What goes into winning a cocktail contest?
In the run up to Mezcal Week we had the great pleasure of partnering with Sombra Mezcal and The Mezcal Institute in launching the Sombra Mezcal Cocktail Contest Home Edition. The focus of the contest was on working with ingredients
A mezcal dinner in the age of Covid-19
Organizing an event after a six month break, especially in the midst of a pandemic, is not like riding a bike again. Learning - and then complying with - all the city, county, and state regulations for outdoor dining requires
A Potatorum blind tasting
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to sit in on a blind tasting of Potatorums with the Texas Mezcal and Tequila Society. Led by Paul Dutton, it was a great deep dive into four different expressions. The Tobalá,
Mezcal Week 2020 is here
2020 was set to be the year of mezcal by all projections, ours included. We had a whole membership recruitment plan for our non profit project The Mezcal Collaborative and plans to make Mezcal Week, the primary fundraising event for
Coronavirus Cookbook Series: The Native Mexican Kitchen
What a joy it is to see The Native Mexican Kitchen in print having followed its journey from its beginning. Rachel Glueck and her husband Noel Morales, owners of El Refugio Mezcaleria, have crafted a beautiful book that explores the
Mexican whiskey has arrived
Before mezcal found me, I was a whiskey drinker, specifically bourbon. It appealed to my desire to nurse a drink, sipping slowly over time, sometimes neat, sometimes over ice. I was no connoisseur, and most of what I drank was
CRM fined by Mexican government over marketing campaign
Over the weekend there was big news out of Mexico in the world of mezcal, the Director General de Normas fined the CRM for misleading and deceptive marketing practices regarding their hologram campaign as well as other behavior. The fines
Conversations in Agave – June links
June might go down on record as the fastest month ever, though when we think of how the month began and where we are today, it feels like a lifetime. In the midst of all of the turmoil of the
Quarantine Book Series pt. 6: Protest Graffiti Mexico Oaxaca
This post is part of a series that began with cookbooks but now will include other types of books. On my mind amid the protests that have swept the country has been art, and specifically protest art, which like protest
En memoriam – Don Aquilino García López
The mezcal family suffered an immense loss this week with the passing of Don Aquilino García López, patriarch of Mezcal Vago. From the Vago family: To those in the mezcal community, he was an absolute legend. To a lucky few, he