Mezcal vs Tequila

MEZCAL, A FORM OF TEQUILA ?
Mezcal vs. Tequila Mezcal is made from the agave plant. The agave is also used to make tequila but in a different process. While tequila is made exclusively in the state of Jalisco, mezcal is exclusive to Oaxaca. Although tequila is most popularly consumed in the margarita, mezcal is almost exclusively served as a shooter, with or without a lick of salt and bite of lime. At the arrival of Spanish people to Mexico, Pulque was the only alcoholic drink available. Once the distilling process was introduced by the Spanish, beverages of high alcoholic content were made from the agave plant, these spirits were first called: "agave wine" or "mezcal wine" from which Tequila emerged. Technically speaking it could be said that Tequila is a form of Mezcal, but it can not be said that Mezcal is a form of Tequila. There are specific diferences between both beverages, mainly the methods of production and the agave varieties from which both are made. The Manufacturing Process The long, pointed-leafed agave must be allowed to grow for a minimum of eight years before it is plucked from the earth and its pineapple-like core is separated. The cores of hundreds of agave plants are baked in a sunken pit for a few days, then mashed with a horse-drawn grinding wheel. The mashed remains are put in a huge barrel with water to ferment, followed by distillation in clay or bronze tanks covered by dirt and heated by logs. Steam passes through ducts and the condensation yields mezcal. In contrast, tequila also uses the baked cores. A sweet juice is then extracted by steaming and compressing the cores. The juice is fermented for several days and then distilled at low proof, and then double or even triple distilled. The species of Agave from which these beverages are obtained are different, this means that both spirits are obtained from the same plant: Agave or Maguey, but from a different variety of the plant. In the case of Tequila it's Agave Tequilana Weber Blue variety, and in the case of Mezcal it's Potatorum zucc, Amailidáceas (Tobalá) and Angustifolia haw (Espadín) mainly. The Worm Unlike Tequila, some Mezcal Brands have a worm inside their bottles. The belief that the worm grants aprhodisiac powers comes from prehispanic cultures. The worm lives inside the agave plant and it can be of two types: white or red depending on the place of the plant from which is obtained. The worms lives in the agave plant and are hand-harvested during the rainy summer season. They are stored in mezcal, drained and sorted, and placed in bottles near the end of the process. The worm is what makes mezcal unique; it is added as a reminder that it comes from the plant from which the alcohol is made. Like the drink itself, the worm is something of an acquired taste Drinking Mezcal Mezcal has a high potency and a strong smoky flavor. Distillers insist the drink has medicinal and tonic qualities. In Mexico, tribal women drink mezcal to withstand the pain of childbirth, and laborers drink it for added strength. Beverage Index Main Page

MEZCAL, A FORM OF TEQUILA ?

Mezcal vs. Tequila
Mezcal is made from the agave plant. The agave is also used to make tequila but in a different process. While tequila is made exclusively in the state of Jalisco, mezcal is exclusive to Oaxaca. Although tequila is most popularly consumed in the margarita, mezcal is almost exclusively served as a shooter, with or without a lick of salt and bite of lime. At the arrival of Spanish people to Mexico, Pulque was the only alcoholic drink available. Once the distilling process was introduced by the Spanish, beverages of high alcoholic content were made from the agave plant, these spirits were first called: "agave wine" or "mezcal wine" from which Tequila emerged. Technically speaking it could be said that Tequila is a form of Mezcal, but it can not be said that Mezcal is a form of Tequila. There are specific diferences between both beverages, mainly the methods of production and the agave varieties from which both are made. The Manufacturing Process The long, pointed-leafed agave must be allowed to grow for a minimum of eight years before it is plucked from the earth and its pineapple-like core is separated. The cores of hundreds of agave plants are baked in a sunken pit for a few days, then mashed with a horse-drawn grinding wheel. The mashed remains are put in a huge barrel with water to ferment, followed by distillation in clay or bronze tanks covered by dirt and heated by logs. Steam passes through ducts and the condensation yields mezcal. In contrast, tequila also uses the baked cores. A sweet juice is then extracted by steaming and compressing the cores. The juice is fermented for several days and then distilled at low proof, and then double or even triple distilled. The species of Agave from which these beverages are obtained are different, this means that both spirits are obtained from the same plant: Agave or Maguey, but from a different variety of the plant. In the case of Tequila it's Agave Tequilana Weber Blue variety, and in the case of Mezcal it's Potatorum zucc, Amailidáceas (Tobalá) and Angustifolia haw (Espadín) mainly. The Worm Unlike Tequila, some Mezcal Brands have a worm inside their bottles. The belief that the worm grants aprhodisiac powers comes from prehispanic cultures. The worm lives inside the agave plant and it can be of two types: white or red depending on the place of the plant from which is obtained. The worms lives in the agave plant and are hand-harvested during the rainy summer season. They are stored in mezcal, drained and sorted, and placed in bottles near the end of the process. The worm is what makes mezcal unique; it is added as a reminder that it comes from the plant from which the alcohol is made. Like the drink itself, the worm is something of an acquired taste Drinking Mezcal Mezcal has a high potency and a strong smoky flavor. Distillers insist the drink has medicinal and tonic qualities. In Mexico, tribal women drink mezcal to withstand the pain of childbirth, and laborers drink it for added strength.

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