Oaxaca and Mexican Moonshine

Tequila was once known in the United States as Mexican whiskey. Its close cousin, mezcal, could still appropriately be called Mexican moonshine. While there is nothing illegal or dangerous about its production, mezcal as a spirit and a culture is anarchic where tequila is bureaucratic, and some of the best never makes it out of the remote mountain villages where it is produced.

What, technically, is mezcal? Mezcal is a category referring to liquor distilled from agave plants. The process used to make mezcal is at its roots the same as for tequila - cook agave, grind agave, ferment juice, distill juice, enjoy. Tequila is one type of mezcal grown in a defined geographical area (primarly the state of Jalisco) with one particular type of agave (the Weber blue variety). Other mezcals can be made from just about any of the scores of varieties of agave cultivated and growing wild in Mexico. But the best-known mezcals, and possibly the best, period, are produced in Oaxaca.

First let's deal with how to pronounce that name: Oaxaca. It's not as bad as it looks - wah-HA-ca. Oaxaca is a state in the south of Mexico famous for its proud indigenous populations, world-class cuisine, folk art and mezcal. While on a two-week research trip in November, I was transported to a world far removed from the mestizo ranch culture of Tequila, Jalisco. Oaxaca's Zapotec and Mixtec indigenous people constitute a majority of the population. Amongst older people, Spanish is still spoken as a second language, used primarily for doing business with outsiders. It can take some time and delicate negotiation to gain people's trust. If you are successful, you just might be invited to sample someone's homemade mezcal.

Visiting a palenque, as the locals call the backyard distilling setups that are common in Oaxaca, is like going back in time. All the hallmarks of tequila production from the 19th century are still in use today. The tahona, a 2-ton, Flintstones-like wheel considered a museum piece in most of tequila country, is the norm. As are uncovered wooden fermentation vats and small copper stills sealed watertight with tortilla dough. And you generally won't find a lab or technicians conducting analysis with a Brixometer - the mezcalero is much more likely to taste the raw spirit right out of the still.

As a consumer, taste is your best guide as well. Compared to tequila, where knowing how to read a label is almost as useful as when picking a bottle of wine, some of the best mezcal produced may be poured out of a plastic gas can or plain glass carboy. In mezcal country, you cannot rely on reviews in glossy magazines or internet bulletin boards to tell you what is good and what may split your skull. You and your palate are on your own.

Experience Tequila is currently developing a tour of Oaxaca's mezcal country. Contact us for more information. You can check out more photos on Facebook.