Tag: Tequila

On November 3rd I attended the Mujeres del Mezcal mezcal spirit tasting which was held at Mamazul Mexican Grill located at 1155 Broadway in Manhattan.

The “Women of Mezcal” tasting was promoted by Panorama Mezcal as a way to showcase women in the mezcal spirit industry. There were over 60 mezcal producers on hand with a handful of tequila producers as well. The event was open to the consumer.

Mezcal is a spirit produced in Mexico similar to tequila and all tequilas are mezcal but not all mezcals are tequila.

Simply, the differences between the two are that tequila must be made from the Blue Agave while mezcal can be made from any of the dozens of varieties of agave. The piña for tequila is steamed while the piña for mezcal is roasted in pits which gives it a smoky flavor. Tequila has to come from specific areas of Mexico while mezcal can come from any part the country.

While tequila can be a more consistent product, you can sit down for a tasting of a dozen mezcal from the same producer and have twelve different spirits made from different agaves and villages.

I’m more of a brown spirits drinker so most of the labels at this tasting were unfamiliar to me, especially the mezcals since most tend to come from small producers. Since all the producers poured more than one spirit, I stopped at each table to try at least one version of what they were pouring.

Some producers I sampled:

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Mexico In A Bottle is a website founded in 2014 by Susan Coss and Max Garrone that celebrates “food, art, mezcal, life”. They sponsor North America’s biggest agave spirit tasting, an annual tasting and celebration of more than 500 years of Mezcal history and culture. In 2018 the tour has stopped and will stop in Washington DC, San Diego, Chicago and San Francisco and on September 16th, Mexican Independence Day, the tour stopped in New York City.

The event took place at the House of Yes, a nightclub, performing arts space and event venue located at 2 Wychoff Avenue in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Over 50 brands were represented and considering that Mezcal, unlike Tequila which can be made with only with blue agave, Mezcal can be made from up to 30 varieties of agave which means that many producers make a wide range of Mezcal from different varietals as well as from different villages. There were a staggering quantity of spirits at this event. .

I recognized a handful of producers but for the most part many of the producers were “mom and pop” operations that still make Mezcal in the traditional way and most of the labels were unknown to me. Most had the signature smokiness that Mezcal are known for but many had more nuanced flavors of grass, herbs, butter, stone fruit. I would have loved to pick two or three producers and go through their line to taste the differences in the types of agave used. Personally, unlike rum, I like my Mezcal/Tequila joven, clear instead of aged. Interesting food item at the event were crispy Chapulin (aka grasshopper).

Some of what I sampled:

Erstwhile Espadin, Cuishe, Espadin Limited Edition

Los Amantes Joven, Reposado

Wahaka Ensamble, Reposado con Gusano

Amaras Espadin, Cupreata

5 Sentidos Papalomentl, Sierra Negra

Mezcal Union El Viejo

Nuestra Soleda Del Rio, 3 Mezquitos

Los Siete Misterios Coyote, Barril

Mezcal Vago Tobala, Espadin

Nobile Coyote Jabali, Coyote

Mezcal Nacional Tobala, Ciral

Los Nahuales Espadin

Mezcal De Leyenda San Luis Potosi

Amormata Masparillo de La Cruz

Mezcal Los Javis Espadin

Ancho Reyes Chile Ancho Liqueur, Chile Poblano Liqueur

Blue Nectar Tequila Silver