An Embassy for Tequila, Mezcal and the People behind it 

Tequila and mezcal are gaining increasing popularity on the bar scene. However, this category still has a tainted image amongst consumers, mainly due to the poor quality associated with it in the past. BCB 2023 demonstrated how bars can now become embassies for good, enjoyable agave spirits. 

Yes, even the person penning these lines got to know tequila in its most notorious (you might even say most inferior) form: as a shot with salt and lemon – sometimes also as that very nasty shot drink “Tequila Peng” with sweet sparkling wine – and with the idea in his head that a worm actually belongs in the bottle and that tequila is made from cacti. And talking of the head: it’s hardly surprising that after this “imperfect serve” you felt like you were going around in an overtight crash helmet the next day. That was a long time ago, and thanks to his work in the catering and drinks business, the author now knows there’s good tequila. Very good tequila. That there’s a big difference between mixto and 100% agave. That there are grades of maturity. That there’s mezcal. Even sotol.

Tequila bars are still doing pioneering work

Well, that’s nice and good. But who in this country knows any of this outside the bar bubble? Only people who set about finding out. In the US, simply because of its geographical proximity to Mexico, the situation is somewhat different. Tequila and mezcal now rank in second and third place when it comes to spirits sales (source: IWSR Drinks Market Analysis), and various stars and starlets even have their own premium brands or collaborations. Bars over here specialising in tequila, like the “Chug Club” in Hamburg (a portrait of the concept and operator Bettina Kupsa here), are still doing pioneering work for the agave and countering the cactus. 

Easy, easy!

You have to cut through a lot of clichés. Or as Stelios Papadopoulos casually puts it: “easy, easy”. The Greek uses this formula time and again when talking about tequila and how to introduce punters to the spirit: Slowly and carefully, but also with ease. You could almost say with diplomacy, because this co-owner of the Athens bar “Barro Negro” (boasting some 200 agave spirits on its menu) along with his team were the ones to launch the “BCB Agave Embassy” at this year’s Bar Convent Berlin. This also included the attached education zone, the “Agave Camp”. The three-day special featuring lectures and tastings was developed and implemented together with “Club Cantina”, an educational platform for agave distillates in the GSA area founded in 2019.

Versatile and easy to mix

The aim here is to educate people about tequila, but also to combine this with enjoyment, explains the likeable Papadopoulos: “At Barro Negro we introduce people nice and easy to our bar culture. We ask them: What else do you like drinking? Whisky? Daiquiri? Because agave spirits are so versatile and easy to mix, we always find something that suits the customer’s taste.” Being able to tell people something about the anatomy of the agave plant in passing helps them better understand this often misunderstood product. “Why do people appreciate wine? Because they’ve got to know the grapes and can recognise styles.” 

Artichoke instead of cactus

He explains to the expert audience at BCB that the agave is related to the artichoke and the lily. That the terroir helps form the flavour of the spirits – herbaceous, peppery, spicy thanks to the volcanic soils of the lower plains, while tropical fruity, sweet and funky is more attributable to the highlands. That it takes at least nine years for the product to go from planting to harvesting, distillation and storage into the bottle and finally into the bar. “If we want to come up with a good tequila cocktail, we have to get to know it properly,” the expert tells his colleagues. Gina Barbachano, bartender at “Hanky Panky” in Mexico City, agrees with her Athens colleague: “There’s a huge variety of agave spirits, from sweet and sour to smoky. Start with more accessible drinks,” is her advice. Her mixing tip and personal favourite is a “Naked & Famous”, which combines mezcal with yellow Chartreuse, Aperol and fresh lime juice. 

100% agave is streets ahead

Lauren Mote, “Agave Evangelist” for the major tequila brand Pátron, brought charts to her talk at the Agave Camp of the “BCB Agave Embassy”. These not only illustrate the enormous growth posted in this category, but also show the intersection of two graphs: in 2008, the high-quality 100% agave grades overtook the inferior mixtos (at least 51% agave) for the first time; since 2015, the premium segment has been virtually unassailable. A Dutch national, she believes the rise in quality increases the need for education – that agave spirits have a cultural origin and that it’s a complex agricultural process to grow and harvest them. With the “Pátron Perfectionists” initiative, they’re trying to convey this knowledge, also by working together with bartenders and chefs.

Hard manual labour...

The pictures Esteban Morales Garibi brought with him show just how agricultural the production of mezcal really is and just how hard the manual labour is behind it. He founded the mezcal brand La Venenosa Raicilla and sells a portfolio of Mexican boutique spirits under the “Casa Endemica” banner. No industrially scaled-up distillation processes, but instead clay ovens, makeshift stills, fermentation in the ground and farm animals that drive the stone wheels used to crush the agaves. “Eating is an agricultural act”, is the well-known phrase of the US novelist and activist Wendell Berry, “drinking too”, you might be tempted to answer, looking at the pictures.

... and a chance for the Mexican people

The fact that mezcal is also becoming increasingly popular in the wake of the tequila boom is a great opportunity for small distillers, he says. As much as 90% of Mexico’s population lives from hand to mouth. Esteban Morales Garibi: “Mezcal offers us the opportunity to give many families a better life and further develop local communities. We need the growth.”