Agave is booming! Tequila and the niche spirit Mezcal have come into the global spotlight. Where the hype about Mexico's traditional distillates comes from, what the differences are and why Hollywood could become a problem in the Mexican highlands.
Have you ever wondered why George Clooney has been on screen so little in the last few years and hardly makes any films anymore? Probably not. But apart from family life, the dolce vita on Lake Como and boring scripts, he gave the answer himself in a 2017 interview : "I sold a tequila company for a damn billion dollars. I don't need money." He has enough for rent and the bare necessities.
At the same time, the sale of “Casamigos”, the name of the brand created by Clooney and his friends Rande Gerber, Cindy Crawford’s husband, and real estate investor Mike Meld -man , also marked the beginning of a new tequila hype. It’s about quality, big brands as well as small artisanal producers from the highlands of Mexico. The nasty hangovers after many a night of drinking during college are forgotten. No more salt, lemon, licking, swallowing, biting. Tequila and its artisanal relative, mezcal, are grown up.
Agaves and Aztecs
But long before Hollywood settled in Mexico's agave fields and celebrities such as singer Rita Ora (Próspero), actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (Teremana ), Desperate Housewife Eva Longoria (Casa del Sol), Ken dall Jenner (818), Justin Timberlake (901) or basketball player LeBron James (Lobos 1707) invested in the trend and brought out their own tequilas and mezcals, drinks made from agave were a very special commodity.
Long ago, in pre-Columbian times, agaves were an essential part of everyday life in Mexico, of mythology and culture, healing and spirituality. The country's name "Mexico" is also said to refer to the agave, comes from Nahuatl, an Aztec language, and is derived from "metl" (agave), "xitle" (navel) and "co" as a local suffix, in short: "the place of the agave navel" or, more loosely translated, "the place where the center of the agave is." It is no wonder that the prickly succulent plant is also said to have its own goddess : Mayahuel - the goddess of the agave and at the same time fertility.
In order to communicate with Mayahuel and the other gods, people naturally got drunk. More than 2000 years ago, they drank low -alcohol “pulque”, the oldest of the agave drinks, made from fermented agave juice and about as strong as a light beer. Pulque was considered sacred and usually only high priests and tribal leaders were allowed to drink it.
This changed, not surprisingly, when the Spanish conquistadors first set foot in the new world. Pulque production was quickly commercialized by the Spanish. Not because they liked it and preferred it to wine and brandy , but rather because they saw it as a way to collect taxes. However, they also brought the knowledge of distillation into the country and thus laid the foundation for producing distillates from pulque, or agaves in general . Distilling the fermented juice again was ultimately the obvious solution - and the so-called drink "mexcalli" was born.
From Mezcal to Tequila …
Even though there has recently been discussion about whether the art of distillation may have been known in Mesoamerica as early as pre-Columbian times , the first distillery for the firewater Mexcalli, which at least seemed industrial, was probably in the city of Tequila around 1600. You can see where we are headed. With this distillery, the noble Don Pedr o Sánchez de Tagle earned himself the nickname "Father of Tequila", although he should actually be called "Father of Mezcal", because it would be several centuries before Tequila appeared on the scene as an agave distillate.
Another name that plays a role in the history books is José Cuervo, after whom a tequila brand is still named today. A few decades after Don Pedro Sanchez, he became the most important producer in the region and expanded the production of the mexcalli successor mezcal, then called "vino de mez cal", in the 18th century. He did this so successfully that the sales of original Spanish wines and spirits decreased significantly and the king had to intervene to promote the sale of domestic Spanish products. He therefore promptly decided to ban mezcal and pulque, and production moved underground.
A few years later, a tax reform and the lifting of the ban followed in the turmoil of history. As a result , José Cuervo received the first official permission from the Spanish king to produce mezcal commercially. With the founding of the "Taverna de Cuervo", the industrial production of agave distillates was truly born. In addition to the taxation of the distillate, the name was changed again and the "vino mezcal" was given the addition "de Tequila". However, the somewhat cumbersome name did not remain. In 1873, the sole name "Tequila" appeared for a regional sub-type of mezcal for the first time . And with the permission of the Spanish government, many producers in the city began to call their mezcal only Tequila.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the popularity and sales of tequila grew. The former Mezcal designation disappeared completely from the label, but the place name remained. Mezcal was forgotten, virtually vanished from the scene. It was still produced in small towns under fairly rural conditions, but the international and national markets were conquered by tequila. This was probably also because, thanks to changes in production methods, it could be produced in large quantities more cheaply than the traditionally very artisanal mezcal.
Photo • Mary West, Unsplash
…and back again
Today, there are a handful of differences that separate mezcal and tequila. The type of agave used and its origin within Mexico are particularly important. In 1949, it was first established that tequila must be made from blue Weber agaves grown in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Today, there are five permitted states. A circumstance that the spirits companies also support, as the blue Weber agave is the most cost-efficient and economical to grow on a large scale. It ripens the fastest, contains the most sugar, and forms more offshoots than other types. But planning is everything with agave schnapps . It takes around twelve years for the piña, or heart of the agave, to ripen and be harvested. Therefore, even when demand is high, production cannot simply be increased spontaneously.
It is nevertheless nice to see that during the last tequila boom, it was really pure agave spirits that became more popular. You can recognize them by the label "100% de agave" or " 100% puro agave," whereas so-called mixto tequilas only have to contain 51 percent agave distillate . The rest can come from other headache-inducing alcohol sources, be sweetened or colored, and result in the bottles wearing a funny plastic hat.
A growing commitment to quality is now playing into the hands of mezcal in particular. Instead of just one type of agave, mezcaleros can now draw on a large number of varieties. Of the approximately 150 species native to Mexico, 25 to 50 are suitable and usable for distillation, including some wild, non-cultivated species. The plants, which belong to the asparagus family - agaves are not cacti - convey one thing above all: the terroir. Depending on the growing area and the type of agave used, mezcal has very different aromas. It can be spicy and strong, earthy, smoky and dusty, floral, grassy and fruity, or a combination of these. In order to taste the subtle nuances, Mezcal lovers mainly choose “Joven” or “Blanco”, which, unlike “Reposado” (two months in oak barrels) and “Añejo” (at least one year of maturation), is not aged.
A further categorization of the quality of Mezcal is based on the way it is produced. Depending on the actual process and how much manual work is actually involved, Mezcal is divided into three categories: the traditionally produced "Mezcal Ancestral", which is still produced as it was over 400 years ago, the artisanally produced "Mezcal Artesanal" and "Mezcal". What they all have in common , however, is that the harvested agave hearts, which weigh up to 100 kilograms , are first baked so that they can later be chopped up, mashed and distilled. The smoke produced by the fire gives the Mezcal its typical aroma, which is why Scotch lovers often enjoy this distillate. A character that is sought in vain in modernly produced Tequila.
Although it may be way ahead in terms of quantity, there are still or again an estimated 4,000 small, sometimes very, very rustic distilleries that produce mezcal. That may sound like a lot, especially when you consider that most of them are in the state of Oaxaca, spread over an area roughly the size of Austria. Despite the boom, there is little left for export. Around one percent of Mexican firewater is mezcal, the remaining 99 percent is tequila, with the USA being the largest and Germany the second largest sales market.
Photo • Mary West, Unsplash
There's a worm in it
The subgroup of “Destilado con” mezcals is particularly sought after and difficult to find among some mezcal lovers in this country . This refers to ingredients that give flavor and are added during the distillation process. For a “Pechuga”, for example, originally a triple-distilled type of traditional holiday mezcal, these are traditionally raw chicken or turkey breasts . If this addition is made after distillation, for example with oranges or mangoes, but also with the infamous worm, the designation “Abocado con” can be found on the label . Despite all the complexity of the matter, the answer remains: What is the worm in mezcal actually all about?
Well, the worm is actually a larva, and usually one of the moth species Comadia redtenbacheri. The larvae of this species are among the most popular edible insects in Mexico and particularly like to live in agave plants. The pests first ended up in the bottles sometime in the 1940s and 50s, perhaps to at least reduce the infestation of the agaves somewhat, perhaps as a really minimal aromatic component, but more likely quite unspectacularly, in order to be able to market the rustic spirit even better. Which somehow brings us back to the celebrities and their tequilas. They sometimes receive a lot of criticism for their marketing commitment and investment. It is accused that celebrities who start a tequila brand or simply sign up as a testimonial for a brand are artificially inflating an already overheated market. Mezcal and tequila have become a hype faster than agaves can grow sustainably.
The success of Mezcal can quickly turn from a blessing to a curse. While it is initially an advantage that a little more money flows into the local communities and they have an additional source of income, too much of it is counterproductive. This is especially true when farmers prefer to plant more lucrative agaves in monocultures instead of essential food in order to meet demand. Sustainable renaturation and diversity of plantations will therefore be an essential task for all producers of agave distillates in the coming years.
And at least there has already been a response. The state regulatory authority, Consejo Regulador del Mezcal, has obliged producers to plant two new wild agaves for every one they remove. Only those who can prove that they meet this requirement will receive the necessary state certification. After all, Mezcal lives from the divine agaves and its original, artisanal production - not from Hollywood.
Author • Christian Kopp
Photo • Dylan Freedom, Unsplash
Published in Heritage Post No. 49