Watch the complete MADE HERE
video series on YouTube. MADE HEREA worm can add flavor, like fruit, but not to all mezcals. A
worm should go in an espadín, one of the sweeter mez-
cals, because it absorbs the flavor of what you add to it. On the
contrary, putting a worm into a tepeztate (full-bodied, strong), a
cuixe (spicy, earthy), or a tobalá (soft, sweet) should not be done.
That would waste pure flavor and originality.HOW
IT’S
DONE
I
STARTED MAKING MEZCAL FULL-
time when I was 16. I had been
part of the process since I was
about 7 years old, when my late
grandfather put me in the mash
tun to crush maguey, the agave
plant we use. But once I was old
enough to be part of the whole pro-
cess, I dedicated my life to it.
For me, this is the heritage of my
ancestors. The process unites our
family. We’re not in front of a com-
puter all day. One day, we’re cutting
maguey, another day we’re cook-
ing, and the next we’re distilling,
crushing, or planting maguey. It’s a
completely different job from what
people do on a daily basis, and it's nei-
ther routine nor boring.
Especially when we cook. All
the people you’re working with get
together, and there is a fellowship:
of friends, of father and son, of
family. We arrange the stones and
firewood, we put fire in the oven, and
my mother and the sisters-in-law are
already waiting for us with food. We
all get together at the table.
It is a job that unites us all. Very
few families have the possibility of
spending so much time together and
working together. This is why we
chose to work in mezcal.15
// LUIS JAIME PÉREZ SÁNCHEZ, 22, MEZCAL MAKER, OAXACA, MEXICO //JOHNDICKIE/POPULAR^ MECHANICS^ VIDEO84 September/October 2020