Who Says It’s Not Mezcal?
Mezcal can only be made from the heart of the agave. Or … wait? It can be made from the leaves? And sometimes that worm in the bottle isn’t just for tourists? What’s true in one community is not true universally, and the only absolute truths are the ones the Mexican government puts to paper … until they edit that document. Join us for the most confounding episode yet of Agave Road Trip!
This episode of Agave Road Trip is brought to you by Flask Fine Wines. Flask Fine Wines offers nationwide shipping of fine wines and spirits, including vintage spirits and heritage agave spirits. Learn more, and get your next bottle, at flaskfinewines.com
Agave Road Trip is a podcast that helps gringo bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. It’s hosted by Lou Bank and Chava Periban.
Sarah Bowen’s book Divided Spirits is a great examination of the respective histories of and regulations that define tequila and mezcal, and contrasts those regulations with the ones that define other products (like Comte cheese) around the world.
If you use this link to buy the book, it will ask you which charity you want to designate to receive a portion. Consider designating SACRED: Saving Agave for Culture, Recreation, Education, and Development.
Because the clay pots they use for distillation are relatively inefficient, ignoring cuts is not as dangerous as it might be with a more efficient still. This is one of the clay pots that was used in the stills above, in Santa Maria Ixcatlan, Oaxaca.
Maestro palenquero Apolonio “Polo” Patricio, who is one of the producers supplying Banhez. He frequently uses leaves (pencas) when making spirits, a practice that some will tell you cannot be done. Polo’s son, Juan Jesus, does this, too. You can purchase spirits directly from them now, online, and then grab the bottles when it’s again safe to travel to Mexico.
This is Polo’s son, Juan Jesus. He’s offering you a jicara full of deliciousness. Don’t turn him down. (Thanks for the photo, Alex!)
The worm’s just for tourists? If it was good enough for Don Lorenzo, it’s good enough for me.
To qualify for certification as mezcal, tequila, raicilla, bacanora, or any other spirit classification in Mexico, the spirit must conform to a regulatory definition called a NOM. The NOM defines the spirit. To read a spreadsheet that compares the various Mexican spirit NOMs, click here.
