In Mexico, mezcal is uniquely tied to the history and the culture.  It is spiritual, romantic, mystical, traditional, and revered.  It is served at births, weddings, funerals and everything in between.

In the U.S., mezcal is largely misunderstood, though we are trying to change that.  In my youth (the bar-hopping good times of the late ’80’s) there was a bar in NYC called Lucy’s on the Upper West Side.  It was a packed, raucous, meat-market (so I was told) that was always a scene.  If you wanted a Lucy’s T-shirt though, you had to down a small bottle of mezcal that had a worm in it (I will get to the worm later).  And this mezcal was DISGUSTING – the retching, burning, gag-inducing crap that you would only do when already well on your way, and your buddies were egging you on.

Unfortunately, most people, if they have any impression of mezcal at all, think of that nasty stuff with the worm.  While you can still find this junk, today’s mezcals are nothing like that, and that’s what this blog is all about.  As Eric Asimov, Food & Wine writer for the NY Times, said in 2010:

“Mezcal is one of the world’s great spirits: complex, gorgeous and endlessly intriguing, distinguished like great wines by a strong sense of place.”

Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!  Let’s review the basics of Mezcal (just the facts ma’am): (more…)