Monday Afternoon at a Mezcalería (and Lunch) |

(Post 29 of 193. Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr!)

Our next stop, on an “empty stomach” to boot, was the artesanal Mezcalería El Rey de Matatlán, complete with tasting. This stop was surprisingly free (I guess they expect to recoup the cost from sales).

I knew nothing about mezcal, other than it’s made from a different type of agave as tequila, which I am not fond of.

They are cutting up the “piña.” Both mezcal and tequila come from that part of their respective agave plant. The leaves are destined for other use. I watched the series “Monarca” recently, all about tequila, and I found the process for mezcal to be very similar.

A wood fire is lit at the bottom of the pit. Large chunks of piña are then placed over the wood, then covered with the leaves and a tarp, so that the piña can cook/steam even after the fire goes out.

The piña is then mashed up.

The mashed up piña is left to ferment in barrels. I cannot believe how much I remember because our guide spoke so fast even the native speakers said their head was spinning!

Last is the distillation process. This happens several times and the percentage of alcohol differs with each one.

Now, the tasting!

We would get four shots:

1) Rot gut basic mezcal that you do as shots, chasing with a slice of orange and chile powder. Very meh, like lighter fluid.

2) Mezcal with the worm added, which adds flavour and body to the liquor. This one was tasty!

3) A lightly aged mezcal. This immediately transported me back to the Highland Park Distillery in Scotland, where I discovered peaty whisky. This mezcal had a similar profile. A few people thought I was nuts, but the guide agreed with me.

4) A well-aged mezcal. OMG. That was SO good! This felt like drinking a good Scotch neat.

And then, we had a mezcal mango-flavoured liquor. Surprisingly, I wasn’t feeling it. I’d been told mezcal was less “deadly” than tequila — true!

Well tippled, it was time to head to lunch!