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Mezcal
Mezcal is a distillate made with a wide variety of agave, an ancestral plant from Mexico. “Mezcal” is a generic name that has its origin taken from the indigenous nahuatl language, specifically from the term “Mezcalli” which means “cooked agave”. Mezcal is obtained from the fermentation of the sugar compounds present on the cooked heads of the agave species, (commonly referred to as “maguey”), from the Agavaceas family. It is quite similar to tequila, given that tequila is a distillate as well, but tequila is made with a specific agave: blue agave.
Another beverage derivative from agave is “pulque”, being considered the antecessor of tequila and mezcal; but the difference lies in the process, while these are distillates, pulque is a fermented beverage.
jima
It is the basis of mezcal production, without the jimadores this artisanal process could never be carried out. The jima (which in Nahuatl means to shave or cut) is the process with which the parts of the maguey that will not be used for the production of mezcal are discarded, using tools such as the machete, barretones or coas. Before this, the plant is “barbeado”, that is, the thorns are removed and thus the risk of a cut to the jimar is reduced. The most important aspect of the jima is time. Depending on the variety of maguey, before harvesting it, you must wait for it to mature for several years after planting. Depending on the maturation, it will have very specific notes at the time of consumption.
Cooking:
The maguey pineapples are cut so that they can later be placed in ovens where they will be cooked. Cooking is one of the steps that provides specific flavors to mezcal depending on the type of wood used as fuel. They generally use hardwoods such as oak, guamúchil or mesquite.
Fermentation
This process is carried out in large vats in which the wort is mixed with water. The mixture is left to ferment for three to five days and during this phase is when the flavors of the mezcal multiply and intensify.
Distillation
Once fermentation is complete, mezcal is distilled using a copper alembic, a technique brought by the Spanish conquistadors in the 15th century. The alcohol vapors are cooled and liquefied a first time, the remaining fibers of the must are removed and the distillation process is repeated a second time to give life to the mezcal.
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our history!
Luz María Saavedra is the first woman to venture into the production of mezcal throughout its production chain…
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