Spirited Away: On the Mezcal Trail in the Hills of Oaxaca Jessica Colley Clarke - The Financial Times
go to original November 15, 2016

Learning to 'Kiss' Mezcal: MUNCHIES Guide to Oaxaca (Munchies)

The common misconception about mezcal is that it is a smoky type of tequila. In fact, the opposite is actually true — tequila is a type of mezcal; mezcal is a general term for spirits distilled from agave plants. “People automatically relate mezcal to tequila, because the prime matter is the same,” says Fausto Zapata, co-founder of Mezcal El Silencio, an artisanal mezcal producer. “Both come from the agave plant but think of it like this: two felines may have the same roots but they can be very different animals.”

Mezcal is produced in other areas of Mexico, but Oaxaca, a state in the south of the country, is both its historic home and the core of mezcal production today. Enjoyed since colonial times within Mexico, the popularity of mezcal has exploded beyond its borders in recent years, as anyone who has crossed the threshold of a serious cocktail bar lately could tell you. Bars such as Leyenda in Brooklyn and Mezcalería Tobalá at Whisler’s in Austin, Texas specialise in the spirit, offering tasting flights and allowing the comparison of single-varietal mezcals from espadin to tobalá to tobasiche.

These tasting flights demonstrate that there is much more to mezcal than just smoke. “Yes, mezcal is smoky in a way,” says Jillian Vose, bar manager at The Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog in New York, “but there are so many other nuances: the grassiness, the fruit. Start sipping it neat and you’ll get beyond the smoke, fast.” Cocktails are a common introduction to the spirit, but it is also satisfying sipped neat and slow, allowing contemplation of its complexity.

This surge in popularity behind the bar has driven the rise of mezcal tourism in Oaxaca, with steady openings of more mezcal-centric bars and restaurants, more palenques (distilleries) opening their doors to visitors, and more English-speaking guides who can lead the way to tastings at artisan producers in remote villages. Cocktails were my introduction to mezcal, and it only took a handful of mezcal negronis and mezcal old-fashioneds before I booked a ticket to Oaxaca. I wanted to see how mezcal is made, to smell the smoke, to taste this spirit hot off the still.

Read the rest at The Financial Times

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