Over the last several years, our relationship with tequila has transitioned from spring break mettle tester to nuanced sipper. And as fine tequilas have become more commonplace, so too have other forms of agave spirits—notably mezcal. 
A subset of tequila made from certain types of agave, mezcal is a bracing, clear liquor that’s often described as tequila’s smoky cousin. But it shouldn’t be limited to just that, say insiders. The flavor profile can also impart vegetal or floral notes, depending on the distillery. It’s great in cocktails, and is also frequently served neat in a tiny vessel or shot glass. Sips are alternated with bites of fresh orange slices sprinkled with sal de gusano, or worm salt, made from ground dried chiles and caterpillars found in the agave plant.
Lately, mezcal has become one of the trendier spirits on local cocktail menus. A number of restaurants, from Modesto and Rock Paper Taco to Gov’t Taco and Mestizo, serve different selections of mezcal for both sipping and savoring in cocktail form. Cocha recently held a mezcal tasting night with a guided tasting tour of mezcal and an original house cocktail.
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“Mezcal has gotten really popular,” says Wendy Zubiate, general manager of Blue Corn Modern Mexican, which keeps anywhere from eight to 13 small-batch brands of mezcal on hand depending on what’s available.
The Perkins Road Mexican restaurant serves mezcal flights, margaritas made with mezcal, and several different mezcal cocktails, including the mezcalinha, made with lime, sugar and shaved ice; the madre tierra, which marries mezcal with ginger beer, agave, passion fruit, cucumber and lime; and the luna llena, which pairs mezcal with mango, lime juice, dried peppers and agave nectar.
Blue Corn’s Joselo Salazar, who works on its bar program, says mezcal is an artisan spirit that’s intentionally less refined than tequila.
“It’s pure,” he says.
It’s also strong. Good mezcals are at least 43% alcohol, Salazar adds.
While tequila is made only from blue agave, mezcal is made from other species of the plant. Eight regions of Mexico are allowed to produce what’s considered real mezcal, Salazar says. Like many wines across the world, mezcal’s origins are regulated by region.
In cocktails, mezcal pairs nicely with citrus juices, Zubiate says. Blue Corn’s mezcalini combines mezcal with one of its best mates, pineapple, along with lime juice and dried peppers.
But if you want to really sample mezcal’s nuances, order it neat with an orange slice dipped in worm salt, recommends Salazar. Sip it like you would bourbon or Irish whiskey, alternating sips with a nibble of salty citrus. Of course, imbibers can also opt out of the citrus for an unadulterated experience.
Just don’t shoot it.
bluecornrestaurant.com
KEY TERMS
MORE BAR LINGO
Bar fly
The folks the bartenders are trying to nudge out the door when they put on “Closing Time” at the end of the night.
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Heard
Where military personnel have “copy,” servers, bartenders, cooks and anyone else in the bar and restaurant industry have “heard,” a ubiquitous affirmative response. It’s how you say, “will do,” when asked to perform a task.
86
If something is 86’d, you’re out of it. “86 tequila, 86 limes,” you might hear if you hang around bars and have a tendency to eavesdrop. While there are many arguments for the origin of the term, the most common trace is back to military terminology.
This article was originally published in the May 2022 issue of 225 magazine.