08 Feb Mezcal, the kissing drink
In friend´s get togethers or dinner parties that we attend, we have seen different ways of serving Mezcal. But which one is correct? Here we discover the myths and truths to drink Mezcal as it should be.
If you are reading this article, welcome to our blog Educación Mezcalera de Mezcal Sacrificio. In this first post we want to tell you all about the myths and truths to drink mezcal as it should be and not make beginner mistakes when serving it.
As we already know, the popularity of mezcal has increased in recent years. Both in Mexico and internationally, we find high-quality mezcals with different qualities for all beginner or expert palates. For this reason, we want to teach you the correct consumption and service of mezcal so that it is worth discovering how to successfully taste all its properties.
# 1: In one gulp or slow?
Mezcal is served in a short shot glass. However, this does not mean that it is a quick drink or a single drink.
Mezcal is a drink designed to taste and savor each drink, that is why it is said that “mezcal only kisses.” According to experts, the first drink of Mezcal is the strongest and your palate does not fully enjoy its characteristics. Experts recommend keeping this first sip in the mouth for a couple of seconds under the tongue before swallowing. After the second or third drink, we begin to find the properties of the mezcal served and really enjoy it in the nose and mouth.
Mezcal is not drunk in one gulp, it is consumed in moderate sips.
# 2: Cold or room temperature?
The idea of drinking mezcal at low temperatures is a recent idea and definitely a mistake. According to the experts, when the alcohol is cooled, the distillation is inhibited and sacrificed, subtracting qualities of the flavor and aromas that characterize Mezcal.
By deciding to cool the mezcal we are moving the alcohol away from its evaporation point, which does not allow the properties of mezcal to be fully expressed as it has been prepared on the palate. By freezing or cooling mezcal its original flavor is diluted and its properties are lost.
# 3: Alone or accompanied?
Mezcal was designed by the mezcal master to enjoy it without the need to add something extra. Mezcal is taken only to enjoy its flavor to the fullest, since when adding lemon and salt its flavor is lost.
If it is true that it is tradition to take mezcal with orange and salt. The function of the orange is to cleanse your palate before your next drink so that you can enjoy the properties of the aromas and flavor notes again in their maximum splendor.
Although it is the custom, the recommendation of the experts is to take it alone. Mixing in mezcal alters its flavor and purity.
# 4: With beer?
Although in many places in Mexico and the world you will find that it is normal to order a mezcal serving with a beer, it is not the recommendation to mix it or combine it with any other drink.
More than the alcohol mix and drunkenness that you can provoke to your body, the mezcal masters assure that the malt of the beer blocks the tasting of the mezcal and can vary the real flavor of the mezcal. For this reason, the recommendation is to take it alone and what you can do is accompany it with natural or mineral water, always in a separate glass.
# 5: Where do I serve it?
Although the custom in Mexico is to serve in a caballito or shot glass, mezcal should be served in an ideal glass that allows the alcohol to travel along its shape and distribute its aromas and flavor notes in the central part.
After different conclusions from experts and mezcal masters, the ideal glass to enjoy mezcal is elongated and wider at the bottom, similar to the grappa glass or Elenmeyer flask with stem from the Riedel house.
We hope that these 5 tips will help you serve a mezcal as it should be in your next meeting with family and friends, as well as learn to enjoy the properties of this drink of the gods in its maximum splendor.
Until next time,
Mezcal Sacrifice Team.
