One tequila, two tequila, or maybe try a mezcal?
Get creative with mezcal, an old favorite making a strong come-back.
by Richard F. Edwards
Manager, Uptown Wine & Spirits
For this month’s column, we’re talking about a distillation from south of the border. At a trade show recently, I tried mezcal for the first time. Wow. I was struck by the flavor profile. I’ve always enjoyed tequila, either in a shot or cocktail, but this was different—smoky, textured, smooth sipping. After the show, I was talking with a friend, and I realized there was a lot I didn’t know about tequila and mezcal.
Like the old adage ‘all bourbons are whiskey, but not all whiskeys are bourbon,’ not all mezcals are tequilas, but all tequilas are mezcals. A mezcal is any agave-based liquor, which includes tequila. Tequila is made only in one of five regions of Mexico, and only from the blue agave cactus.
Mezcal, on the other hand, can be made from any one of thirty varieties of agave, and may be produced in any one of nine different regions of Mexico. Tequila and mezcal are made from different types of agave, in different regions of Mexico, in different distillation processes, and they are labelled differently. Their only commonality is that they are both made from some species of the same genus of succulent.
What is agave? Agaves are succulents, and although they look very similar, they are not a cacti or aloe relative. Tequila and mezcal are made from the harvested core of the agave plant, or the pina.
Mezcal is typically produced using a traditional method: it is cooked inside clay pots that are place in earthen pits lined with rocks and filled with wood and charcoal. It is the fuel that accounts for the smoky flavor typical of mezcal. Once the distillation process is over, both mezcal and tequila are aged inside oak barrels. Like tequila, mezcal is labelled according to the amount of time it is aged, though the age categories vary slightly from tequila.
To the most pressing question: how is mezcal best enjoyed? The smoky flavor and smooth texture doesn’t need dressing up. Serve it neat or over ice for casual sipping. For something more festive, you can’t go wrong with any of these fun cocktail ideas.
Palomaesque
1 ounce mezcal
1 ½ tsp honey
1 ½ ounces Cocchi Americano
1 ounce fresh grapefruit juice
½ ounce fresh lime juice
pinch of salt
1 ½ ounces seltzer
The Paloma is a classic tequila cocktail, and my personal favorite. Tweak the ingredients just a bit to come up with this riff off the classic that shows off the smoky mezcal.
Cucumber, Salt, and Smoke
One inch cucumber slice, chopped
1 ounce pisco
1 ounce mezcal
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
1 ounce simple syrup
1 large egg white
pinch of salt
ice
3 drops of bitters, for garnish
In a cocktail shaker, muddle the cucumber. Add the pisco, mezcal, lemon juice, simple syrup, egg white, and salt, and shake well. Add ice and shake again. Decorate the top of the drink with dots of bitters and swirl.
Maguey Sour
2 ounces mezcal
½ ounce Benedictine (brandy based herbal liqueur)
¾ ounce fresh lemon juice
½ ounce orgeat (almond flavored syrup)
½ large egg white
For garnish
pinch of nutmeg
orange twist
Maguey is another name for agave, the succulent used in mezcal and tequila. This twist on a whiskey sour is worth the effort. To an ice-filled cocktail shaker, add all ingredients except garnishes. Shake well. Strain into ice-filled rocks glass and garnish with grated nutmeg and orange twist.
