DCist: Drink in the Details: Mezcal Myths

orinos73

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:29:58 -0500

I went caving once in Mexico. We slept in a little mountain village that was shrouded in clouds the whole time we were there. The night before we left the people of the villiage cooked us a huge dinner. After dinner we sat on the stoop of a little tin roofed, dirt floored kitchen with one of the old men of the village. He produced a small bottle of mezcal and passed it around. It was amazing, and we told him we loved it and inquired about its origin. The man said it was made in the village, that they only made very small batches, and that this one was special, which was why it was so tasty, and why he had brought it out for dinner that night. When we asked what made it special, he told us that in harvesting the plant, one of the villagers had accidentally cut off one of his fingers with the machete. Since the drive out of the mountains and to the nearest hospital was well over 10 hours (and they had no car anyway) they put the finger into the fermentation process. Be may have been b.s.ing me, but alot of those guys were missing fingers. Regardless, I can still taste that glorious mezcal if I think about it long enough.

monkeyrotica

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:05:23 -0500

Thank you for taking all the mystery out of getting $h!tfaced. Next week: Ergot Poisoning, the Great Vowel Shift, and Bottom Fermented Beer: The Case for Why Europeans are Total A$$holes. See, this is exactly why I drink Sterno poured through toast and three-penis wine.

IMGoph

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:50:55 -0500

i feel hyper-educated now

Dan tastic

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:28:55 -0500

In Three Amigos, they order tequila. What's tequila? Ehh, it's like beer.

Deep

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:17:37 -0500

That explains the drunken stupor minus the dancing bunnies.

majapa

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:50:33 -0500

And to clarify furthermore: Mescaline doesn't come from mezcal. There was an incorrect naming/link between mezcal and peyote, and people thereafter started thinking mescaline comes from mezcal which makes a tequila.