Drinks
Mezcal
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Mezcal is a Mexican spirit distilled from the roasted, fermented hearts of agave plants; tequila is a strictly regulated subtype of mezcal made only from blue agave, Agave tequilana, grown in a legally designated region centered on the town of Tequila in Jalisco, while mezcal more broadly may be made from dozens of agave species across several Mexican states. Mezcal's characteristic smokiness comes from roasting the agave hearts in earthen pits lined with hot stones before fermentation and distillation, a step tequila production generally replaces with steam or autoclave ovens, which is the main sensory difference between the two spirits beyond the agave species and regional rules. Distillation of agave spirits is documented from the early Spanish colonial period, combining agave fermentation practices already established in Mesoamerica with distillation apparatus the Spanish had learned from Moorish alchemical tradition, and mezcal production in the regions now known for it, including Oaxaca and Jalisco, is well attested by the end of the sixteenth century. Whether any form of agave distillation existed in Mesoamerica before Spanish contact is a genuinely unresolved and actively debated question among archaeologists, addressed separately as an open question rather than folded into the dates given here.
Facts
Origin Period, From (Year)Marks the well documented Spanish colonial period during which agave distillation is firmly attested in New Spain, from the fall of Tenochtitlan to the end of the sixteenth century. Contested claims of pre-Hispanic agave distillation are not included in this range because the question remains unresolved among archaeologists; see the linked open question. Origin RegionOaxaca and other central and southern Mexican states, with Oaxaca now producing the great majority of all mezcal 2 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Mezcal is a named member of the distilled spirits class, a distilled agave spirit.
Expresses Tradition
Sources
Open Questions (1 open question)
Did agave distillation exist in Mesoamerica before Spanish contact?
Some archaeological studies, including archaeomagnetic dating of stills at sites in Mexico, have been read as evidence that agave distillation was practiced in Mesoamerica before the Spanish arrived, and one line of research has suggested distillation-related technology may be traceable in the region for as much as twenty five centuries. These claims remain contested, and the dominant scholarly account still credits the Spanish colonial period with introducing true distillation to Mexico, drawing on techniques the Spanish themselves had learned from Moorish alchemical tradition.
What would resolve this A dated residue analysis directly confirming ethanol distillation, rather than a still-shaped vessel used for another purpose, from a securely stratified pre-contact Mesoamerican context, matched against equivalent confirmed evidence from the early colonial period for comparison.
Archaeology and archaeometry, specifically residue and materials analysis of excavated still-like vessels.Harold McGee, On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
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