The Case in Favor of Mezcal Cocktails

Alvin Starkman, M.A., J.D.
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A movement has recently begun in American mezcal bars, and restaurants with a decent complement of agave distillates. They are dramatically reducing or almost entirely deleting mezcal cocktails from their menus. (And some ardent mezcal fans are also against the mezcal cocktail craze.) The storyline goes something like “mezcal cocktails inhibit our ability to promote the distillate as a fine and diverse sipping spirit, so in order to promote mezcal the way we want to do it, we’re going to restrict the number of mezcal cocktails we’re offering.” A case, however, can be made for this way of thinking, and acting, doing more harm than good.

A decade ago a colleague who is an accomplished author, retailer, and “mezcal expert,” wrote that “cocktails are the fanciest manner to degrade mezcal.” But he has changed his tune, thankfully, and in fact has been known to hold the odd cocktail evening at his outlet in the city of Oaxaca. He lives in the city. The cocktail critics by and large do not live here in Oaxaca, and simply lack a comprehensive understanding of the importance for the state of the continued growth of interest in mezcal cocktails. By contrast, my fellow enthusiast and many others who live here, get it. 

Oaxaca is one of the poorest states in Mexico, with agriculture and tourism being virtually the only industries. But the mezcal boom, which began in earnest about a decade ago, has witnessed a dramatic increase in visitors to the state wanting to learn about the spirit, start their own brands, and document the industry in photos and in film. For those of us who live here and venture into the mezcal-producing villages, we see what the change that the dramatic increase in revenue for the state as a consequence of the boom, has meant for the distillers and their families; village roads paved, schools built, homes and palenques expanded, etc.
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More sales of mezcal means more income accruing to the villages; whether served neat to those wanting to experience and savor the broad range of aromas, flavors and finishes derived from the myriad of different subspecies and the plethora of factors impacting each batch, or, dare I suggest, “simply” used in cocktails. All this means is more income accruing to the villages. 

The more consumers hear the word mezcal spoken, or read the word on a cocktail menu, the more their interest piques. They want to learn more, and perhaps visit Oaxaca thereby dropping their sometimes-hard-earned dollars in the state. Tourism in Oaxaca is characterized by peaks and valleys. But mezcal tourism is a different animal; it keeps rising despite US State Department warnings and sensationalistic journalists’ articles. Increase in hotel bookings, restaurant patrons, craft sales, are all part of the economy lifted via promotion of the agave distillate.  

Let’s assume the cocktail naysayers have a point. So why not offer mezcal cocktails made with mezcals other than Del Maguey Vida. Don’t get me wrong, I say to Ron Cooper, Pernod Ricard and the others currently or in the recent past involved with the brand; your product has an important place in the industry. But if a bar is interested in bottom line, why not increase the complement of agave cocktails offered by adding other “economical” entry level mezcals to the cocktail menu, since each is different from the next. Doing so serves two functions. Firstly, it gives patrons options. Secondly, it helps to educate the non-aficionados about mezcal diversity, even if they are “blends,” using the common non-traditional-mezcal parlance of the term. Better yet, if you really want to educate the public about mezcal as a fine sipping spirit, treat mezcal as any other ingredient in a cocktail:
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• Would you substitute parsley for cilantro when muddling a cocktail? Of course not. So why not select the mezcal you use just like any other ingredient? Perhaps a tobalá or a madrecuixe would be more appropriate.
• Would you substitute a rhubarb flavored spirit for your vodka-and-orange-juice? Of course not, since you would likely want a neutral spirit. But remember that not all cocktails necessarily call for a neutral mezcal.
• Would you use an espadín when making a beef flambé? Perhaps, but an añejo is likely a more preferred expression. Think of yourself as a James Beard award winning chef.
• On the other hand, you would likely not want to use an añejo when making a negroni.
• Begin to think outside of the box. 

The critics’ answer is the cost of a tepeztate or a jabalí as compared to a blended espadín. I have enough confidence in the public to believe that over time people will learn the benefit of careful mezcal selection in producing a high-quality cocktail. Consumers will detect the difference, pay for that difference (there’s lots of money out there), while at the same time come to understand mezcal’s unbridled diversity. 

Another way to promote mezcal in mezcalerías, bars and Mexican restaurants, without diminishing the complement of agave distillate concoctions, is to have a comprehensive training program for staff, whereby they are taught how to promote the spirit with just a few brief sentences in the course of serving cocktails. Perhaps even give away a half-ounce sample when interest in mezcal is expressed by a patron. The bottom line of the business will surely improve by providing such value-added service and that little perk of a gratuitous sample.

Hold events if you want to more broadly promote the spirit. Be a little altruistic and don’t worry about not making money one evening per month, or on the day of the week that your establishment is closed.

Epilogue

Pisco is a spirit distilled in mainly Peru, from fermented grapes, akin to a brandy. It is the national spirit of the country, production dating to the 16th century.  A trend began to take off, making whisky sours with the country’s national spirit, pisco. The pisco sour traditionally includes egg white, lime juice, simple syrup and bitters. A Peruvian client recently advised me that once the popularity of the pisco sour began to grow, exponentially, so did the consumption of pisco; neat, with a plethora of new expressions being created and savored by Peruvians.

American retail liquor outlets which are supporting an anti-mezcal-cocktail approach are taking a very risky gamble which can easily adversely impact not only their collective bottom line, but also the growth of the mezcal industry. I began this article noting “a recent movement.” The real movement is the meteoric growth of the cocktail industry. Embrace it with mezcal.
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Alvin Starkman operates Mezcal Educational Excursions of Oaxaca (mezcaleducationaltours.com). He is the author of Mezcal in the Global Spirits Market: Unrivalled Complexity, Innumerable Nuances (Third Expanded Edition with Portraits).

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