Welcome to Matatlan! The world capital of mezcal.
This is the first sign I see on my way to learn everything about this drink in the surroundings of Oaxaca.

So many times, when thinking about Mexico I was thinking about Tequila and Mezcal, but I really didn’t know much about them. Growing up in Chile, we hear a lot about Mexican culture but not too deeply and my only knowledge was that it comes from that beautiful plant called Agave.

Oaxaca is one of the areas that called me before arriving in Mexico mostly because of the food and the traditional celebrations, and when I figured it’s also the land of mezcal I wanted to experience it firsthand. During my first trip to Mexico, I wanted to learn a bit about traditions and culture, which Mexico can give so much to be endlessly learning because it’s so rich.

For the region, the production of mezcal is now part of the culture and since 1994 the origin denomination for this liquor. Oaxaca is then known as the region where mezcal is produced and it’s beautiful to see that despite the incredible growth of mass production there are now many small artisanal producers maintaining traditions and with that together high quality.

The plan for the day is to visit two artisanal mezcalerias and the Palenque where the agave plants are growing.

Book HERE your private mezcal tour

 

We first arrived at Desde la Eternidad, a distillery owned by Hortencia Fernandez and her two daughters. Lidia will be in charge in the future so she’s learning everything about production and management. I loved getting to know them and their story, especially in a culture where most of the mezcalerias are owned and run almost exclusively by men only, they are doing something big and helping to change the culture for good.

We had a funny ride at the back of their truck to see the Maguey fields and I loved to see the nature of the region closely. Driving and walking around the agave fields was so much fun! We were really lucky that day because, under the pink pepper trees, we got to experience something I’d only heard before but never experienced, a “limpia”.

This ancestral ceremony or ritual is a spiritual cleanse using herbs and mezcal and it’s been part of traditional cultures for many years with variations within the continent, its purpose is to clean your body and spirit and help to establish a healthy balance.

 

 

 

Getting to see for the first time how mezcal is produced opened my eyes to what’s involved in this traditional art.

Quality goes together with this type of production because every step is kept closely under the eyes of the experts who are working daily in this process. There’s lots of hard work beginning at the cultivation of the plants and waiting until the right time to cut them, it might take several years until that point plus you need about 1 ton of agave to produce about 100 liters of mezcal!

When it is time to cut the plants after they are ready, then comes cleaning the outside leaves to be able to cook the core called pineapple. The mashing process is done with a big stone mile pulled by horses, and they do the fermentation process in copper, but it’s also done in clay in other distilleries and the grinding is sometimes even done by hand.

There are so many different varieties of mezcal, and each producer has their secret process and style of producing this liquor. At Desde la Eternidad we tried about 8 different ones, from simple to more complex including one infused in, yes, turkey breast!

The infusion of mezcal it’s part of the mezcal traditions I had no idea about and it’s within the last steps that they always try new flavors adding different products within the container. They told us the “pechuga de pavo” was created by trying to make the turkey more flavorful before roasting it in the oven.

After tasting and learning how to recognize a good quality mezcal we headed towards another distillery located in a colorful nearby village. This time a very small one where we could see in detail how the process is done.

The Cerro La Curva distillery is owned by a young family, and after showing us their process to produce a very delicious mezcal, which we for sure tasted and loved!

It was so much fun to share with them and taste a fresh Tejate de Cacao, a traditional non-alcoholic drink made of nixtamalized maize flour, cacao beans, and flor de cacao, a white flower that bears no relation to the cacao tree and the one creating tejate’s delicious froth.

Tejate is worked by hand until getting the perfect consistency for this nutritious beverage.

 

 

They also prepared us lunch in the traditional way and we even then tried to help with the tortilla-making process but trust me, it’s hard work!

We flattened the tortilla dough to bake in the comal and got to taste them later with the most delicious grilled beef and spicy sausages with beans. Everyone we met during the trip was so friendly and welcoming, it was like visiting friends.

I’m looking forward to going back and seeing more of the region and all of the amazing things Oaxaca has to share.

For this experience I have partnered one more time with WSE Travel (as I did for my traditional bamboo tattoo in Thailand) because they are a tour company run by a friend and their signature is to provide experiences carefully curated to showcase culture respectfully and responsibly.

It was such a great experience not only to learn about Oaxacan culture and all about mezcal but to see how much care was put into selecting every part of this tour.

They also have amazing Día de los Muertos activities in Oaxaca, cooking classes, traditional handicraft workshops and more!

Do you also love mezcal? You can book this tour HERE and get ready to have a super fun and educating day in the surroundings of Oaxaca