Mezcal (from the nahuatl word mexcalli ‘Boiled Agave Stalks’) is an alcoholic beverage originated in the state of Oaxaca and it is made out of the distilled fermentation of several species of Agave (unlike its “cousin” tequila which is mostly made out of Blue agave).
There are many kinds of Agave, and each produces one different kind of Mezcal, this leading many people to believe that Tequila, made out of Blue Agave is, in fact, one form of Mezcal.
There is a great variety of mezcal according to the distillation of fruits used on its fabrication. Some of the varieties are: Worm mezcal, Tobala Mezcal, White Mezcal, Miner mezcal, Scorpion Mezcal and Coffee Cream Mezcal.
The classification of Mezcal according to its color is similar to that of Tequila and it goes as follows:
-Anejo (old): Rested for at least one year on barrels not bigger than 200 liters.
-Reposado (rested): Rested for at least two months to a year.
-Blanco (White): Colorless Mezcal, stored for less than two months.
Unlike Tequila, mezcal is rested on glass containers since resting it in wood barrels would make it lose its finer flavors.
There is not anything set on how to drink Mezcal, it can be mixed and served the same as Tequila although purists recommend drinking it pure to really recognize its characteristic flavor.
The Mezcal worm is left in the bottle to create a kind of Mezcal (the Worm mezcal) since the worm (which is actually a larvae found in some Agave Stalks) does change the flavor of mezcal. Some people think that the only way to tell Mezcal from Tequila is the worm, this statement could not be further from the truth, the major difference between these two “Mexican cousins” is, of course, its flavor; besides, there are many kinds of mezcal that do not include the characteristic worm.
