Browse the PHOTOS from the trip!
On the steep and precarious hillsides of Oaxaca, the indigenous agave that thrive there are as highly sought after as any precious metal. With their rich, earthy quality and signature savory smokines—their wild and unadulterated nature is the very thing that gives them such worth.
It’s here, in the mountains of Southern Mexico, where myself and the Gorilla Team met the people and families responsible for harvesting these unique botanicals and processing them in an artisanal fashion that brings the world’s most intense Mezcals to life.
The start of the process isn’t dissimilar in theory to hunting for priceless truffles, hidden in the forests, growing within the dirt. Harvesting these special agave requires winding dirt roads that sink deep into the wild.
Once the plants are found, the harvesting, loading and hauling begins. Some can weigh up to 300 pounds, and are harvested manually with a “coa de jima” [sharp hoe-like tool], carefully shaving the leaves to reveal the inner “piña” [the center that resembles a pineapple] where all the flavor is concentrated.
Once the piñas were loaded into the back of the rust-etched truck bed that brought us there, the trek back to the smoke pit began. The experience felt symbolically similar to Moonshine production in The States— and much like the rich and rural history of that spirit, producing Mezcal is embedded into the very fabric of Oaxacan culture, dating back hundreds of years.
It’s in this tradition that the stories of generations of families live. Passing down the process in a sort of ritualistic oral history, creating a chain that forever connects people to each other, and to the land.
The “pit” is not glamorous, nor should it be. As we stand in awe, watching the Artisans unload the agave and systematically organize the piñas into piles, different sections begin to form. The best are used to build the base and the walls of the pit, and then they used the rest to form a crown up top to finish off the structure.
This unique structure is built completely of piñas and is referred to as a “palenque” [a word stemming from the ancient Mayans meaning “arena”]. Watching the careful construction happen is where we saw the true skill come out, as the Masters supervise each piece being placed by hand. When finished, the pile reaches 6 feet in height and takes nearly an entire day to build. An alternate method of cooking the piñas is in a “hornos” [a clay, ceramic or stone oven]. But our Artisans choose the unique method of a completely organic open air pit, covered simply with a tarp on the top.
If you want to talk about sustainability that stems from a deep respect for the Earth, this is it. Oaxaca is still largely untouched by mass production— and the people we met and worked with are leading the charge. They’re an incredibly welcoming, hardworking, and humble community and their passion for their product is contagious.
With food, there’s a term often used: “Taste the love”. When I think back on some of the best meals I’ve had, they involve some intangible thing that can’t necessarily be defined. We sometimes forget to think about where our food comes from, what animals gave their life-force to provide the sustenance on the plate, and what hands touched it on the way to the table.
Where Mezcal draws its magic is no different. Every nuance in flavor stems from something intentional. It draws its richness from the plant it began as and the people who made it— the soil that held it, the rain that fed it, and the hands that carefully crafted it into the deeply layered and highly storied libation that rests in your glass.
I am grateful to have been even a small part of it.
Grab your TICKETS for June 14th to experience the Bozal Mezcal we made in a one-night-only 5 Course Dinner where Chef Sam Mischenko from our steakhouse LONELY PINE will showcase whole lamb butchery from Freedom Run Farm paired with a selection of traditional Bozal Mezcals.