Here we go friends. The very first Mezcals from the Mission Mezcal Club! (cue trumpets)
We’re starting with friends of ours, from Banhez Mezcal, a co-op of mezcaleros based in Ejutla, a region within Oaxaca, MEX. Let’s zoom out:
That’s Oaxaca.
Here are some quick fire facts:
Mexico has 32 states.
One of them is called Oaxaca, and Xs are tricky so phonetically it’s: wah-HA-cah.
Oaxaca is the red one in the picture above.
Agave grows there.
There are 200+ species of agave, they grown on every continent (except Antarctica)
140 of them grow in Mexico, and 30-40 types get used to make Mezcal.
Oaxaca is one of 8 states in Mexico that’s certified to produce Mezcal, but that gets into a political/existential conversation that we’ll save for another post.
The regional word for the agave plant is Maguey. (MAH-gay) You’ll see this word a lot.
Maguey/Agave might look like cactus, but it is more closely related to asparagus. (You’ll see it when we get into their mating rituals ;)
TASTING #1: BANHEZ
So we’re starting with Banhez as a primer, for a few reasons:
They’re friends of ours.
Their product is locally available, so if you actually wanted more of it, you could get it.
Their Mezcal is delicious.
Their business model lets us teach a lot of lessons all at once.
Building the horno (OR-no), or oven, to roast the agave.
So maybe you know about how one makes wine, or beer, or mead, or bathtub gin. Whatever you’ve done to withstand quarantine. Essentially you’re trying to convert sugar into alcohol. In the case of Mezcal, you’re trying to get the sugars within the agave plant to be amplified by roasting them in an earthen oven, (like a good pineapple upside down cake) then fermenting the juice in open-air vats. There are many more steps to this process that we will get into later, BUT the difference between grapes or wheat, is that agave doesn’t just sprout up out of the ground once a year. At minimum, the fastest growing agave takes 7 years to reach maturity. Seven. Years. Some of the wild varietals take up to 30 years!
I bring this up to point out how precious agave is. The demand for this spirit is high, and can be illustrated by the fact that this very club you’re a part of exists, or that many celebrities are suddenly clamoring to create tequila/mezcal brands, but Banhez is different. They’ve created a co-op of 36 family owned farms that each have ownership stake in the company. This not only benefits the families who maintain this generations-old practice, but it doesn’t create an incentive for mezcaleros to grow as much agave as they possibly can to make as much Mezcal as they possibly can. This prevents them from engaging in unsustainable mono-cropping practices, and rushing a product to market that doesn’t honor the traditions and methods that make this spirit so special.
MEZCAL #1: BANHEZ ENSEMBLE JOVEN: ESPADIN & BARRIL
Awwww yeahhhhh. Mezcal numero uno. Just the six words in that title give us a lot to talk about:
Mezcal: Why we’re all here.
Banhez: The brand. There will often be a brand attached to these bottles, but as we learn to read labels together, you’ll see that it’s not so much about the brand, but many more specific details: The Maestro (or teacher/master) who is the chef in this agave kitchen. The Region (just like wine, terroir and elevation play a big role here) The Maguey. (the type of agave plant or plants used) The roasting, the crushing, the distillation, the fermentation period, the date, etc. etc. It can get very specific.
Ensemble: Meaning together. A lot of Mezcals are blends. While single varietal expressions have become sought after, historically blends were more common and more sustainable because you would create from whatever the earth gave you instead of just working with one type of plant.
Joven: Meaning young. You’ll more see this with Tequila where there are jovens, reposados, and añejos, but that can be true with Mezcal too if it’s aged in oak barrels after it’s distilled.
Espadin: The most common type of agave used in Mezcal production. Mainly because it has the shortest maturity rate, and because the plants generally have higher sugar concentration.
Barril: Another type of agave. This type also has a relatively short maturity rate, but it also helps encourage biodiversity. If farmers were only motivated to grow Espadin, it would quickly deplete the soil of nutrients, and when you’re already looking at 7 years minimum to grow your next crop, you might not want to do that.
Here are the main categories we’ll address when labeling a Mezcal for MMC:
Maestro: Which means “teacher,” but in this case means distillation master, or the chef in the agave kitchen. In this case, because Banhez is a co-op, there are multiple mestros’ product that gets blended together to make one sustainable product.
Origen: Or “origin,” the specific region where the product was made. All of the agave for this ensemble was grown in Oaxaca, but because it’s sourced from different regions, it’s hard to get more specifc.
Agave: The plant itself. In this case plants plural. Espadin & Barril are the two types involved here.
Fermentacion: aka Fermentation. How the agave mash was fermented. This was fermented in open air oak vats.
ABV: Just to let you know how boozed up you’re about to get. The ensemble is just slightly overproof at 42%.
So in contrast, here is a single-varietal expression from Banhez, called Cuishe. (QUEESH)
Maestro: Luis & Donaciano Pacheco.
Origen: In this case from the town of Noria, in the county of Ejutla, in the state of Oaxaca, in the country of Mexico.
Agave: The plant here is called Cuishe, which is a Karwinskii type of agave. It’s also known as Madrecuixe, Bicuixe, Largo or Barril which was used in the previous blend. It looks more like a stout palm tree. I know Karwinskii doesn’t sound very Mexican, but it’s named after a botanist named Wilhelm Friedrich Karwinski, and genealogically the name stuck.
Fermentacion: It was fermented with natural yeast for 5-6 days.
ABV: 47%
Notes: Cuishe plants generally have a smaller bulb when harvested, that have lower sugar content, then typically result in a dryer, slightly more acidic Mezcal. This is true of the Banhez Cuishe, though it’s balanced by some slightly sweet tropical fruit notes that make it really easy drinking.
SALUD!
Enjoy these delicious Mezcals as your first tastes of life in Mission Mezcal Club. For those of you who are subscribers, you’ll be getting your next shipment the week of January 13th, and our first virtual class will be held on Monday, January 20th, at 7:00 pm. You’ll be getting more details about that as the date approaches. Very much looking forward to it.
In the meantime, a genuine note of thanks for participating in MMC, and for all the support you’ve given Mission over the last crazy year. It’s been a wild ride for sure, but we wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Enjoy whatever version of the holidays you might be able to have, and we’ll look forward to toasting you all again in the new year.
Feliz nuevo año. <3 M.T.