It's All About The Mezcal!

Mezcal, oh Mezcal! What the bloody hell is this cheesy, sour and unforgiving spirit that seems to find itself in my glass so many times these days? Well, this is exactly what I’m looking to explore.

I first tasted Mezcal around 8 years ago and was told it was distilled through poultry. Yeah, raw bloody poultry! I simply laughed and thought it was one of those “go get me a can of tartan paint and that packet of salmon legs” tricks that the hospitality industry loves to play on its newbies. So I ignored it and never looked back at the bottle. But a recent exploration through the same range of Mezcal, that had before turned me away, made me exuberantly jump to the side, do a little dance and wholeheartedly sing something from Westside Story! I can’t remember the exact song and in all honesty, I have very little memory of that night!

But since then, I have loved Mezcal and watched it grow within the industry from afar. I’ve dabbled in it when I can and have experimented with it well but it is clear now, since mid 2014, that it will be the new ‘big thing’ in a lot of the progressive bars across the country. Or to be honest, already is! What I wanted to do was demystify this wonderful spirit and try and explain to outsiders that haven’t yet gotten their claws into this incredible Mexican delicacy, what it actually is and how you understand it. Responsibly of course; really, really responsibly. Yeah, really!

Firstly though, let’s get the Tequila thing out the way. Yes, Tequila is a type of Mezcal, a very specific type of Mezcal that I would be very happy to go into at some point soon but I don’t want to cloud your vision at this moment. Please, step back, ignore that night you did all that Tequila, fell down the stairs and cried to your mother on the phone. We’re not talking about Tequila now. We’re having a deep conversation about its heritage and where it comes from. PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER! BREATHE!

The most wonderful thing about Mezcal is its freedom. It’s simply a spirit distilled from the agave plant, that is also known as Maguey, and many, many varietals of this plant grow within Mexico. Due to microclimates within the country, differences in terroir (basically a posh French word for ‘The Ground’) the plants take on a unique flavour while ‘maturing’ within these different areas. Tequila, which I brought up earlier and hope you have recovered from, is made from a single verity of the Maguey called Blue Agave. These Tequila brands love to make this very prominent on their bottle, almost as though the other 200+ species of Agave contain gluten, dairy and so many nuts!

But here lies the beauty of Mezcal. With different climates, different plants, different soils and different aging techniques, a spirit can be created that has infinite and incredible possibilities. Tequila (I’m not sure if we have discussed it before), can be produced in just 5 Mexican states. Mezcal, on the other hand, can be made in 8 states within the country but for centuries has been made in another 12 states, although not being recognized by the Mexican government. OH THOSE BLOODY REBELS! In reality though, these other 12 states label these as “agave-distilled spirits” and have a few issues when trying to get through customs. But hey, they don’t need to travel. Mexico is awesome!

By now, I imagine, if you have made it this far you are a little bit like what the hell is this Maguey stuff? What the bloody hell is Agave?

Hopefully we will add an image around here but if not, the Maguey looks like a cross between a pineapple and a pinecone. When farming, the experienced Mexican farmers will file off the leaves which leave the centre fruit, often known as the Piña. They do this at a certain time depending on the species of plant. Sometimes these ugly little things can take eight years to mature but with some varieties it can be often up to twenty years, or even longer! Naturally, as I’m sure you can imagine, there are some rare and very wild varietals of Maguey, like Tepextate, that can find themselves in bottles fetching well over £130 and have had the need to be matured for well over 30 years.

But if any of you have actually tasted Mezcal, you will surely say; why does it taste like horrific whisky? Why does it taste like the bars I used to attend before the government banned us smoking Lamberts inside? Well, like everything that becomes a spirit, it needs to be cooked. And the Mexicans cook their Maguey like pros! Whilst their fashionable sons are cooking their Blue Agave in fancy brick ovens to make their popular Tequila, the formidable, rustic Mezcal producers are throwing their Piña below ground and roasted it all within burning wood and hot stones. This results in the classic smoky flavour you’ll commonly find and initially be bemused by. Once these have been roasted they are then juiced, fermented and then finally distilled.

This cooking process gives it its prolific smoky character, which often overtakes tasting notes within this category. Next time you have a Mezcal, open your eyes and think about the plant that made it. Think about the exact area of Mexico it came from, the climate that the plant endured, the type of species that the Maguey was and how long it was grown to maturity. Mezcal is truly the wine of the spirit world. And I haven’t even touched on ageing. But maybe that’s for another day.

But first let’s rejoice with a little Mezcal - the king of Mexico. That ugly plant that was once the underdog. The ‘Mighty Ducks’ of the spirit world.

#Mezcal #Mexico #Agave #Edits