Mamposteria

Mamposteria translates as “masonry” and is used in that sense in the mezcal world for two applications. One is for ovens, the other for fermentation vessels, both made from a combination of rocks and mortar. There is ample evidence of this in western Jalisco which is possibly where distillation first began in what is today Mexico. The tradition lives on in some distilleries to this day and perhaps there’s even an echo of it in the large masonry steam ovens used in some tequila distilleries.