Perlas Before Swine
When you visit the men and women who make heritage agave spirits, you will, with certainty, at some point, be witness to the testing of the perlas. The mezcaler@s will make bubbles in their agave spirits by dropping the liquid from a height into a receptacle, and they will use the size and duration of the bubbles (perlas) to determine how much alcohol is in the spirit, and the quality of the spirit.
I’ve never believed this. I thought the whole perlas thing was more theater than anything else. I came to this conclusion once when I saw someone perform the perlas thing twice, with the same spirit, and the results were different from one time to the next. But … in a recent study led by Dr. Roberto Zenit of Brown University, they came to the conclusion that there is some truth to it. Our pal @pina.marcus pointed us to the study; we reached out to Dr. Zenit; and now our eight-episode first season on Agave Road Trip has a ninth episode! And if you’re a serious agave geek follow the links down in this page so you can also listen to the whole hour-long interview — if that’s your thing.
Dr. Roberto Zenit professor at Brown University
Dr. Zenit’s study about perlas in English.
A thesis he directed researching the same subject while in UNAM
Lou doing his own perlas study using a extremely well calibrated half a liter large jicara.
Double perlas from Maestro José Inés in Michoacán.
Another article by Dr. Zenit, this one about bubbly drinks.
