![]() Michael is one of my favorite bartenders in Seattle (a city with no shortage of great ones), an early Experience Agave tour guest, and the very first guest bartender at La Cata, back in 2016. ![]() My good friend Michael Cadden also visited Tequila prior to participating as a finalist in the Patrón Perfectionis t cocktail competition. This tequila is further evidence for my belief that, for my palate, fermentation with fiber is one of the key elements for robust agave flavor. They were met or exceeded by his two blancos (40% ABV and 53% ABV) and reposado. Mario being Mario, I had high expectations. I met Mario when he was in charge of production at La Alteña, and his father produced Tequila Regional during its heyday. I hosted a visit and tasting with master distiller Mario Gómez of Amatitán, at La Cata. ![]() The degree of agave biodiversity is also off the charts, and I was pleased to meet yet another producer with large holdings of very mature agave. Production remains very similar to that practiced in the sixteenth century: pit cooking, mallet crushing, in-ground fermentation, and distillation in copper and wood “Filipino” stills. ![]() The controversial pre-Hispanic distillation hypothesis centers largely around artifacts from this area. This area is without a doubt one of the oldest sites of distillation in Mexico. It had taken us months to align our calendars at a time when mezcal would be produced in the region, and we did a dry run of what will become a new EA mezcal tour in southern Jalisco. My Experience Agave colleague Lucie Canuel has long offered tours in and around the Nevado de Colima Volcano (in southern Jalisco) and the village of Comala (in Colima, famous for coffee and ponche ). I will always have a special place in my heart for Turkey and the Turkish people, and having these two on a tequila tour and in our little bar was very special to me. It was one of the most formative experiences of my life, and the country is second only to Mexico in impacting me deeply. This one meant a lot to me, as I traveled solo in Turkey for four months in 2003, a week after the US invaded Iraq for the second time. Their perceptions about tequila were changed completely. I gave them a private tasting flight at La Cata, and a private tour at Fortaleza. They are Turks, traveling in Mexico for a documentary project about the global diaspora of döner kebap (which became al pastor in Mexico). (At Real Minero, we were privileged to be the first to hear some big news that will be made public shortly.) Jan 9-10 Each producer and family provided a wealth of cultural, historical, and technical information, and the students were an impressively serious bunch. We visit the palenques of Douglas French ( Scorpion Mezcal, Sierra Norte Whiskey ) as a representative of the “mezcal” category, Leoncio Santiago and Valentino Cortés in Matatlán for the “mezcal artesanal” category, and the Ángeles family at Real Minero to learn about the “mezcal ancestral” category. We began with a presentation from the CRM (Mezcal Regulatory Council) and a visit to the maguey farm they manage jointly with the Universidad de Chapingo, in Zimatlán. I built the itinerary around the three categories outlined in the current mezcal Norm. The trip was part of their “Spirits of Mexico” course, and I had planned the details closely with Dr. Work kicked off in 2020 with a custom Oaxaca mezcal tour that I organized and led for professors and students at the University of Houston’s Hilton College. Although truth be told, I couldn’t resist a side trip to a semi-secret vinata (sotol distillery) currently being built, and did track down some excellent lechuguilla between trips on El Chepe. I spent the holidays sightseeing in Chihuahua’s Copper Canyon, almost entirely unplugged from work. What follows is a walk through a typical month in my high season. And I think the time has finally come to start doing that. Clients, colleagues, and friends have long told me I should show more of what goes on behind the scenes, that I should take a bit more pride about how deeply embedded I am in the world of agave spirits. ![]() I’ve begun to expand my consulting practice and writing, and this website will be the primary platform for both. The study, teaching, and promotion of agave spirits culture has increasingly supplanted most other parts of my life – hobbies, relationships, etc.- since I started the company now known as Experience Agave, in 2008. But don’t get too excited – the details will only be salacious to those whose obsession with Mexican drink approaches my own. In this blog post, I’ll be sharing more about my day-to-day life than I ever have before. I’m an extremely private person, despite the intensely social nature of my work. I’m about to share some very intimate details of my life with you. ![]()
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