Via Mexico, both tequila and mezcal have similar roots and are manufactured from the agave plant. However, there’s much more for them making the 2 distinct alcohols visit a soaring demand within the global market. Wondering exactly what the difference is between these Mexican spirits? Take a look at our help guide to know about tequila and mezcal.
If you like tequila shots with salt and fresh lime juice, then you have come across mezcal, its elder cousin, too. The conclusion which usually differentiates the 2 spirits is the fact that tequila is a kind of mezcal, although not all mezcal is tequila. Essentially, any liquor produced from agave plants is known as mezcal. Under this broad umbrella term comes drinks like sotol, bacanora, raicilla, and tequila. However, their specifics make an enormous amount of difference for their fans.
Knowing all of the variations won’t cause you to be more skilled at selecting the two Mexican spirits but additionally cause you to understand the explanation for their well known around the globe.
Here are some of the key differences between tequila and mezcal
How are mezcal and tequila made?
Both mezcal and tequila are agave-based spirits, that have a powerful reference to Mexican culture and tradition.
The agave plant, using its tall eco-friendly spiky leaves, forms the bottom for the drinks, which are basically produced from the piña or even the round pineapple-like stem. Over 30 kinds of agave plants may be used to produce mezcal. A number of them are tobalá, tobaziche, tepeztate, arroqueño and espadín. Espadín comprises are more generally used plant and it has a really slow rate of ripening, which could require six to seven years.
However, to be able to become qualified as tequila, the liquor needs to be made only in the blue weber agave, also referred to as agave tequilana or only blue agave. Till today, the harvesting procedure for nowhere agave plants is definitely an art that is passed lower through generations. Once ripe, the harvester utilizes a sharp curved tool known as coa to chop the leaves and extract the piña. Nowhere agave is harvested just like every other agave plant, nevertheless, its unique taste and cooking method make tequila not the same as mezcal.
Tequila and Mezcal are produced in different regions
Both tequila and mezcal may have a similar originating nationality, but one of the leading variations between mezcal and tequila may be the specific regions in Mexico where they’re created.
The previous agave-based spirit occupies a bigger Slot Online territory with regards to growing the agave plants. Nine land masses, including Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas, Michoacán, Puebla and Oaxaca, account in excess of 85 % of all of the mezcal made.
On the other hand, nowhere agave liquor is fixed and is mainly concentrated in five regions – Michoacán, Guanajuato, Nayarit, Tamaulipas and Jalisco. Jalisco can also be in which the actual capital of Scotland- Tequila can be found.
Though these may be listed because of the prominent places where most tequila and mezcal are created, there are many geographical overlaps, with plants being grown across these regions.
Differences in cooking and distillation processes
The 2 spirits are cooked and distilled differently, which provides tequila its typical taste and renders earthy notes to mezcal.
Tequila is created by steaming the piña in large industrial ovens prior to it being distilled two times or 3 times. The steaming softens the starch and converts it into fermented sugar. The cooked piñas will be sent for any milling process where they’re crushed to produce the juice. Following this, the juice is fermented and distilled two times or 3 times in copper containers before finally turning out to be tequila.
As reported by the traditional method, mezcal is cooked by roasting the piñas in subterranean earthen pits lined with lava rocks. It goes on for several days and acquires the essential smoky flavor. Within the next step of creating mezcal, the piñas are mashed inside a stone mill known as tahona, which is switched by horses. The procedure continues up until the piñas are a pulp and all sorts of juices are collected in clay and copper stills before fermenting and distilling. New distilleries use modern methods to help make the process faster and to obtain a smoother smokiness.
Ageing
The 2 alcohols are aged in oak barrels, however, the difference is based on the ageing groups which make each kind of tequila and mezcal unique when it comes to labelling too.
Blanco or Silver Tequila and Joven mezcal take about two several weeks to age, Reposado Tequila and Reposado mezcal take about two several weeks to 1 year, while Anejo Tequila Anejo mezcal ages for around annually to 3.
Different flavour profiles
One fundamental distinction between tequila and mezcal would be that the latter resides more about the edgier affiliate with the smoky flavour and sweet undertones, which sets it in addition to the classic tequila. But that’s only the beginning. The 2 drinks have a lot of complex flavour profiles and liquor conglomerates are looking to include more.
Within the situation of tequilas, the location and kind of blue agave plant used and the age that coffee plays a huge role in figuring out the flavour. While Blanco tequila includes a sweet earthy note with hints of pepper and citrus along with a spicy aftertaste, Reposado tequila is mellower and it has hints of soppy oak, vanilla and caramel. The Anejo tequila includes a dark hue and strikes an account balance between your flavours from the agave and oak, with traces of vanilla and cinnamon. It is almost always drunk straight rather than utilized as a cocktail mixer.
Meanwhile, mezcal is made from a greater diversity of agave plants, that coffee includes a varied sweet floral taste. Varying from citrusy to dark as well in flavours of chocolate, lychee, as well as roasted meat, chipotle and bubble gum, mezcal, is among Mexico’s traditional liquors most abundant in non-conventional taste profiles.
How to drink tequila and mezcal
Tequila could be consumed neat like a shot with salt and lime or perhaps around the rocks with respect to the age and kind. It forms the bottom of classic cocktails like Margarita, Paloma and Tequila Sunrise.
Mezcal, on the other hand, is definitely an elaborate drink and it is offered inside a wine glass, inside a veladora or squat ridged glass, or typically, inside a natural bark bowl known as a jicara. That coffee is combined with a slice of orange and sal de gusano – the salt produced by worms residing in the agave plant. It is normally drunk at 70 degrees and it is utilized in tequila cocktails to include depth towards the flavour profile. It is also consumed neat with ice.
