thenews.com.mx
• While tequila has been touted as Mexico’s premiere distilled beverage for decades, mezcal has recently been gaining an international reputation as the new spirit of choice for maguey cactus beverage aficionados.
• While tequila can only be produced from pure blue agave, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, just northwest of Guadalajara, Jalisco, and in the highland region of that western state, mezcal can come from other types of agave and can have a range of fruit and vegetal flavors, plus a distinctively smoky taste springing from a special roasting process.
• Mezcal can legally be made from 28 recognized varieties of agave, including the blue agave, as long as it is grown in the proper region.
• Mezcal is believed to be the oldest distilled spirit in North America.
• Like tequila, mezcal is classified into three categories: silver or joven, which is freshly distilled and usually has a clear color; reposado, which has been subjected to a mild aging process for less than 12 months and has a light golden color; and añejo, which has been aged for one year or longer in oak barrels and generally has a deep amber hue.
• Mezcal has a smokier taste than tequila, because it is produced in small batches, roasting the agave in an earth oven. Tequila, on the other hand, is typically made in large industrial batches and steamed, not roasted.
• Most mezcals today do not have the trademark wiggly red worm at the bottom of the bottle because a couple years ago the Mexican government, in order to guarantee stricter standards for certification, banned the non-arthropod invertebrate for sanitation reasons. However, a few diehard holdout mezcal producers insist on wiggling their way around the new law by adding pre-pickled worms to their spirits.
No comments:
Post a Comment