Xcalli journal
News, tips & more
Trends, traditions, and stories from the world of mezcal.
50 Mezcal Projects, One Room, and the Producers Who Rarely Get to Export
Mezcal Por Siempre brought over 50 mezcal projects to Los Angeles this month — including mezcaleros whose work almost never makes it into the US market.
Some Producers Are Walking Away From the Word 'Mezcal' on Purpose
NOM-070 certification can push traditional producers to alter recipes that don't fit regulatory thresholds. A growing number are opting out and selling as 'destilado de agave' instead.
Mezcal Just Showed Up in a Can, Made by Bartenders in London and Paris
Zacal's canned Zacalita cocktail is riding a ready-to-drink boom that grew 16 percent last year — and cans have a lighter footprint than the heavy glass mezcal usually ships in.
Oaxaca Isn't the Only Mezcal Story Anymore
Guanajuato just expanded its Denomination of Origin to four more municipalities. Michoacán has been building its own identity around Filipino-style stills for over a decade.
A 25% Tariff Almost Hit Every Bottle of Mezcal Sold in the US
Tequila and mezcal dodged Trump-era tariffs on Mexican goods because of a USMCA exemption. Industry groups say a future policy shift could still cost over $1 billion.
Every Liter of Mezcal Leaves Behind a Pile of Fiber Nobody Wants
Spent agave bagasse mostly gets burned or dumped, and the runoff ash has been linked to contaminated rivers near production towns. A few projects are turning it into bricks instead.
Bacardi Paid $130 Million for Ilegal. It Won't Be the Last Deal.
Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Constellation, and Bacardi have all bought into mezcal over the past decade. The category is still small enough that a few deals can reshape it.
A Copper Still Makes 200 Liters a Day. A Clay Pot Makes 12.
Ancestral clay-pot distillation is slower, harder, and less efficient than copper by nearly every measure — which is exactly why so few producers still do it.
There's a $450 Bottle of Mezcal Now. Guess Who Made the Agave.
Premium mezcal is growing faster than the mass market, but the extra margin at the top of the shelf isn't flowing back down to the farmers who grow the agave.
157 Farmers Are Testing Whether Agave Can Rebuild a Forest
A restoration project in Oaxaca is training producers to grow agave the way it grew before monoculture took over — mixed into the landscape, not instead of it.
Most Brands Pay $3 to $11 a Liter for Mezcal. A Few Pay a Lot More.
A handful of brands have skipped fair-trade certification entirely and built their own direct-payment and profit-sharing systems with producers.
This Year's Award Winners Aren't Betting on Espadín
The mezcals that stood out at the 2025 San Francisco World Spirits Competition leaned on rare agave and states outside Oaxaca's usual spotlight.
A Palenque Is Someone's Home. Tourists Don't Always Treat It That Way.
Mezcal tourism brings real income to Oaxaca, but producers are increasingly describing visitors who show up unannounced at what is, functionally, a family house.
Agave Wants It Dry. The Weather Isn't Cooperating.
Agave evolved for warm, dry conditions with predictable rainfall. Erratic rain and heat are throwing off maturation cycles that already run eight to twelve years.
Tequila Lost 99.9% of Its Agave's Genetic Diversity. Mezcal Is Headed the Same Way.
An estimated 270 million blue agave plants in Jalisco are clones of just five to ten individuals. Espadín, mezcal's workhorse agave, is starting to look similar.
The Heaviest Part of Your Mezcal's Carbon Footprint Isn't the Mezcal
Packaging accounts for up to 40% of a spirit's emissions, and mezcal's thick, artisanal-looking bottles work against it.
The Maestras Were Always There, Just Not on the Label
Women have run the day-to-day of mezcal production for generations. Getting their names on the bottle is the newer part.
That NOM Number on Your Bottle Is Worth Checking
Mezcal's reputation problem in the 1990s came from adulterated liquid sold under the name — the fix was a traceability number most drinkers never think to look up.
The Word 'Mezcal' Is Legally Off-Limits in Half of Mexico
Mezcal's Denomination of Origin now covers eleven states, but producers just outside the line still can't call their own spirit by its name.
The Tequila Bat Needs Mezcal to Stop Cutting Corners
Harvesting agave before it flowers keeps yields high, but it's starving the bats that pollinate it — and a small certification effort is trying to change that math.
Who Actually Profits When a Community's Agave Leaves Oaxaca
Contracts between outside companies and community landholders have often left growers with a fraction of what their agave is worth once it's bottled.
It Takes 10 Liters of Water to Make One Liter of Mezcal
Oaxaca's worst drought in over a decade is colliding with a mezcal boom that's already stretching the region's water supply.
Tobalá Is Running Out, and It Won't Come Back Fast
Tobalá and tepeztate can't be farmed at scale, and demand has outpaced what the hillsides of Oaxaca can regrow.
60 Minutes Covers the Rise of Mezcal
A 60 Minutes segment digs into mezcal's boom, focusing on Oaxaca and the families at the heart of its production.
Mezcal Flavored With Beef?
Pechuga mezcal has used turkey breast for generations — Paquera may be the first to try it with Wagyu beef instead.
Bet You Don't Know These Curious Facts About Mezcal
Agave isn't a cactus, mezcal has a Filipino connection, and an 1897 magazine described its flavor as gasoline, ginger, and electricity.
14 Mezcal Brands in One Night?
One writer's adventurous — and slightly reckless — tour through every bottle in their personal mezcal cabinet, in a single evening.
The One-of-a-Kind Experience of Oaxaca's Independent Distilleries
Mexico News Daily tours five family-run palenques — "tiny oases in the Oaxacan desert" — including a look inside Real Minero.
Rolling Stone Weighs In on Mezcal
Rolling Stone's mezcal primer confirms the US has overtaken Mexico as the spirit's top consumer — though its brand picks lean heavily upscale.
Mezcal vs. Tequila: What's the Difference?
Both come from maguey grown in Mexico — but the agave, the region, and the roasting process set the two spirits apart.
Oaxaca Cuisine and Mezcal Feature in Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted
Gordon Ramsay heads into rural Oaxaca for National Geographic — digging up insects, sipping mezcal, and learning to make mole along the way.
Is Mezcal the Drink of the Gods?
Some brands call mezcal a sacred spirit — but the divine association actually traces back to a different agave drink entirely.
Can These Mezcaleras Survive Big Alcohol?
A Forbes report on how small mezcal producers weathered a brutal year of pandemic, frost, and drought — just as Big Alcohol moves in.
5 Mezcal Cocktails You Can Make at Home
Five mezcal cocktails, from a honey-and-chocolate-bitters sipper to a copper-mug mule, that you can make in your own kitchen.
Summer Mezcal Cocktails From Olive
Three mezcal cocktails from Olive magazine to get you through the hot summer afternoons.
The Rise of Mezcal
Mezcal has grown to worldwide fame in the past decade — but with that growth come real questions about how sustainable it is.
Ethical Mezcal Production
As mezcal's popularity grows worldwide, so does the need to make sure its production stays an ethical, sustainable practice.