PAGE 7 – Only pure mezcal is safe for caterpillars
“I never used to give mezcal to the workers. They’d buy it anyway, the cheap kind, which is 51 percent maguey and 49 percent cane alcohol, but they wouldn’t get up the next morning. Now I give them good mezcal. They get wasted, but at least they come to work the next day.”
Douglas French, 58, mezcal producer for export only, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Douglas French, 58, mezcal producer for export only, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Above: Left, Douglas French, 58, mezcal producer; Right: Hector Vazquez, 32, mezcal producer in Matatlan.
Back to top : PAGE 7 – Only pure mezcal is safe for caterpillars
The cactus-like maguey plant is the source of mezcal, a traditional Mexican alcoholic drink. It’s similar to tequila but the ermentation process involves smoking the plant’s heart. Mezcal is made in small batches and it takes a long time to produce. The plants are taken out of the ground when they are two years old. They are tied together and left to dry in the sun for two weeks. It will be another five years before their hearts are finally cut out, smoked and crushed. The pulp and liquid ferment naturally. The result is a drink that’s
an integral part of local customs and events such as weddings, funerals, baptisms and birthdays. An agave caterpillar is put in the bottle to serve as proof that the mezcal inside is pure.
If it’s watered down, the larva will disintegrate. Mezcal can be pricey. Export quality mescal costs from US$17 to US$240 per bottle. Locals often carry their own plastic bottles to the producer and pay between 30 and 70 pesos (US$3-7) for a bottle. Douglas French (right), 58, a producer and exporter from the USA, living in Oaxaca, Mexico, advises you to make sure it’s the real thing, because “Mezcal cut with cane alcohol gives major hangovers.”
If it’s watered down, the larva will disintegrate. Mezcal can be pricey. Export quality mescal costs from US$17 to US$240 per bottle. Locals often carry their own plastic bottles to the producer and pay between 30 and 70 pesos (US$3-7) for a bottle. Douglas French (right), 58, a producer and exporter from the USA, living in Oaxaca, Mexico, advises you to make sure it’s the real thing, because “Mezcal cut with cane alcohol gives major hangovers.”
Above: Los Danzantes distillery, Matatlan, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Back to top : PAGE 7 – Only pure mezcal is safe for caterpillars
“I started selling mezcal for somebody else 35 years ago. Then I ran a textile company here in Oaxaca. Politics over recent years killed the textile industry, so I returned to mezcal to make a living. Booze always sells. Drugs and booze.”
Douglas French, 58 mezcal producer for export only, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Douglas French, 58 mezcal producer for export only, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Above: Left, maguey hearts before smoking; Right, maguey flowers in Douglas French’s field.
Back to top : PAGE 7 – Only pure mezcal is safe for caterpillars
“Mezcal is closely linked to life and death. You find it at joyous celebrations as well as funerals. Celebrations can last several days. Mezcal wisdom says, ‘When something bad happens, drink mezcal; also when something good happens’ and, ‘If there’s no solution, drink a liter and a half.’
It’s a mystical, energetic drink linked to celebration of life and respect for the dead. Just imagine the maguey soaking up the sun through its leaves and accumulating all that energy. That becomes mezcal. You have to respect it when you drink it.”
Eric Hernández Adalín, producer of Mistique mezcal, Oaxaca, Mexico.
It’s a mystical, energetic drink linked to celebration of life and respect for the dead. Just imagine the maguey soaking up the sun through its leaves and accumulating all that energy. That becomes mezcal. You have to respect it when you drink it.”
Eric Hernández Adalín, producer of Mistique mezcal, Oaxaca, Mexico.