For thousands of years people in this area have been fermenting various strains of agave plant in an effort to speak with the Gods.  Or get drunk, as we understand it today.  Mezcal was the fermented plant of choice here, as opposed to grapes in Europe, or apples in early U.S. history, or wheat, or potatoes, or grain, or whatever else humanity has managed to ferment for fun-time, consequence-free mind-altering effects.  I am amused every early civilization on the planet found a way to escape the hum-drum banality of life through drink.  As a species, our drug use goes way back. (I say this as I sip my coffee.)    

Agave plants grow well here.  They are succulents, suited for the desert climate.  The plants flower once in their life, right before dying.  It turns out if you cut agave right before flowering, when the carbohydrates are highest in the plant’s flesh, and ferment the juicy cores (called pinà) you get a delicious alcoholic drink people here have been enjoying for a very long time. Legend states lightning struck an agave plant, splitting and cooking the plant, releasing the delicious inner core’s juices.  This is why the drink is considered a “Gift from the Gods.”  

 A little tequila, sunshine, and tacos never hurt anybody.

Matthew McConaughey

Once the plants are cut and cores extracted, some are cooked which is how mezcal gets its smoky flavor.  Traditionally volcanic rocks were heated and the plants placed on top.  The whole, smoldering shebang was buried, slow roasting the plants not unlike meat in a smoker.  Some mezcals use uncooked agave, and have no smoky flavor at all.  The cooking process breaks the starches into simple sugars, allowing easier fermentation.  Yeast don’t like working too hard.    

Once cooked, the plants are crushed and fermented.  The final step, distillation, came from the Europeans (there is some debate who exactly) during the pre-colonial era.  Mezcals are distilled twice, which raises the proof to around 100.    

We should all believe in something, and I believe it’s time for another shot of tequila.

Justin Timberlake

The best known mezcal is tequila.  It is a specific strain of agave, Blue Agave, from a specific part of Mexico, Jalisco (or 4 other specific regions).  It also must be cooked.  If these conditions are not met it cannot be called tequila.  Much of this is marketing, artificially creating a limited supply to boost price and prestige.  Mezcal was first, but tequila is more well-known.  So, it clearly worked.

What differentiates one mezcal from another is the strain of agave and where it was grown.  The brand is mostly meaningless.  Different strains taste significantly different, just like different grapes make different wines.  Furthermore, the same strain of agave grown in a different part of Mexico will also taste different.  You may not like a mezcal from this strain of agave from this part of Mexico, but the same strain uncooked from a different part may be your favorite.  Experimentation is required, because rest assured there is a mezcal for you.  You just haven’t found it yet.  

Cheap mezcal comes from agave plants which take about seven years to go from seed to bottle.  The most expensive mezcal come from wild agave plants that are found by pickers, who scour Mexico’s underpopulated mountainous interior.  Not only must they find the plant, but the plant must be mature enough for harvest. It takes 25 to 35 years from seed to bottle, too long a time horizon for farming. Hence, it must be found and this explains why it is so expensive.   

One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor!

George Carlin

Like other fine liquors, aging greatly affects flavor. Tequila and mezcal that has not been aged is called blanco.  It is clear, and works well in mixed drinks.  The flavor profile is not sophisticated and it packs a punch.  If you age it a few months to a year, you have a reposado, which begins taking on flavors from the barrel in which it was aged.  This not only affects taste, but also gives it a slightly golden color.  Aged longer, and you have an añejo.  This is sipping tequila, fine tequila, with complex flavors best enjoyed after a rich meal among friends.  You don’t shoot it, and you certainly don’t mix it with anything. 

I like cristalinos, which are aged tequilas filtered with charcoal.  This removes the color but leaves much of the rich taste.  I could drink my weight in this type of tequila.  As for mezcal, I prefer some of the aged blends or uncooked varieties, which to me taste more complex.  I am not a huge fan of mezcal blanco, because it tastes like a campfire.   

Stop trying to make everyone happy. You’re not tequila.

Emmy Rossum

The worm is a marketing gimmick, which the Mexicans sort of tolerate but don’t completely like. There are various origin stories as to how it came to be.  Sometimes it’s a scorpion or small snake.  Some people say the dead animal imparts flavor, which is dubious.  Others say it was meant as a quality test before governmental certification. If the worm sank, you had the real deal.  If it floated, it was not good mezcal.  Like Coke and its secret formula, all this feels like marketing theater.   

Mezcal is having a moment in the U.S., becoming more popular since about the 1990s.  Tequila, of course, has a special place in our lore of crazy nights in college with what’s her face.  Or his face. Or both, I’m not judging. Nights we barely remember but wistfully kinda recall.  I think it went into the Jungle Juice in my day. This is mostly thanks to marketing by Jose Cuervo or Don Julio. It fits this idea Mexico, a wild, untamed place, would create a liquor that could make you also wild and untamed.  Sophisticated people drink wine or bourbon, but the young and the bold drink tequila.  The reality is the mezcal world, which includes tequila, is a rich and nuanced one.  We just haven’t been paying attention.

Exercise makes you look and feel good naked. So does tequila, your choice!

Anonymous