Mezcal in The New York Times: Del Maguey takes 1st prize in taste test

by Alexandra Forbes

I was not only glad but very pleasantly surprised to read, today in The New York Times, a comparison between some of the top Mezcals available in Mexico. It is, quite simply, my favourite spirit and the only one I actually enjoy sipping slowly. Especially if it comes with a side of lime wedges and sal de gusano, a salt that is flavoured with dried, crushed gusano worm.

Eric Asimov's description of mezcal is on-point: "Mezcal is one of the world’s great spirits: complex, gorgeous and endlessly intriguing, distinguished like great wines by a strong sense of place. Mezcal is little known (...), even less understood"... 

 I enjoy biting into a lime wedge after each sip - the flavours have a big fiery bite that I find addictive. I've always had a very hard time a) convincing anyone how good mezcal is and b) explaining how different it is from tequila, its cousin made in the Jalisco region, from blue agave.

In very few words, Asimov says it all:


"...the flavors in mezcal are unlike those in any other spirit, even tequila. They are diverse, fitting for a spirit that reflects its terroir so well, and gorgeous in their rusticity.
I understand that rusticity is often a pejorative term, but not as far as mezcal goes. The flavors of a great mezcal are unmediated by oak or long aging. They offer no vanillas or chocolates, honeys or heathers. Instead, you get a briny, vegetal burst, with Tabasco-like hints of vinegar, salt, oily smoke and earth, and an uncompromising purity."

Let's just hope that articles like these come out more often and that Mexicans start waking up to the greatness of what's made in their own backyard. I find it shameful that so few restaurants in Mexico offer mezcal - too many of them consider mezcal "the poor man's drink", and outside of its original city of Oaxaca it remains, to this day, relatively unknown and unavailable.


To read Asimov's story and see how the brands compared, click here.

Oaxaca: the moles and the best hotel, Casa Oaxaca

Upon arriving, I felt a sense of disappointment: the outskirts are dry and poor and blah. The Old Downtown is where it's at: it's pretty, well-preserved, rich in churches and food markets and crafts stores.

Oaxaca is famous for its dark green and black ceramics, sold everywhere. But I had more fun wandering the streets and checking out the locals, many of whom are Zapotec Indians (they look it, too).


Women tend to be short and wear long braids tied with colourful ribbons, long skirts with aprons, while the men favour wool ponchos. The Zapotecs and other local indians speak nearly 50 different dialects!

The greatest oeuvre of the Zapotecs still stands today. Monte Albán, a 20 minute taxi ride from town, are amazing ruins. Not only have they withstood the test of time, but the pyramid-shaped structures are proof of the power, wealth and engineering prowess of the ancient Zapotecs.

They've left a heritage of a strangely delicious cuisine: fried grasshoppers, chayote and corn soup, pork and beef stews, and tortillas stuffed with huitlacloche, a fungus that grows on corn and has a truffle-like depth of flavour. My favourites were the memelas, open-faced tortillas topped with a myriad things:

Then there are the famous moles - thick sauces made with 10, even 15 different spices, such as chocolate, chilli and onions. They're usually served over chicken, beef or pork, with rice on the side:

The local drink is the mezcal, a lesser-known cousin of the tequila, which sometimes comes with a worm (gusano) in the bottle. It's complex in flavour and quite delicious: