Grapes and Grains: Mezcal
G&G Alipus
Editor’s Note: We continue our series exploring new wines, liqueurs, spirits and beers. The purpose is to educate and inspire those who choose to explore the variety of offerings in Emporia’s stores. We hope you will enjoy the journey.
Last week we launched into beverages fermented from the agave plant, specifically tequila. Today we have the ‘mother’ of tequila, mezcal. All tequilas are mezcals, but not all mezcals are tequilas due to the fact tequila uses exclusively 100 percent agave tequiliana weber.
The most lauded mezcal comes from the Mexican state of Oaxaca, although it can be produced anywhere agave will grow. Eight varieties of agave are approved for mezcal production, but the chief variety used is the espadin agave (agave angustifolia Haw).
The word mezcal comes from the prehispanic Nahuatl word Metl or Mexcalmetl, and it means agave. In Oaxaca, agave is called is maguey (muh-GAY). Nearly 25 percent of the total contemporary indigenous (non-hispanic) population of Mexico lives in the state of Oaxaca.
The capital city of Oaxaca is in the center of three great valleys, at an altitude of 6,500 feet. There are mountains, plains, valleys, tropical jungles and the Pacific Ocean all creating many differing growing zones for many varieties of maguey. Soil, moisture, temperature and sunshine all affect the taste of the agave, just as it does a vineyard.
Mezcal is clear, sometimes with a light tint.
“All good mezcals have no worm,” states Adam Clary of Standard Beverage. The Del Maguey distillery agrees: “The clichéd notion of gusanos (worms) in the bottle has no place in a serious conversation about true mezcal.”
It is to be sipped, not “shot.” The practice of shooting a drink comes from when distillation created an intense alcohol burn and not altogether pleasing taste. It was best to just get it past the tongue as quickly as possible and boost the alcoholic effects. Imbibers who want to shoot can save a great deal of money by buying the least expensive tequila on the shelf, or the mezcal with the worm in it. We are not they.
Most great mezcals are artisanal, small-batch and unique to their specific village, as opposed event to region. Many are made the same way they have been for centuries.
According to connoisseurs, mezcal’s general characteristics include roasted green bell pepper, earth, chile pepper and an “unmistakable exotic essence” from the unusual sweetness of the agave itself. Mezcals are usually more earthy than Tequila, with dusty, peppery, leafy and sometimes pine notes.
This earthiness comes from baking the pina in underground ovens heated with wood charcoal. They are then crushed (traditionally with a stone wheel drawn around a circular trough by a mule) and shredded to extract the sweet juice, called aguamiel (honey water).
Many mezcals are open fermented in pie vats to obtain wild yeasts for fermentation.
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Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal was founded in 1995 by internationally renowned artist Ron Cooper (Whitney, Guggenheim, LACMA), who felt the quality of the beverage and the ability to provide sustainable industry for each indigenous village was of vital importance. The website states, “Through deep cultural relationships with Zapotec Mexican Indian producers in the remote villages of Oaxaca, Mexico, Del Maguey harnesses ancient, original organic processes that combined with varying micro-climates and terroir give each creation its unique, rich, sweet and smoky character. Every product in our collection is made by individual family palenqueros (producers) in old-style villages. We are the first producer to credit each product after the village where our liquid is made.”
Another section states: “The art of distillation is in no place more evident than in the palenques (stills) of Oaxaca, where indigenous culture is being preserved, pre-organic practices are being protected and fair trade micro-economies are being created — one village at a time.
“Using strictly natural, rustic and pure processes over 500 years old, the village palenquero (maker) captures the true body and spirit of mezcal with only two ingredients: the heart of the maguey (agave), and 10 percent pure water added only to the fermentation.”
The Tequila: Del Maguey Crema de Mezcal, $35.49.
The distiller says:
“Crema de Mezcal: For Women Only… and… A Few Strong Men.”
Crema de Mezcal is a combination of 10 percent Miel de Maguey (unfermented syrup of the roast agave) and 90 percent Mezcal San Luis del Rio — double distilled from 100 percent mature agave Espadin, produced the original, natural 400-year-old, hand-crafted way.
Crema de Mezcal has a nose of roast maguey, with vanilla and pear, a creamy almond, apple, coffee, pineapple palate and a long sweet smoky orange finish.
We have created in Crema a totally original and natural, single-village-produced libation. Sip this delicious beverage before, during and after meals. Make a great margarita with nothing other than fresh lime juice. Drizzle it over any fruit or pastry for desert.
The critics say:
Wine and Spirit Magazines: “Best new spirit of 2012.”
“This is one of the great connoisseur’s drinks of the world, in any category. Produced from wild agaves harvested at high altitude, it is a seductively dislocating, subtly knit but extreme stream of sensory information.” Richard Nalley, Forbes
The Gazette says:
The smell is completely different from tequila. It’s closer to Scotch: peaty, dark. It is complex in flavor, with an initial sweetness, hints of tropical fruits and finishing (in a good way) with earth.
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Alipus Mezcal offerings are 100 percent agave produced in remote pueblos in Oaxaca’s noted Mezcal region, via craft production from artisanal family distilleries. Agaves are wood-roasted in palenques (conical below-ground ovens), with juice extraction by slow stone-milling (tahona). Fermentation takes place with native yeasts in open wooden vats (some are pine, some cypress, some oak), and is completed by double-distillation in small wood-fired copper pot stills.
Its current offerings are the San Baltazar Guelavila, San Andres, San Juan del Rio and an annual Edicion Especial.
The Tequila: Alipus Mezcal Joven San Baltazar Guélavila, $39.99
The distiller says:
The San Baltazar is fermented in pine vats. The taste is delicate and fruity, slightly sweet.
The critics say:
“Elegant, delicate. The higher proof brings out some volatile alcohol nuances, but everything is fairly synchronized, so nothing dominates. I would definitely get more of this if I could, simply because the smoke doesn’t stamp out a lot of the lovely peculiarities of the distillate straight from the still. Remarkably smooth for its strength.” — blueagavforum.com.
The Gazette says:
There is a light pink color, and the aroma is oddly like glue. It has a strong, earthy flavor, gentle but dark (one critic described it as mud), there is resin, smoke and a light sweetness.
