Mescal - what is it? Mescal: price, photo and production technology. How to drink mescal?

Very few people know about the Mexican alcoholic beverage called mescal. For example, tequila is familiar to many, although, as you know, it appeared much later and is one of its varieties.

A bit of history

For a very long time, Mexican residents - Indians - did not know about the existence of strong drinks. Basically they drank the so-called pulque. This fermented agave juice, which is a slightly foamy milk drink with a strength of 4-6 degrees. In the 16th century, the Spaniards brought European distillation technologies to the New World. Pulk began to produce strong spirits, which later became known as mezkal, which means "boiled". At that time people thought about mescal, that it is a means that can not only quench your thirst in the heat, remove fatigue, activate mental activity, but also reduce pain, heal wounds, and arouse appetite. And how are things today?

Mescal: what is it?

The historical precursor of tequila is a stronger drink. It has a rich taste with smoky shades and an oily texture. There are many varieties of this alcohol, which taste very different from each other. And yet: mezcal - what is it? This is a traditional Mexican drink with a strength of about 40 degrees, and to be precise, the last figure can vary from 38 to 43 degrees. Mescal is popular not only at home, but also abroad.

The process of making a traditional drink

In Mexico, mezcal is allowed to cook only from 5 certain varieties of agave. Before its flowering - and it happens once in 8-10 years - the juice of the plant contains a lot of sugar. It is at this time that the raw materials are harvested for the subsequent production of a strong alcoholic beverage. Sharp knives cut off leaves from the plant, and thus released its core, weighing about 60 kg. Subsequently, it gives me a drink of mescal (3-4 liters).

Large peeled fruits are divided into 4 parts and placed in a special pit-furnace, laid out with stones. Then everything is covered with palm leaves and covered with earth. Within a few days the agave is languishing in the oven. At this time, and gets an unusual smoke-smoked flavor of traditional alcohol in Mexico. Further, the baked raw materials are transferred to a neighboring pit, which must also be laden with stones, and grinded with grindstones. As an excavator and driving force, donkeys are often used. Then the whole ground mass is placed in the barrels, where the fermentation process lasts for 3 days.

The next stage: the raw material is subjected to double distillation and bottled in bottles or clay pots. Sometimes the drink is not poured, but left in barrels for aging for several years. Mescal then acquires a very beautiful golden hue. Sometimes, to achieve this color, caramel is added to the beverage. Its fortress always remains unchanged - from 38 to 43 degrees, and it does not matter whether it is sustained or not.

The above process of making a mezcal drink (photo can be seen here) is typical for home production. In large factories, where the product is produced in large volumes, more modern technologies are used.

The difference between tequila and mezcal

It is important to understand that tequila is much different from a drink like mescal (what is it - we figured it out). The difference is as follows:

1. Raw materials for the preparation of these types of alcohol are different. For the production of tequila, only juice of blue agave is suitable, and for the production of mescal - as many as 5 species of this plant.
2. Use of sweeteners. In mezcal sugar is added, but in the composition of tequila it is not.
3. Geography of production. Mescal is alcohol that is made throughout Mexico, while tequila is produced only in one state, where a blue agave grows .
4. It is believed that the drink we are considering has a more intense taste, aroma and color.

Mescal with caterpillar

Sometimes in bottles with mescal, you can observe the presence of a worm or a caterpillar. For the first time a drink with this insect appeared on sale in 1940. Perhaps it was a cunning marketing move, through which it was planned to attract the attention of customers to this product. Then it was borrowed by many famous brands. First, the presence of the worm in the drink was explained by the desire to demonstrate the high quality of the latter (in fact only in good alcohol the insect will not decay) and the desire to increase protection from all kinds of fakes. Later it was said that mezcal (what is it - it was described above) is a means that increases male strength. He was credited with other medicinal properties. In fact, in the old days, Mexicans put butterfly caterpillars inside the bottle, which lived in the thickets of the agave to check the quality of alcohol. If the worm is spoiled, then the drink is not very clean, there is not enough alcohol in it.

Varieties of mescal

The traditional drink of Mexico differs also by terms of endurance:

1. Unreserved mescal is "Blanco" or "Natural".
2. Excerpt from 6 months to a year - "Reposado".
3. From 1 to 3 years - "Aniejo".
4. Mescal "Divino" with a pear is a very interesting drink, unique in its kind. In a bottle with a narrow neck you can see a whole fruit - a pear. Prepare it for a special, secret technology, which is kept secret. According to one version, the shoot with the fruit's ovary is placed in a bottle, where it grows and ripens. Then the branch is carefully cut off, and the bottle is poured with mescal. And in the end you get a wonderful drink with the flavor and taste of a pear.

Where to try mescal?

The best place where you can buy and taste a real mezcal (how to drink it - look at it just below) is, of course, Mexico. Here it is produced almost everywhere. On the plantations, various types of agave are grown, which are necessary for the production of the national drink. But if you can not visit this wonderful country, you can find the original mezcal in Russia. Of course, it is better to do it in the stores of elite spirits. And if there are not any, then you can buy mezcal, the price of which depends on its kind, and you can also go to the online store. It is clear that the cost of the product, depending on the brand and variety, will differ, and quite significantly. So, for example, in the market you can find a large bottle, which costs about 500-600 rubles (although there are doubts at once about the quality and originality of the drink), and in firm stores this figure increases to 4-5 thousand, and sometimes even more.

How to drink mescal?

The most interesting question. They drink the national drink of Mexico the same way as tequila. In the case of mescal with a caterpillar, the technology of use is similar. In general, there are several options for how to drink mescal. Here are the main three:

1. In undiluted / pure form. For example, as a liqueur. Drink does not need to be thoroughly cooled - room temperature is considered quite acceptable. So, we pour it on glasses and drink in small sips, enjoying a wonderful taste.
2. With lime and salt. On the back of the hand between the forefinger and the thumb is poured salt. The same fingers are taken lime slice. Then the salt is drained from the hand, the mescal is drunk and all this is crooked with citrus. Manufacturers of the beverage took care of their customers: a bag with such a composition is attached to the neck of the bottle: ground chilli, salt, dried milled carcasses of worms. It all depends on your preferences.
3. Wash sangrita with a spicy Mexican sauce. Sometimes at home, you can get by with tomato juice. Mescal drinks in one gulp and immediately washed down with sauce. It turns out a fairly sharp mixture, which burns the throat. It is clear that you can not feel the whole bouquet of the drink in this case.

Mescal is just a must try, at least for the sake of understanding how it differs from tequila. But there is a caterpillar or not - it's up to you. Who knows, maybe someone will have a desire to try it.