Anyone drinking tonight... or, today??

its very earthy
If you like a sour beer, you’d probably like kombucha. really good for you too!

 

I like Gusano Rojo the best. Monte Alban is pretty good as is 400 Conejos. In general, I tend to like the darker mezcals because I like the smokiness. Lighter (silver) ones seem to be too much like tequila.

 

Making tamales this PM. Probably Widner's Hef. Can't drink too much when "working"!

 

Thank you! I'll keep an eye out.

I don't have much to choose from up here. Even at Total Wine, there's just a small section of Mezcal. I bought a Joven because it was said to have no additives, and I like it. I tried the Chichicapa because it sounded interesting, and I like it as well. But, I definitely want to try an Añejo next.

I love a good hefeweizen! It's become my go-to when micro brews offer one.

 

I have also been scouting out some Mezcal, i see Old Town has some sample bottles of 3 different kinds. I may go down the hill, and see what they recommend. It won’t be until some of these storms pass though. Oh and by the way i am having some Fortaleza Reposado this evening, and i do recommend it if you can get your hands on some.

 

Tequila, by definition, is literally mezcal.

 

Any spirit distilled from agave is a mezcal, so tequila is mezcal.

There are has certain criteria for a mezcal to be called tequila.
- It has to come from 1 of the following 5 Mexican states: Nayarit, Tamaulipas, Michoacán, Guanajuato, or Jalisco.
- It has to be a made at a CRT registered distillery with a NOM number.
- It has to be made with blue weber agave (at least 51% of the fermentable sugars for “tequila” or “mixto” and 100% of the fermentable sugars for anything labeled with the “100% Agave” (or some variation of it).
- It has to be distilled at least twice.
- It has to be between 35% and 55% ABV.
- it has to be sold in containers no larger that 5 liters.

So if you use anything other than blue weber agave, it’s not Tequila. If you make a 120 proof bottle, it’s not tequila. If you distill it once, it’s not tequila.

Caballito Cerrero makes some amazing stuff, but they have said they want to make whatever they want to make, so they aren’t registered with the CRT. They make a blanco, repo, and anejo versions of blue weber agave distillates and Chato agave distillates. They also made batches of both Chato and Azul in various strengths ranging from the normal 86 proof up their 140 proof Puntas. They defined which version was the best and those got bottled as the Unicorn. Tequila can’t play around that same way.

So non-tequila designated mezcals allows for alot more variation. You could very high quality finely made stuff, and really raw and unrefined stuff. With all types of agave plants on the table the flavor profiles can be all over the place. I’ve had mezcals that taste like smokey tequila, one that tasted like seafood in salt water, all the one that tasted like a combination of mint, blue cheese, and what I imagine gym socks would taste like lol.

If you didn’t see the bottle, you’d swear Siembra Valles Ancestral Tequila was a mezcal.


It’s made with the most ancient, painstaking methods common to the earliest tequila distillers. The process is more aligned with traditionally made mezcal than it is with present-day tequila.

They use agaves created from natural pollination (vs cloning) which adds years to the timeline of reaching full maturity where they can be harvested. From there the dig a big hole in the ground and wooden coals are fired at the bottom of the pit. They get covered with agave fibers, then the raw agave is piled on top, covered with leaves and fabric, and then the entire mound is buried in the ground. After the roughly five days it all gets dug up. Next comes the extraction phase. The agaves are hand-macerated with wooden mallets. I believe they are 1 of 3 tequilas in the past few hundred years to still do this do that. The roasted agave is smashed with large wooden mallets until the juices are extracted. Oak mallets add a unique woody flavor but there is nothing added and nothing lost through the use of machinery.
30% of the extracted juices are ambient yeast, bagasse-fermented in brick tanks. The other 70% is ambient yeast fermented in an oak tank with bagasse. Finally, there are 2 stages of distillation. The first is in copper and steel which separates out the toxins. The second uses a pine wood still that imparts a touch of flavor while getting distilled down to just over 100 proof.

Mezcal is know for the smokey flavor, but any agave spirit cooked in an earthen pit is going to taste smokey. That’s not unique to Mezcal, it’s just more common because they tend to be much smaller batches and low production numbers.

 

These are some of my favorites:
Aqua Del Sol Madrecuishe
Mama Chuy Tepeztate
Gusto Historico
Maguey Melate Jabali
Palomas Mensajeras Ensamble

Derrumbes lineup is good but there’s like 6 and they all taste very different.

Wahaka and Cruz de Fuego have a good line up and those might easier to find.

 

That’s what we do, we have about 160 different bottles of tequila (not all of them fit on the wall). We do taster bottles for people but we also host tastings with bar and liquor store owners/managers as well as individuals.

 

All the round bottle Arettes (the Artisanal line up) are great, especially the Gran Clase Extra Anejo. The square bottles are passable.

 

Sorry for blowing up the thread, I just got back from South Africa and this site won’t let me like, comment, or DM while I’m there.

 

Thanks for sharing your knowledge here, once again!

The gym sock comment made me laugh. I did see one at Total Wine that said it was distilled with turkey, so I could imagine that having an interesting flavor.

 

No worries! I figured you were traveling and was looking forward to hearing your response to some of the posts.

I saw some Arette at Total Wine and considered buying it. I'll remember to check the bottle shape before I pull the trigger.

 

That’s a pachuga. I really like them but they are always expensive if it’s a good one because it adds so much time to the process. A pachuga is when you take an otherwise finished mezcal and you distill it with a sack of something hanging over it. It’s usually chicken or turkey, but I’ve even seen a combination of spices fruits and berries before, and one that was just mushrooms (again, being so unregulated, the options are limitless). The heated vapors of the distillation process cooks what ever is in the bag causing it’s juices to drip down into the still adding in a bit of its flavors.

 

As a matter of fact, I am drinking tonight haha
Wet Wednesday
SLEEMAN OG Lager, 5%
Ontario, Canada

3⁰C, 37⁰F in garaage

 

There's a frickin' beaver and Canada maple leaf on the can, eh

 

My haul that came back from South Africa with me!

 

Story time.

In South Africa there’s a restaurant I love visiting called Una Mas Mezcaleria. The food is good, but the agave was unreal. It’s hard to find any decent tequila and mezcal down there but these guys had some of the best selection you’ll find anywhere. If you look past the low quality additive filled and highly advertised stuff that’s popular (lookin at you 818, Casa Dragones, Casamigos, Clase Azul, Don Julio, Jose Cuervo, Teremana, etc ) they had some truly exceptional bottles - Arte NOM 1123, 1414, and 1146, Cascahuin 11 Brix, Tahona Blanco, Plata 48, and Extra Anejo, Don Fulano, Fortaleza, Tapatio, Tequila Ocho (including an Extra Anejo), and there was even an off menu bottle of Siembra Valles Ancestral on the shelf for those that know what to look for.


There is one place in Cape Town that is in direct competition with Una Mas, and that’s Hacienda Costal Mexican. Similarly, the tequila selection at this place was all over the board. They were all in on Patron. Patron flights of each of their different level of offerings. A chef style set menu for 2 with an optional tequila pairing consisting only of Patron offerings. And every cocktail on the menu containing tequila was made with Patron. But they also had Cascahuin, Siembra Valles, Calle23, Fortaleza, Siete Leguas, Tapatio (including Excellencia!), Pasote, Arte NOM 1123, 1414, and 1146, Tears of Llorona, Terralta, G4, Don Fulano, Lalo, Primo, Volans, El Tesoro, Wild Common, really really great stuff not common to this side of the world. Then they fall flat listing all the celebrity owned tequilas first, broken down by which celebrity owned it. They had an entire celebrity flight celebrating poorly made, low quality, additive filled crap because the brands are celebrity owned, but they also said they stopped carry Tequila Ocho because it was getting to popular and they want to have a selection you won’t find anywhere else. It was a super weird mash up of so right and so wrong.

Like always, I sat at the bar. I like to chat with bar tenders and observe how they make their cocktails and their processes and stuff like that. Anytime it’s an agave focused place, or someplace with elevated cocktails, it always turns into a long visit and good conversation. I went with Siembra Valles Blanco, Cascahuin 11 Brix, and Calle23 Reposado during my meal. The food, the tequila, and the conversation were all great. But the highlight for me was when the bartender walked over saying “you don’t like the additives in your tequila, so we put them on the side over here for you” as he set down a skewer of cotton candy for me.

 

I was in South Africa for 18 days. Then I spent 36 continuous hours (Cape Town > Paris > Detroit > Denver) to get back home and the next day I was on a plane headed to Cali for a quick work trip.

I always have to do a little hunting. First stop was a major score.

Siempre Vivo is special, it’s a limited release high proof they did to celebrate the brand moving to NOM 1414. https://www.siempretequila.com/exclusivo

The Excellia Repo was in the clearance bin for 40% off. Their current stuff sucks, but this bottle is Lot 2 from 2011 when it was still made by Tapatio at NOM 1139! Hidden gem of a find for sure.

 

Damn I’m over here drinking keystone light and y’all got the fancy stuff haha.

 

Sounds like an outstanding trip, and some outstanding bottles to go along with, salute.

 

Courvoisier VSOP anytime-anywhere
Campari and soda-rocks anytime-anywhere

 

Alright another South Africa dinner with drinks (this site doesn’t let me interact from there so I can’t post when it's in my glass)

I make dinner reservations at this place a few times a week while I’m down there. You check in for your reservation at the guard house, they open the gate and you drive down the brick road through the vineyards and past the horse stables to the restaurant at the back of the estate. The property is stunning. When you go inside you can make your down stairs to the art gallery and tasting room, or you can stay on the main level to enter the restaurant. Dinner is a 6 course chefs menu with a wine pairing to go with each course.

This is probably not how you picture Africa!



This meal is $50 USD!

 

Thanks for sharing, you are correct in not thinking of Africa as this, so nice.

 

Made my first old fashioned tonight. Took the pic before I remembered to put some of the cherry juice in so it's a bit darker now. Didn't realize the bottle of bourbon I opened was 58% so it's quite strong! If I make another I will be opening a different bottle. You can't see his face in the pic but it's Darth Vader ice cube approved

 

I'd expect to pay $200-300 for a meal like that, if not more. That really looks amazing!

 

Margaritaville

 

Yesterday was my 40th birthday. I’ve been out of town, Morgan has been sick so we didn’t plan much but spent the evening at our go to place for dinner and a couple drinks. But we’re thinking we’ll crack some fresh bottles of some special stuff this weekend to celebrate.

Maybe one of each expression?

Blancos
- Siempre Vivo
- Arte NOM 1549 (note that it is NOT 1579)
- Caballito Cerrero Unicorn
Reposados
- Fortaleza Single Barrel - Classic
- Cascahuin Siete Veces Diez
- Fortaleza Winter Blend 2023
Anejos
- Tequila Ocho Widow Jane
- Don Fulano 20th Anniversary
- Montagave Exploracion
Extra Anejos
- 123 Diablito
- Pasote
- Arette Grand Clase

 

Love the ice cube

And the cherry is such a good touch
I can't find that part so I've just done orange.

amarena or maraschino cherries ?

 

Maraschino. The ones I got are tiny compared to others I've seen and they have no stem. I plopped two in because they were so small - nice little treat at the end