An agave is a monocarpic plant, which means that it flowers only once in its lifetime, before setting seeds and dying. The time it takes to reach maturity is different from one variety to the other (7 to 10 years for the espadín agave, up to 25 years for the tepeztate agave). The flowering is interrupted by the maestro mezcalero when it’s time to harvest. The pencas (leaves) are then cut off, leaving only the piña (heart of the agave), which can weight from 20 to 200 kg.
El Rey Zapoteco uses a copper still distillation. The bagazo (agave fibres) and the tepache (fermented agave must) are placed at the bottom of the vat and then heated with firewood in order to separate the volatile elements (alcohols) from the solid elements. Alcohol vapours travel through a swan neck and into a coil. When coming in contact with water, the coil transforms the alcohol vapours into the ancestral elixir called mezcal. The maestro mezcalero then proceeds to a second distillation in order to obtain a mezcal that is suitable for consumption.
Copyright © 2019 - Proudly built with Strikingly