All tagged Tepeztate
If you clamor long enough, and loud enough, we promise we will eventually answer! Three years after our release of the much sought-after original Tepeztate/Sierra Negra ensamble, Aquilino has finally been able to scrounge up enough rare Sierra Negra to craft a second batch of one of his hallmark mezcals.
We were incredibly humbled by the overwhelming response to our previous batch of ensamble from Aquilino, or "Curry-30," as it became affectionately known. However, we were not anticipating the number of hearts that would be broken when people realized that it was released exclusively in the East Bay of Northern California. We decided to be a bit more democratic with our next ensamble; a triple-agave blend produced by Aquilino García López at his palenque in Candelaria Yegolé, Oaxaca (16°29'41.36"N, 96°18'38.69"W). It was produced in early summer 2017 from a 48/28/23 blend 803 kg of wild Cuixe, 472 kg of wild Tepeztate and 380 kg of cultivated Espadín, which yielded just 172 liters of explosive awesomeness.
The Mezcal Vago Tepeztate is made by Aquilino García López at his palenque in Candelaria Yegolé, Oaxaca (16°29'41.36"N, 96°18'38.69"W). This mezcal is made from 100% Tepeztate and is wild harvested in the surrounding hills of the Yegolé region.
Agave Sierra Negra is a sub varietal of the Agave Americana family. It takes up to 25 years to mature. Sierra Negra is quite rare. It was widely cultivated many years ago but due to it’s producing very little seed or hijuelos and long times to mature it has been mostly abandoned in favor of Agave Espadín. Agave Tepeztate is part of the Agave Marmorata family and has a very distinct, erratic leaf structure. It produces beautiful quiotes at the end of it’s life cycle that flower a rich yellow before turning to seed. Tepeztate also takes as many as 25 years to mature. The Sierra Negra was cultivated and the Tepeztate was wild harvested for this batch.
This unique batch of mezcal was made by master mezcalero Aquilino García Lopez in the town of Candelaria Yegolé, Oaxaca. The three types of agave used are 50% Espadín, 25% Tepeztate and 25% Cuixe. The agave was roasted in an earthen pit for two and half days, ground with a stone wheel, fermented for 8 days in open wooden vats and twice distilled in a 250 Liter copper pot still. The mezcal was then rested for 31 days in antique clay cántaros. The entire 101 liter batch was purchsed by our dear friends at The Pastry War in Houston, Texas.
