 years to mature. Once their flower stem grows, then it's time for the harvest as after they flower, they die. So the only part of the plant that is used is the pina, or heart, of the plant. The flower stem and leaves are not used for the making of the alcohol.  The pina is then chopped up into pieces and stuck into a fiery pit to cook for five days. It becomes soft, sweet, and smokey during it's time in the "kiln."  Once it's taken out of the kiln, it gets all mashed in a large stone mill that, in the case of the place we were anyway, is done by a horse. I am quite sure that the more industrialized operations do not use this method. Anyway, once there's mash, it goes in to ferment for a bit and then that alcohol mash goes into the distiller. Again in this case, the distiller is copper and they literally light a big wood fire under there and let it all get done.

That's the traditional and artisanal method of making all mezcal. Ones produced from the maguey espadin are then often aged in white oak barrels for anywhere from six months to many years. There are four basic types: joven (not barrel aged), reposado (rested in the barrel for 6 months or so), anejo (aged five years or so), and then basically anejo plus/grand reserva or whatever each distiller calls it.  With the mezcals made from the wild plants, they are genrally not aged in barrels because they all have very distinct flavours that will be tainted by barrel aging. Some are distilled in clay pots, or some other part of the production process uses different materials but they are distilled into the bottles and then are ready for drinking.

On our drinking night in the city, we went up to a really nice little mezcalaria on Alcala near Humbolt. The owner, Coca, served us up some unique tequilas from a variety of the wild maguey (or agave) plants. They included bicuixe (bi-kwish-eh), cuixe, papalometl, and tepextate. At the distillery we also tried one from the coyote. The all-natural one as mentioned each have a really distinct flavour profile but one thing they all share is a substantial alcohol punch: 50% or more.

And one thing is that anywhere they sell mezcal in the city or any of the nearby distillers will give you as much to try as you want. Many also have fruit cream versions as well, which in the end taste like milkshakes and can likely lead to some very bad headaches the next morning if you're not careful.

So I can't say that I want to drink it all the time but mezcal definitely tastes better to me than tequila. And because most of it is pretty much organic and natural, you don't feel bad drinking it. I'm sure if you drank a lot, that might not be the case, but in moderation, all good.