Mezcal Is The Fastest-Growing Liquor In The US. Why Aren't Mexican Producers Cashing In?

I’m currently in my parents home town in Oaxaca and we grow our own agave here. I wouldn’t say it’s made everyone rich but I can see that all of us here in this village are happy. We all own houses and don’t struggle from a day to day bases. No rent and no actual bills. Money isn’t all that important to the people. It’s the laid back lifestyle of being able to say what you own, is truly yours.

She's a Savage. "Any clown can call it Mezcal". Love it, and so true.

I love that each fraction of the distilling process, the head, body, tail all have their uses, even the parts not used for drinking. Nothing goes to waste, a clean process.

As a scientist, I was SO impressed to hear that she starts every agave plant from seed. That is disgustingly rare in modern agriculture, and the reason why mainstream bananas are dying right now. When you start a plant from cuttings, it is a clone. There is no chance for the plant to evolve, and they MUST evolve to keep up with diseases affecting them which evolve. And over the years, it also reduces genetic diversity of a crop, making it even more susceptible to disease. Kudos to her. I'll buy her mezcal before anyone else's.

The small producers should unite and form their own Mezcal federation.

i work at a bar here in houston and i’ll be letting the owner know (an irish guy who looooves mezcal) to buy her mezcal. i have to try it. and the fact the agave is grown from SEED! sooo impressive.

Seems like a traditional story of a booming product in a Latino country 1. The product gets popular 2. The government gets involved in order to make it "official" which works fine the first two years and then gets totally corrupt 3. The people lose their government support and become poorer than before 4. Outside country gets involved and do "business" with locals 5. The outside country gets richer and the local producers stay the same or even more poorer 6. The products ends up dying or losing his original formula. Pretty standard imo

good reportage, as an mexican i am very sad about how the whole lincenses and certifications work today. the mezcaleros deserve way better payment and recognition

It's such an art. Sad to see it being ruined by the bureaucracy and corruption. Como todo en mi Mexico lindo.

I’m not a hard alcohol guy generally. But the best liquor I ever had was corn liquor (moonshine) from an old man back in the hills of the ozarks. Probably 120-140 proof but smooth with a clean finish. I’m glad people are keeping the old tradition methods alive. Machines can’t capture the subtlety that craft produced spirits have.

The fact that Edgar and other distillers can tell what day the agave will be distilled just by tasting it is impressive in its own right

It would have been nice if the author of this video included the names and links to the Mexican owned producers for people to buy and support their products.

This nearly made me cry! I come from a mezcalero family, from Tlacolula Oaxaca, maybe my close family is not the one that produces It but since I was a child my beloved abuelita told me the stories of how when they prepared the land to plant the agave they found zapoteco's figures, of how her grandfather with her mother created the mezcal de pechuga and how the first car of the town arrived on train. Even she told me that those quotes like "para todo mal mezcal y para todo bien también" where created by her family to promote the drink. I'm from Puebla and my mom but especially my abuelita get really angry to see how here are a lot of "mezcal producers". Even they got mad when they see the quality of the drink. "This is not mezcal, this is aguardiente" once told me my mom "a good mezcal will never hurt your throat when you drink it, is a smooth and fine drink." It's just too sad yo see the hipocrisy with "producers" and the denominación de origen.

I'm on the farmer's side here. I've had repackaged mezcal and it's like a warm embrace from a lover. I want the farmers to actually have the profits and keep this beautiful tradition alive.

i work at a tequila bar in new orleans, mezcal is soarinngggg people come in wanting the most unique spirit straight from mexico itself, and pay $12-$17 a shot for it… these workers should be getting way more for their efforts

This is the same process that we in Hawaii use to make okolehao. In Hawaii we use the ti root, smoked in the ground called an Imu. During thanksgiving time we put turkeys in the ground along with all the other foods as thanksgiving falls during the traditional makahiki harvest holiday of old Hawaii nei.

Amazing work you guys did here, it has been sad to see how international brands are taking mezcal and selling it for a lot of money, in the past four years we have seen how a bottle of mezcal went from 10usd to 20-25usd and some are no longer real Mexican brands. Oaxaca is very well know for good artisanal mezcal, great place to visit

I love to see a woman distiller and her wealth of knowledge . She and all of her staff are true master artisans. Their knowledge , skills and experience is priceless . She kept her brand true to self she should be extremely proud of her heritage and hard work .

I love people that work hard work with their hands and are proud of what they produce 💪🏽

The folklore behind this drink makes me want to try it, very interesting creation process too. "Created with power, as if coming from a volcano". Not only that, I hope the individuals that create these drinks, from farming to distilling and packaging, get the notoriety, earnings and shares they deserve!