The ten categories of ancestral mezcal

Mezcal can get very confusing for the average consumer. You’ve got regular Mezcal, Mezcal Artesenal, and Mezcal Ancestral. And then there are variations among those, including Joven, Reposado, Anejo, abocado con, destilado con, and on and on. But this, it seems, is part of the heritage of Mezcal — at least according to a 1904 book titled Diccionario de Aztequismos o Sea Catalogo de las Palabras del Idioma Nahuatl, Azteca ó Mexicano, Introducidas al Idioma Castellano Bajo Diversas Formas. (That’s Dictionary of Aztecisms, or a Catalog of Words from the Nahuatl, Aztec, or Mexican Language Introduced into the Spanish Language in Various Forms, and, yes, that is the longest title ever for a book.) In that book, there are ten categories of mezcal. Want to know what they are…?

Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Linda Sullivan‍ ‍of seynasecreto.