The Mezcal Rush: Explorations in Agave Country

by Granville Greene

In pursuit of the story behind a beguiling drink, Granville Greene embarks on a journey through remote Mexican highlands to learn about the history, cultures, and traditions surrounding mezcal. In recent years the smoky flavored agave distillate has become a craft cocktail darling, rivaling even its better-known cousin tequila, and it can sell for over $100 a bottle in the U.S.

But unlike most high-end spirits, mezcals are typically produced by and for subsistence farming communities, where distillers have been swept up in a hot new trend in which they have very little voice. Greene visits indigenous villages in Oaxaca and Guerrero states, meeting maestros mezcaleros who create their signature smallbatch drinks using local plants and artisanal production methods honed through generations of mezcal-making families.

As Greene details the sights, smells, and intoxicating flavors of Mexico, he turns his eye to the broader context of impoverished villages in a changing economic and political landscape. He explores the gold-rush style surge of micro-distilled mezcals as luxury exports, and the consequent overharvesting that threatens the diversity of wild agaves, as he finds the oldest distilled spirit in the Americas at a crossroads.

Genres: Nonfiction

295 pages, Hardcover

Published March 21, 2017

Reviews

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked up off a library display shelf, where it did exactly what it was supposed to do: catch my eye with a buzzy topic.

It was fun, but I expected it to be going somewhere, and going deeper. It seemed to have no real thesis; it was just the log of a guy going down to Mexico and drinking with a bunch of mezcaleros. Which sounds like a lot of fun, don't get me wrong. But I expected from the back that it might do an in-depth study as to the economics of mezcal, why a premium spirit sold in America didn't seem to be enriching the communities that make it; this question was alluded to several times, but not in any organized way, and I don't feel like I left the book having any more of a theory than when I started.

If you'd asked me beforehand what I thought I'd end up knowing by the end of the book, I would have said, well, if nothing else, a good sort of grid in my head for how all the styles of mezcal fit in, like how sake has "added grain alcohol/no added grain alcohol" on one axis and "how much of the surface of the rice was milled off" on the other, or how Scotch has number of times distilled (defaulting to 2) one one axis, grain origin and preparation on another, and barrel aging sequence on a third. Nope, just a bunch of random disconnected descriptions of espadín, tobalá, and pechuga, and some random references to agaves silvestres. Could any other style be made into a pechuga? Probably! I'll have to go to wikipedia, even though I just read a 280 page book about mezcal.

Would have been better as a blog; I would have expected less.

[John Thorndike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps this book should be sipped, as you would a mezcal. But each time I picked it up I swallowed many pages, whole sections. It’s a personal report, and the author’s presence is both lucid and engaging. This is true for the writing—beautiful throughout—and in how he deals with the many Oaxacans we’re introduced to, most of them maestros mezcaleros, those who distill the mezcal. Greene gets down in the trenches with them—or more precisely, down in the hornos, the ovens filled with huge hearts of agave. He shows us not merely the distillers’ techniques, but their families, their lives and beliefs.

That’s the heart of the book: the tangled science, culture and economy that lie behind the production of a drink that is both centuries old and new to many. Greene shows us the industry behind it. Not the corporate industry that has made tequila so popular, but the hard labor and traditional methods of small-batch mezcal producers. Oven by oven, each is distinct, and it’s a treat every time we’re taken into a new valley, a new village, a new household where they’re harvesting, baking and distilling the agaves.

These days I can’t even drink mezcal (or anything else, sad to say), so I’m hardly a mezcal aficionado. But I love a book, like this one, which sweeps me into another culture. And Greene is the best sort of guide, both respectful and curious. It can be delicate for an author to step into a world he’s appropriating, in a way, for his project. Greene’s discussion of “Columbusing”—the discovery of something that has existed forever—is one of many small gems in the book. He pulls off his intrusion, I think, because he’s open and sincere with the people he meets. For a hint of how they respond to him, consider the nickname they give him. Big-city would be the translation of his first name from the French, and when the mezcaleros figure this out they start calling him Pueblo Grande Verde, or Mr. Big Green City. They like him, and readers will too.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars.
This is a good anecdotal introduction to Mezcal. Greene is engaged and observant as he traverses through the Mexican landscape. He describes all of the book's characters with relative aplomb, though I think he shows a bit a romantic infatuation with nearly everyone born in Mexico. Greene expresses appropriate ambivalence toward Capitalism's role in the marketing and distribution of Mezcal, and his portrait of Ron Cooper as the self professed "Godfather of Mezcal" is both compelling and damaging.

Parts of this book were brilliantly paced and joyous to read, but the end felt rushed and mechanical, and put a damper on the good work before it.

[Annina Luck Wildermuth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I especially enjoyed the author's descriptions of the small Mexican villages where the local mezcals are handcrafted. Some of the details were wonderful and the writing was evocative and atmospheric. T

[Leona · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Mezcal Rush: Explorations in Agave Country
by Granville Greene
The Mezcal Rush: Explorations in Agave Country

From goodreads.com:
In pursuit of the story behind a beguiling drink, Granville Greene embarks on a journey through remote Mexican highlands to learn about the history, cultures, and traditions surrounding mezcal. In recent years the smoky flavored agave distillate has become a craft cocktail darling, rivaling even its better-known cousin tequila, and it can sell for over $100 a bottle in the In pursuit of the story behind a beguiling drink, Granville Greene embarks on a journey through remote Mexican highlands to learn about the history, cultures, and traditions surrounding mezcal. In recent years the smoky flavored agave distillate has become a craft cocktail darling, rivaling even its better-known cousin tequila, and it can sell for over $100 a bottle in the U.S.

But unlike most high-end spirits, mezcals are typically produced by and for subsistence farming communities, where distillers have been swept up in a hot new trend in which they have very little voice. Greene visits indigenous villages in Oaxaca and Guerrero states, meeting maestros mezcaleros who create their signature smallbatch drinks using local plants and artisanal production methods honed through generations of mezcal-making families.

As Greene details the sights, smells, and intoxicating flavors of Mexico, he turns his eye to the broader context of impoverished villages in a changing economic and political landscape. He explores the gold-rush style surge of micro-distilled mezcals as luxury exports, and the consequent overharvesting that threatens the diversity of wild agaves, as he finds the oldest distilled spirit in the Americas at a crossroads.
Hardcover, 256 pages
Published March 14th 2017 by Counterpoint
ISBN
1619028441 (ISBN13: 9781619028449)


From the back of the book:
Editorial Reviews
Review
Praise for The Mezcal Rush

"A rich, inclusive portrait of one of the world's great drinks." ―Kirkus Reviews

"An artful combination of travel narrative and research―I felt as if I was sipping mezcal through Mexico as I read it." ―Baylor Chapman, author of The Plant Recipe Book

"A unique and fascinating journey following the mezcal trail from remote Mexican villages to trendy bars abroad, from indigenous fiestas to mixology events crammed with modish tipplers. Greene's lively and skillful blend of travelogue and social commentary charts the sometimes troubled links between these very different worlds." ―Gideon Rachman, chief foreign affairs commentator, The Financial Times
About the Author
GRANVILLE GREENE is a graduate of The Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University. He has written for Outside, The New York Times, and many other publications. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
Leona's Review:

This was a very interesting book that covers the people, the plants, the making of mezcal, procedures, and some political points.

I learned there are so many types of mezcal and they come from the personalities of the growers and the areas they live. Not all of them are smoky as many people think. There are different types of mezcal. There are many different flavors and aromas and water plays an important part in the production of the mezcal.

Mezcal is used as a ceremonial drink for marriages, baptisms and first communions. It is used for medicinal purposes such as rubbing on sick children, intestinal problems, bone pains and by women after childbirth.
Men interviewed for the book says mezcal is not for getting drunk.

The Ford Motor Company partnered with Jose Cuervo to use leftover agave plant fibers for bioplastic car parts in 2016.

I took many notes from the book:
Maple syrup, rice, honey, water, comals, food, families, water streams, warm orange soda, old cars, no gas pumps so they got gas in a plastic jug, smelled butter, boiled rabbit, huipils, agave Goddess Nayahuel, Day of the Dead, Columbusing (find something not new), brand names, George Clooney, embroidered cloths, the sculptor Francisco Toledo, Chef Alejandro Ruiz Olmedo, social networking, saints on dashboards, history of mezcal, one book said all tasted the same but Granville Greene disagrees, daddy long legs, individual techniques, Lighting Nectar from the gods and burros.
I have studied the Maya so many places were familiar to me. I added the daddy long legs as I have seen many in my home state of Texas.
There is a glossary at the end of the book as well as Cited Books.
I won a complimentary copy of The Mezcal Rush from Goodreads.com. The opinions are my own.
I give it a five star rating and I think all bars who serve mezcal should read it. No recipes but it pulls the reader into the people and the making of the mezcal.
"Has a bit of spirit from one who makes it" page 179


Leona Olson
http://www.mnleona.blogspot.com

[Thomas]

An agreeable introduction to mezcal, part travelog, part economic analysis/activism, part personal journey, part drink writing, a touch of memoir, part social exposé, part mezcal explainer. Greene is not an expert in any of these things, but he brings enough to each component. You’ll learn how mezcal is made, but more about the socioeconomic conditions surrounding its production, and even more about the master distillers making it.

I am a bit annoyed at the consumer-facing approach to activism. Consumer awareness won't fix any of the issues cited (mezcaleros being ripped off, unsafe working conditions, environmental degradation), least of all the sustainability of agaves. Have you met people who ask for mezcal at bars? They think it’s cool to drink something because it’s cool and mysterious :) [or perhaps, ‘artisanal’]. They are, in some Freudian sense, attracted to the extraction, and all they want is the thinnest penca leaf of cover pretending it’s sustainable.

It would have benefited from a more focused approach–there’s a lot of pingponging between subjects, oftentimes without apparent reason. The lack of organization made the information stick a lot less, and ultimately reduced my ability to see the relationship between things like production methods and sustainability. That said, this is a solid introduction to mezcal as a whole, conscious and with sources for further study. I certainly took plenty of notes.

[Kody · Rating 2 out of 5]

On purchasing this book, I thought it would be about the history and intricacies of the mezcal industry. Instead, it's more of a travelogue documenting one individual's personal discovery of mezcal. I'll start with the good: this book helps bring awareness to the marginalization of mezcaleros across Mexico. Making mezcal is hard work, and the labor of many of these craftsmen is underpaid and undervalued by an industry that often chews them up and spits them out. Now the bad: I feel like this book never found its footing in regard to plot and substance. At times it's a travelogue; at others it's social and political commentary. It dips into narco trafficking, jumps to seemingly random topics, and then drops the reader back into the author's adventures in Mexico. Many of these subjects feel like tangents only loosely connected to the main narrative, creating a sense of whiplash as the author moves between them. He also repeatedly returns to the topic of worms in mezcal and tequila. By the end, if you took a shot of mezcal every time it came up, you'd be on the floor.
2.5/5

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a big fan of mezcal, to the point that I have quite the collection and have sought out rare and small batch distillates from various parts of Mexico. But I still have yet to find a book that delves into the specific flavors of different kinds of agave and from different regions. This is another book that is more focused on the author’s personal journey of discovering mezcal and long discussions of it, sustainability and distribution methods. It is a good intro to mezcal for readers, but I’m still looking for something that really dives into the true soul of the spirit.

[Ronald Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the smokey taste to the socioeconomic aspects of the culture and market, this book is exceedingly detailed. A tough read in spots, but it pulls you through.

[Nic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really liked this book in terms of learning new things about mezcal, seeing more into some of the more ancestral ways mezcal is produced. always read with a copita.

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a beach read. I though it would be more about the history/production of Mezcal, but it was one man's journey. Overall, I enjoyed it, but it was not what I expected.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was absolutely fascinating -- I learned so much about a spirit I've been curious about after trying it in Mexico on a previous trip. The structure of the book felt a bit disjointed at times, but that's a minor gripe... overall, really interesting social, cultural, and historical look at mezcal and, most importantly, the people who make it.

[Tomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mitä tapahtuu, kun amerikkalainen bisnesmies/taiteilija "löytää" satoja vuosia vanhan nykyisen Meksiokn alueen perinneviinan ja alkaa myydä sitä trendijuomana maailman eliiteille? Greenen kirja on kritiikki globaalista bisneksestä ja kulttuurisesta omimisesta, kuvaus paikallisista kulttuureista ja niiden suhteesta ympäristöönsä - ja tietysti ylistys vivahteikkaalle mezcal-viinalle. Hyvä kirja, jonka herättämät ajatukset eivät rajoitu viinaan ja viinabisnekseen. Audiblen äänikirja oli lisäksi erittäin miellyttävästi luettu.