There seems to be some confusion between the two spirits, so we thought it would be great draw some attention to this topic and educate. Mexico’s most known spirit export has long been tequila. But before tequila, there was mezcal. This ancient spirit, is distilled from the agave planta and there are major differences
Both tequila and mezcal are made from the harvested core of the agave plant, otherwise known as the “piña.” However, that’s where the similarities in production end. The agave piñas in tequila, are typically cooked in large industrial ovens, known as autoclaves, which are large, stainless-steel industrial pressure cookers. Mezcal on the other hand has a process which is much more handcrafted and follows old traditional methods full of culture and heritage, that have been used for hundreds of years. I stress the word “artisanal” Further, Mezcal in a broader sense, is any agave-based liquor, and therefore tequila is a subset of mezcal which technically makes tequila a form of mezcal, not the other way around.