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Today we will go to hot Mexico to see how the national drink mezcal is made, which is
somewhat similar to tequila.
It looks like a peeled agave fruit, which the Mexicans also call piña.
This is exactly what mezcal is made of.
This drink is a liqueur.
Distillers cook piña for five days underground in makeshift ovens like this one.
From the alcohol of the Spanish conquerors, mezcal turned into the national drink of Mexico.
Agave plants are used to make both mezcal and tequila.
But mezcal, unlike tequila, is made from five types of cultivated agave and even with the
addition of wild varieties, while tequila is made from only one type - blue agave.
The people of Mexico have been known to produce mezcal for many centuries.
Today, the popularity of mezcal is constantly growing, more and more people want to try
it.
Therefore, the value of mezcal is increasing all the time.
In 2021 alone, its value increased by 50%.
Today, mezcal is one of the fastest growing drinks in America.
And now the market for mezcal in the US is larger than in Mexico.
But despite the rise in international popularity, some manufacturers are being squeezed out
of the industry.
Some of them are even forbidden to call their products mezcal.
Obtaining a certificate for production can take up to a year, and it can cost several
thousand dollars.
Therefore, manufacturers say that all these obstacles violate their long tradition.
Because of this, some of them, such as Graciela Ángeles Carreño, go to the extreme and now
label their bottles as "distilled agave".
To see how agave is harvested, cooked, fermented and distilled, visit the Mexican state of
Oaxaca.
Despite the fact that both mezcal and tequila are made from the same plant - agave, mezcal
actually has an older tradition than tequila, it has a pronounced smoky flavor.
Mezcal gets its name from the Aztec word mexcalli, meaning oven-roasted agave.
But in the end it was nicknamed "the elixir of the gods."
According to legend, in pre-Columbian Mexico, lightning struck an agave plant, resulting
in mezcal.
For much of the history of mezcal, it has been a low-class drink.
It was distributed among the poor, peasants and uneducated people.
The Graciela family has been making mezcal in Santa Catarina Minas since 1898.
But unlike her ancestors, she grows her agave, or maguey as the locals call it, from seed.
This is what the seeds look like.
Graciela continues to use this slower method, which helps the agave resist disease better.
At the same time, other companies prefer to use root cuttings to speed up the growing
process.
The blue agave is a perennial succulent plant.
After a few years, the plant forms large rosettes of strong, fleshy leaves.
These young plants are used as seedlings for a new field.
Hundreds of thousands of new plants are planted in such fields every year.
In this form, seedlings can be stored for several months before planting.
Such red volcanic soil is very rich in nutrients for growing agave.
Before planting, the plants are dipped in a protective solution.
The field is marked for uniform planting.
Planting is done manually.
And the white matter is lime.
The field is best seen from above.
Once the plants are planted, you will have to wait a few years for the agave to mature.
The first harvest can be harvested from the age of 7.
The core of the plant can weigh about 100 kg, and the spread of leaves can reach two
meters.
The process of caring for agave is the annual addition of fertilizers.
Thus, a hole is dug and fertilizers are thrown there.
The plants are then sprayed with pesticides.
Usually harvested after the agave reaches a sufficiently large size.
For example, these plants are 22-23 years old.
The collection of agave is always done by hand, and the main tool is such a small spatula.
The main task of the collector is to cut the roots and remove the thorns.
An experienced picker can process one plant in 15 minutes.
It all depends on the size of the plant.
A small agave can be processed much faster.
First, the leaves are removed.
Then the spikes located at the tips inside each leaf are cut off.
If this is not done, then the spikes can accidentally get under the skin, where they can migrate,
causing severe pain.
The thorns cause burning and itching of the skin.
Pimples appear on the body.
Old-timers say that in the pre-Hispanic era, agave thorns were used as a punishment for
thieves.
In addition, agave leaves release chemicals called saponins, which can also be harmful
to humans.
What remains after peeling is the core of the agave, called piña.
To unearth it, you will have to make a lot of effort.
After the harvest, the pickers return tired, their bodies full of thorns.
As already mentioned, a piña can weigh at least a hundred kilograms, so the workers
cut the core to make it easier to carry.
The agave is then transferred to the back of a truck.
In another field, an agave weighing almost 250 kg grew.
It can hardly fit into a small truck.
Agave hearts are brought to the place where mezcal will be made from it.
But before the moment when the agave turns into mezcal, it will take a few more weeks.
First, the cores need to be cut so that they can be conveniently placed in the oven.
Furnace building is an art that has been passed down from generation to generation.
In this oven, the core of the agave will be cooked.
First, the workers throw logs into the oven to melt it.
Stove stones are very fire resistant and can withstand high temperatures.
Workers throw stones on top of firewood.
The stones are heated under the influence of fire to a temperature of 2000 degrees Celsius.
They are calcined on fire for nine hours, so they become red hot.
Fibers are placed on top of the stones.
The fibers dampen the process, forming a layer similar to insulation to keep the piña from
touching the stone directly.
If they touch stones, they will burn.
Agave cores are placed on top of the fibers - first large, and then small.
Workers kick the fruit with their feet so that each piña falls into place.
The workers are thinking about how to put this puzzle together more efficiently.
Then two workers throw a fabric canopy over it all.
Finally, they put a layer of earth around the stove to keep the heat inside.
When the soil is laid, water is added to the cone of this pyramid from above.
The steam comes out with force, like a volcano.
This causes the coals inside the oven to smolder slowly, giving the mezcal a pleasant smoky
flavor.
At the end of the procedure, a wooden cross is placed at the top, blessing this party.
The Mexicans believe that the cross will not allow anything bad to settle into the mezcal.
Agave will languish in the oven for five days.
To see the next step in mezcal production, head to a distillery called Three Mesquite
Trees.
It is located east of the village of San Baltasar Guelavila.
Here the manufacturer has been making mezcal for 40 years.
Today, his business is 6,000 liters of mezcal per year.
Workers transfer cooked agave hearts to this crusher.
To crush the agave, usually a horse or bulls pull this stone circle weighing 500 kilograms.
Workers use forks to move the crushed agave fibers into the fermentation tanks.
Water is then added to the tank to dissolve the sugar.
Gradually, natural yeast begins to absorb sugar and turn it into alcohol.
The fermentation process lasts almost a week, and workers constantly check how this process
is going.
First, the worker listens for the sound of carbon dioxide bubbles coming out of the vat.
If the fermentation bubbles come out very slowly, then the drink will be ready soon.
If fermentation has stopped, then the solution is ready for distillation.
Then a cane with a hole, the so-called taster, is immersed in the container.
The taste of the drink should resemble dark strong beer.
When the solution is ready for distillation, workers rake the fibers into stills and add
more water.
Each barrel will make about 100 liters of mezcal.
The place where the distillation takes place in Spanish sounds like Palenque.
When the agave fibers are heated, the alcohol vapor rises.
They pass through this tube and condense.
Condensate drips into the pitcher.
The solution is distilled a second time to make four jugs.
The first jug is called the head and has the highest alcohol content.
The second jug is called the body, and it contains slightly less alcohol.
The third jug is called the tail, where there is even less alcohol.
Usually the "body" is what is bottled and the "tail" is used to rinse the bottles.
And finally, the last jug contains an acid residue called inguishe.
It is usually used for washing floors.
The Graciela plant produces 8,000 bottles a year.
She sells her Real Minero brand in Mexico.
Part of the production is also exported to the USA and Europe.
But that was the case until the 2010s.
Over time, this mezcal began to attract more and more interest outside of Oaxaca.
It began to be offered in trendy bars in the US and other countries.
In response to this, in six years, from 2014 to 2020, mezcal production in Mexico increased
by 400%.
By this time, the United States had overtaken Mexico in terms of consumption.
America has become the largest market for mezcal.
Today, what was once considered the drink of the poor has become world famous.
To standardize and regulate the growing industry, the Mexican government intervened.
This began in 1994 when the government established the Denominación de Origen, a special brand
of protected designation of origin for mezcal.
This is similar to how champagne is protected, which can only be produced in one particular
region of France.
This was to protect the traditional process of making mezcal, as well as the place where
it was made.
Clay pots are typical vessels in which local entrepreneurs store mezcal.
The resulting alcohol
is mixed with a small amount of water to stabilize, and then bottled.
In such mezcal, the alcohol content can be as low as 36%, but in handicraft products,
the fortress can be 45 degrees.
Barrel-aged mezcal is becoming more common to sell for export.
That's all.
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