Growing Popularity of Mezcal

Mezcal is a distilled alcoholic beverage which is made from agave plant which is native to Mexico. While most Mezcal is made from Oaxaca variety of agave plant, others like Michoacan, Zacatecas, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosi, Guerrero, Guanajuato, Durango and recently approved Puebla are considered good as well.

Though Mezcal in the region has a great history, it is still unclear if distilled alcoholic beverages were produced in Mexico prior to the Spanish Conquest. Spaniards however are credited with introducing native fermented drinks like Pulque which is made from maguey plant. Eventually, experimentation with agave plant by Spaniards found a way to make distillable fermented mash which resulted in Mezcal.

Growing Popularity of Mezcal

Mezcal Now is Globally Exported

As of now, Mezcal is still made from the heart of agave plant in much the same way as it was 200 years back. Mezcal in Mexico contains a smoky flavor and is generally consumed straight. Although not as popular as Tequila, Mexico does export Mezcal and which mostly goes to countries like Japan and United States.

While the exports of Mezcal are growing each year, this produce is specifically made from blue agave in select regions of the country. Despite similarity in name, Mezcal does not contain mescaline or any other type of psychotropic substances.

Serving Mezcal

Mezcal in Mexico is generally served straight and not mixed with cocktails or any other liquids. However, Mezcal is often accompanied with sliced oranges, lemon or lime sprinkled mix of ground fried larvae, chili peppers and salt which is known as sal-de-gusano, literally meaning ‘worm salt’.

Mexcal in United States is fast becoming a prominent ingredient which goes in the making of several craft cocktail menus. Quite often Mezcal is also swapped for more traditional spirits in cocktails like ‘Mezcal Negroni’ & ‘Mezcal Old Fashioned’.

Crazy for Gin

Gin is a simple spirit flavored with a variety of botanicals but predominantly flavored by juniper berries. Despite a simple start in Middle Ages Gin has evolved from herbal medicine to commercial production in the spirits industry. Though Gin has a long & turbulent history it beholds a vibrant present & future.

Gin became popular with the British, Scottish, Irish & Dutch thrones which made it a popular spirit during those hay days. Nevertheless, Gin holds one of the broadest categories in spirits represented by products of various origins, styles & flavors revolving around juniper as a common ingredient.

Historic Importance of Gin

Although Gin is seen as a traditional spirit of England, origin of this spirit is much from over the sea. Juniper berries have been used for flavoring spirits since invention of distillation, both for medicinal qualities and for flavor.

However, beginnings of modern Gin started to appear since the 17^th century. Genever was a Dutch-styled Gin which appeared in the early mid-1600s. But the Gin story hopped over the English Channel to become well known in England in 1688. Thereby, locally produced Gin was cheap to make due to low taxation and therefore popularity of this spirit simply exploded.

Crazy for Gin

Crazy for Gin

Yes, this was the time for Gin craze when almost half of drinking establishments in London were Gin shops. However, overconsumption & extreme drunkenness provoked outrage from government & general public began explaining perils of consuming Gin as opposed to joys of drinking beer.

Subsequently, laws were passed that helped in controlling production & drinking of Gin by the 1850s when things calmed down. However, Gin continued to be a popular drink and spread to all parts of the globe with help of the British Empire. However, Gin now is customized to the taste of local consumers and which leads to a wide range of styles, flavors & ingredients right from the historical era to the ultra-modern.

Producing Gin

Production of Gin falls into two main categories, compounding & distilling the spirit. Compounding Gin involves adding flavors which are either natural extracts or botanicals to the neutral spirit. There are several cheaper Gins which are made nowadays using this method.

However, a large range of excellent Gins are also available nowadays within the category which is produced by macerating whole botanicals in order to produce high-quality of the spirit.