Prepping for a mezcal tour

While Lesley’s studying at an ashram in India, her husband Crayton is guest-posting. Please be kind to him.

Mezcal (also spelled mescal) is alcohol distilled from the agave plant. If it’s made from the right type of agave plant – the blue agave – it’s called tequila. Or at least that’s my understanding. Liquor snobs, feel free to correct me.

Mezcal is much smokier than your typical tequila, and Mexican distillers have a lot of fun throwing different ingredients into the process. You can find lots of citrus and herb mezcales, and a popular option is mezcal pechuga, which literally means “chicken-breast mezcal,” because the mezcal maker has actually put a raw chicken in the still, adding a really nice roasted flavor. There are obviously lots of sanitary implications in the mezcal pechuga process and I prefer not to think about that. (Good discussion of mezcal varieties here.)

Mezcal is still a pretty small-time industry compared to the tequila business in Mexico, although there are some exports being manufactured now. Most of Mexico City’s nicer restaurants now have a mezcal option or two, and some of the coolest places in town have a long list to choose from. Most places will serve it as you see above at one of Lesley’s favorite haunts, Al Andar in old downtown Mexico City, with some slices of orange sprinkled with pepper.

There are also bars that specialize in mezcal, known as mescalerias. Commenter Martin has suggested I go and try some out with him. I am going to take him up on this challenge and will have a full report. Nothing brings people together like booze and the Internet.

If you’re familiar with any Mexico City mescalerias we should try, let me know. I’ve got La Botica, Red Fly, Mestizo Lounge and of course Al Andar on the radar screen. Los Danzantes is a good spot in Coyoacan, too. Any other suggestions?

I could also use a good name for this mezcal tour. I was thinking Mezcalathon 2010 but that doesn’t seem very creative. Your ideas are welcome.