Cinco de Mayo Special: Mezcal – Mexico’s Other Bad Drink

Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo – and anyone with access to alcohol is going to be celebrating the beautiful tradition of getting wasted off their ass, Mexico-style. So to give you an idea of what you’re in for, we’re re-posting my first-hand experience with the joys hazards of downing a little too much of the Mexican liquor:

Everyone I’ve ever met has a dark past with tequila. Just the mention of it makes their face go sour–the shots, the smell, the blinding drunk, and a hellacious hangover the next morning. For some reason, I am not one of those people. But after my family vacation to Mexico last week, I learned a bit about another South-of-the-Border brew: Mezcal.

Like tequila (which is actually a type of mezcal), mezcal is made from agave, a cactus-like plant, native to Mexico. Mezcals are often aged, in oak barrels, for two months to seven years, giving the alcohol a brown coloration and woody flavor, but are available un-aged and clear.

Connoisseurs will tell you the best mezcals come from the Mexican state of Oaxaca (wah-hock-ah). To fully enjoy the complexities of this subtle liquor, go to the city of Oaxaca, the state’s capital, who’s colonial architecture and friendly people only add to the liquor’s historic mystic. And also serves as the perfect setting to get way, way too drunk. Read More »