Sunday, January 10, 2016
Suduaya - Moodscapes Journeys Vol 2 - Hypnotic Lights MrLemilica2 MrLemilica2
Suduaya - Moodscapes Journeys Vol 2 - Hypnotic Lights
#021 Audioporn FM - Pure Liquid - Jan 7th 2016 By DJ Quantize
These Female Distillers Have Been Making Mezcal Since Childhood January 9, 2016 / 1:00 pm BY MARIANA CASTILLO SHARE TWEET
These Female Distillers Have Been Making Mezcal Since Childhood
Legend has it that Mayahuel, the female divinity associated with the maguey plant (agave) was a woman who had 400 breasts, and due to her fertility, the gods turned her into an agave plant.
Mezcal is having a big moment these days, with niche brands filling the market with high-quality product and a supply and demand that’s off the charts. But from your lips to the glass, much of the artistry and the stories of the people who are making it are often lost. I recently had the luck of meeting artisan mezcal makers Bertha, Reyna, and Sósima in Oaxaca—masters who’ve been perfecting the art of making the plant-based alcohol, from harvest to distilling, since they were children. As we sipped on mezcal after mezcal, they told me their stories.
Bertha Vázquez
At 59-years-old, Bertha Vazquez is a master mezcal maker who’s been making the stuff since a little girl out of necessity.
“If the corn harvest wasn’t enough, we would produce mezcal,” she explains. Vasquez learned the secrets to making mezcal from her grandparents but didn’t start producing her own until her husband’s sudden death, when she had to look after her five children and went full throttle on production.
Vasquez, however, confesses that after all these years of hard work, her body is very tired. The hardest part is “the cutting” and loading of the cart (for which a man she refers to as “Mocito” helps her alongside his donkey). These days, she and her daughter-in-law work together to produce anywhere from 175 to 200 liters of mezcal per month, depending on what type of agave is used. In San Baltazar, Chichicapa, Oaxaca, the region where Vasquez makes her mezcal, agave varieties like espadín,tobasiche, tobalá, are abundant, and the “mexicanita” and cuishe, too, but their diversity is decreasing. With teary red eyes from the smoke that takes place during production, Bertha explains, “there used to be a lot more agave before people from San Luis came in to buy it.”
Mezcal heals almost everything, or at least that’s what the working hands of Vasquez believe. If you’ve got a cold, she instructs, “smell it.” And if you’ve eaten something greasy or have an upset stomach, “drink it.” For her, rubbing it all over your body isn’t a bad idea, either.
“I feel good that women are in this world of agave. We have to carve our own space. Some people in the industry might speak badly about a woman working amongst men, but I am respected here. Not going to school forced me into doing this, and there’s nothing else for me out there,” she explains.
Reyna Sánchez
Reyna honors her name (queen), and is happy, honest, comedic, and says it like it is. She has two kids but never married and doesn’t need to: she inherited the strength from her grandfather, Ignacio Sanchez, “a man of good build,” who took care of her until his death. He’s also the one who taught her all the mezcal secrets she uses to make some of the best stuff around.
The yield of her product is only enough for her to get by, but doesn’t make much profit. She feels that it’s not really a business, but a way to survive without help from the government.
In her hometown, Lachiguizo, Miahuatlán, tepextate agave—one of the most labor-intensive species to harvest, in part, because it takes 30 years to ripen—tobasiche, arroqueño, jabalí and biliá, grow. The biliá is unique, because “it’s an agave that only grows in the countryside and it’s hard to come by. My grandfather had fields where he grew those but they are finished,” she explains.
At 50, Reyna doesn’t feel her age. “Making mezcal is a job that you don’t do alone, but you do very carefully. Ovens are lit up in a funeral-like ritual.” For this sacred liquid, every element is of significance: the plant, the stone, the water, and the hands that make it. They all influence the flavor. For the master distiller, she believes that if “it comes out right, then it’s a work of nature.”
Sósima Olivera
Sosima Olivera is proud of where she comes from.
A third generation mezcal master from San Miguel Suchixtepec, Olivera’s grandfather and her father brought Sosima and her six brothers into the world of making mezcal from a young age, teaching her to stir boiling pots and tasting batches to determine if the product was ready. Olivera believes that the mezcal producer works the hardest and makes the least because most of the profits go to middlemen. “Sadly, government policies benefit from big business over artisanal producers.”
She’s proud of her chontal ancestry—the indigenous people of Oaxaca—and explains that her people are a peaceful and united group that continues to make mezcal in the traditional approach: not only for drinking, but to sustainably cultivate the plant for future generations to come.
Heirloom agaves like chuparosa and gavilan are grown in her region, but are rare varieties that grow at a turtle’s pace. It’s going to require an ongoing planting process and upkeep to ensure that these plants don’t become extinct. They also grow chato, jabalí and mexicano, which is native to the region. “This is the first year that we’ve planted lote de chato so we can have them closer to us and not have to travel one kilometer just to get to one,” she explains.
Olivera’s family doesn’t live off of the yield from their mezcal, but it complements their corn and bean harvests. She laments the arrival of GMOs in recent years and the threat of mining companies, which are slowly taking over the space in her town. “If they take away our land, what will we do?”
Nowadays, mezcal is not only sipped with love, but with great respect. (Most of the time). Or at least that’s how I try to get close to it: each sip describes the landscape and the hard work of the lives that make every drop possible.
Stardiver - Tribute To MWNN [Goa Trance Mix] MrLemilica2 MrLemilica2
Stardiver - Tribute To MWNN [Goa Trance Mix]
Electro Silver/Cybernatural - Dj Set Live From Club LIV MrLemilica2 MrLemilica2
Electro Silver/Cybernatural - Dj Set Live From Club LIV
Boss Pranks - Best of Just For Laughs Gags Just For Laughs Gags Just For Laughs Gags
Boss Pranks - Best of Just For Laughs Gags
My Spanish Notes Español en las calles de Tijuana Posted: 10 Jan 2016 08:33 AM PST It's been a long time since I've posted anything, but with 2016 now upon us I plan on being back in the saddle with a lot more of the posts you all have enjoyed over the years. And with hopes of making up for my lack of activity, I'm going to share with you my first ever podcast. I've posted the transcript and a translation below for you to follow if you need it. I speak at a relatively slow and consistent pace, so it shouldn't be to hard to keep up with. Click here download the podcast from iVoox, for free of course: Español en las calles de Tijuana Also, the transcript (not the translation) is part of the audio file to make it even more convenient for you follow along. Please leave your comments below and let me know if you enjoyed it and whether or not you'd like to see me do more. ¡Que disfruten!
My Spanish Notes |
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Posted: 10 Jan 2016 08:33 AM PST
It's been a long time since I've posted anything, but with 2016 now upon us I plan on being back in the saddle with a lot more of the posts you all have enjoyed over the years.
And with hopes of making up for my lack of activity, I'm going to share with you my first ever podcast. I've posted the transcript and a translation below for you to follow if you need it. I speak at a relatively slow and consistent pace, so it shouldn't be to hard to keep up with. Click here download the podcast from iVoox, for free of course: Español en las calles de Tijuana Also, the transcript (not the translation) is part of the audio file to make it even more convenient for you follow along. Please leave your comments below and let me know if you enjoyed it and whether or not you'd like to see me do more. ¡Que disfruten! |
Cute Fairy Magically Opens Sliding Door Just For Laughs Gags
Cute Fairy Magically Opens Sliding Door
Saturday, January 9, 2016
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