Welcome back, friends - it's Anders.
Today's episode is a fun one. This is for all of you who have been asking me about mezcal.
My friends over at Curiada sent me a couple bottles of mezcal that are completely new to me.
They are the same style as my go-to mixing mezcal, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to try them,
see how different they are, and actually talk about mezcal.
This is something I haven't really used on the channel. It's not called for in a lot of old classic cocktails,
but it's wonderful to mix with, and it's great to sip on its own too.
And if you are a mezcal expert, then - well, you can hear me mispronounce a lot of words.
I realize that is something that could happen.
If you're new to the channel, hit that subscribe button for more sips, tips, and recipes.
Let's go have some mescal.
To the bar.
[intro music]
So here we are - a few bottles of mezcal. I'm gonna do a quick overview, and then we'll get into the tasting.
About 10, 12 years ago is when mezcal really got a foothold in the United States.
Prior to that, I thought mezcal was just cheap tequila with a worm in it.
Which I later learned was actually not even a worm.
That is a moth larva that lives on the agave plant.
Where that idea came from - I believe was a marketing ploy from the 1940s or 50s.
And you still find mezcals with worms at the bottom.
Larva, larvae, larvee?
I've never eaten one. I did eat a scorpion, actually, that was in the bottle of mezcal -
about 10 years ago. And it taste like toenails.
It was bad. I would never do it again.
Now for the origin story of mezcal!
During the time of the Aztecs, there was a lone agave plant that was struck by lightning,
and it fermented the juice inside the plant.
It split the plant open, I guess, and that stuff came running out.
And somebody came walking past, saw this, took a sip, loved it, and shared it with all of his friends -
or her friends.
Now the Aztecs saw this as the elixir of the gods, and it was called pulque.
They would use it for religious ceremonies and rituals. This was the way of life for many, many years.
Then the Spaniards came, and with them they brought spirits that were distilled and higher proof.
And they drank them up. They ran out. So what did they have to do?
They had to make more spirits. So they distilled the pulque and they created mezcal.
That's the story anyway.
Now this story also is the origin story of tequila, and a lot of people confuse tequila and mezcal.
A lot of people think that mezcal is simply smoky tequila - which it's not, but mezcal is a confusing thing.
See, mezcal is a category of agave spirits that tequila falls under. And it wasn't until the 1990s, 1994, that they decided to make mezcal its own spirit.
So it's a category of spirits, but it's also its own thing.
So all tequilas are a mezcal, but not all mezcals are tequila.
Doing research for this video, I got even more confused, because there was conflicting information out there.
Different articles said different things, and even today the certification process of mezcal is changing.
So if you find mezcal confusing, you're not alone.
The process of making mezcal is actually very traditional.
It starts with the agave plant. They cut off all of the leaves, and they expose what is called the piña -
That actually looks like a giant pineapple. And they roast them in underground pit ovens.
So they dig a hole, and they fill it with hot rocks or coals, throw in all of these piñas, and then cover it with dirt.
And they've roasted them for days. And it's this process that gives the mezcal its distinctive flavor.
Often times it's very smoky - flavors of earth. It differentiates it from something like tequila which is steamed.
When that's done roasting, they take it out and they crush it up.
The traditional way is they have it crushed by this thing called a tohona. I think I'm saying that right.
It's this giant stone wheel that a donkey or horse pushes, and it goes in big circles, and it turns to mush.
And they take that mush and then they put that into a giant vat so that it can ferment naturally.
This whole process takes another few days. Then there are other steps where they ferment it and distill it,
sometimes they age it, and they put it into a bottle and they sell it to you.
Enough of the lecture. Let's get into tasting.
Okay, I've got Az here to help me taste so we can get the opinion of a layperson.
[laughter]
That's my job.
The normie.
I'm the designated normal person.
Let me introduce the bottles first, and then we'll dive right in.
First one is Del Maguey Vida, then we're going to be tasting this one - Corte Vetusto, and this one - Tileño.
If you want to try any of these bottles for yourself, be sure to check out my collection over at Curiada.
There you can purchase any of these, and they will send them straight to you.
And you can have a little mezcal tasting for yourself.
Great idea.
Great idea! I should point out that all three of these are similar in style.
They all come from the espadín agave - which is a varietal. And you can use 30+ different varietals in mezcal.
Espadín is most commonly used.
They're also all made in Oaxaca, Mexico - which is where most mezcal is made.
And they are joven.
Joven?
Which means young. So these are unaged mezcals.
Personally, I like the unaged mezcals because the more you age it, the more mellow the flavors are.
Which is a good thing if you like a bit more mellow mezcal, but I like to mix with mezcal.
So I like a stronger flavor that holds up to sweeteners or other spirits. And I really just love the flavor of mezcal.
I'm excited to taste them.
Let's pour these!
Let's do it!
All right.
Gonna to start with the Del Maguey. Del Maguey means agave.
This is actually my go-to mezcal.
I've used it on the channel once or twice, and I wanted to use it as a baseline to compare the other two mezcals with.
Any true mezcal aficionado will tell you you're not supposed to shoot mezcal.
You're supposed to kiss it - which is when you purse your lips and you just take small sips.
[glasses clinking]
Cheers.
Smoky!
Smoky.
To be expected.
Yeah.
Mmm
Yeah - I like that a lot. Tasting it now, I'm getting almost tobacco.
Weird!
Notes that I would find in a whiskey.
It has a touch of a "roundness" to it.
There is actually a sweetness.
Yeah, right? Just a little bit. I think it's really nice.
This is kind of strange, but - I'm saying this not because it's bad.
I really like this mezcal, actually. But it has that sort of dentist office taste.
I think I see what you're saying.
Like that band-aid taste you get from, you know, certain scotches?
Like an Islay scotch.
Yeah.
And I think that if you are a fan of Islay scotch, you may like something like this.
Now, the smoke is imparted in a completely different way - when it comes to the two.
So, what do we think? Good? Like it? I know I like it. I've used this one.
I like it.
I think this is a great mixing mezcal, and I do like it on its own too.
Move on to the next.
On to the next!
Bottle number two - Corte Vetusto.
Cor - make sure I'm saying that right. Corte Vetusto.
It says "mesquite smoked" on it.
From what I know about this, is that it's a fourth generation master mescalero.
Cheers!
Super different smelling.
I think I get more smoke on the Vida, actually. What am I smelling? That's -
I have weird things to say about it.
Oh! Please, get it started.
It smells like fish. Just because I say things that sound weird,
doesn't mean it smells or tastes bad. I like fish.
There is a meatiness to it.
I think maybe it's not fish -
Like the sea.
Salt water. Yeah, like the sea!
All right, let's taste it.
Hmm
I taste the saltiness. This one is saltier.
You could smell salt! That's nice!
I don't know if that's real.
There is a briny element to it.
Yeah!
Like saline.
It's a different kind of smoke.
It's more like you would find in a barbecue, or - I taste ham.
And the Vida, in comparison, is more like a, like a campfire smoke.
Mm-hmm
Well, shall we move on to the next one?
Let's move on.
The final bottle.
Tileño espedín!
This bottle, my understanding is, it is brand new to the U.S. market. This mezcal is organic.
Honestly, I know very little about this mezcal because I can't find anything online about it.
It's so new - it's brand new that there's nothing for me to read.
On the website, what I found was what all the different components on this label mean.
Well I can tell you that the thing in the middle looks a bit like a monkey.
I need to cleanse my palate.
Huh!
Very different.
Mmm - Really different.
Really different.
Yeah. It smells sort of fresher.
The smoke is so much softer than the other two.
We're tasting it?
Now let's taste it.
Okay.
Ooh!
Light, funky, and grassy. There's something grassy about it.
It's a lot brighter than the other two.
Mm-Hmm
I really like it.
I'm getting like a weird, like a weird sensation in my mouth.
[laughter]
I don't know how to describe that in a fancy way. It - it also feels lighter.
Yeah, there's less weight.
Yeah, there's less weight!
I think the Vida had the most weight to it. Yeah there's a brightness - almost like a tartness.
Another thing I smell is a kind of paint. Like a can of paint. Is that weird?
I should point out Az has a much better nose than I do.
Anders can't breathe out of one of his nostrils -
That's true.
- because he broke it playing football in high school. Is that right?
That's true. And I never got it fixed, and I cannot breathe out of this nostril.
All three of these are great!
All right! They all taste so differently.
I like them all. The one that I keep coming back to, though, is this Tileño.
What I think was fun to illustrate here is all three of these made in the same region of Mexico,
made from the same agave varietal, all unaged - they all differ so much.
That's just within one little pocket of mezcal. Imagine the whole spectrum of mezcal -
how many different bottles are out there.
Thank you for watching. Like and subscribe. Hit that notification bell if you haven't already.
And we will see you next time.
Goodbye!
Cheers!
[laughter] Cheers!
[thunder claps]
[music fades]