My friend Abby sent me a cool New York Times slideshow link recently, about how mezcal is produced. Ol skool laborious shit man. It’s d hill-billy, kampung version of tequila, and not easily available.
Both are made from the agave plant – for tequila they’re steamed, for mezcal they’re roasted, givin it a smoky flava. The minimum amount of agave for tequila is 51%, mezcal is 80%.
Didn’t know too much about it, but i got a bottle of 100% agave mezcal in my room, worm n all. It’s by a producer called Oaxaca, which is also d region mezcal comes from. Besides the worm, there’s a sachet of what looks like hot chili powder around d bottle’s neck. Looks like Brown-Brown. (If u watched Lord of War.) Assume it’s to add to d drink. Niiice.
Sombrero-heads thought of everything eh?
The words on d bottle are all Mehican (well Spanish actually). Got in the duty-free island of Labuan (Sabah) years ago. The pickled worm is actually pretty big. It’s the larva of a moth that lives in the agave plant, and is regularly roasted to makan as bites with booze.
Mehican law don’t allow worms n other shit in tequila tho. So if u see a worm in your drink, it ain’t tequila, it’s mezcal. Or some puta spiking your drink with some crap. Like a caterpillar.
Will see if any local distributor stocks mezcal and announce its availability.
Tequila-shooting is among my Top 5 fave drinks. Can’t wait to try mezcal now! (Need to check what else i have in my bar!) Salud Abby!
U learn sumtin new everyday!
Brain damage: To be updated, after Senor Carlos is digested