Here's How to Never Mix Up Tequila and Mezcal

Tequila taps into a wide range of thoughts and opinions. Whether you love it or have sworn it off for all eternity, there's no denying that tequila—and its smoky, increasingly popular cousin, mezcal—has stood the test of time. Agave-based spirits continue to be one of the most accessible and in demand categories in the cocktail space, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S.

"With better tequila products entering the market, more bartenders are using tequila in place of other spirits in traditional cocktails, like the old fashioned or espresso martini," Kris DeSoto, founder of Hiatus Tequila , tells Men's Journal.

As tequila's star power has taken off thanks to the endorsements of celebrities and sports figures, so has the rise in high quality single-batch mezcal. Garth Poe, beverage director at Austin-based  Little Coyote , believes mezcal's rise can be attributed to wider distribution, affordable pricing, and interesting vintages.

" Great mezcal, like great wine, is fleeting," he says. "It differs from batch to batch depending on the agave and the mezcalero's influence, much like wine does vintage to vintage."

For those unfamiliar with either spirit, it might be easy to mix them up. Here's what to know about the difference between tequila and mezcal.

What Is Tequila?

Tequila dates back to the Aztecs, who started fermenting the agave plant circa 1,000 BCE. Today, however, there are hard and fast rules regarding what constitutes tequila.

In 1994, the tequila regulation fell to a non-governmental entity called Consejo Regulador del Tequila (CRT), which is charged with ensuring authenticity and ensuring brands meet the required minimum of 51 percent agave sugar and minimum aging requirements for blanco, reposado, and añejo tequila categories.

Per Mexican law, tequila can only be considered tequila if it's produced in one of five authorized states in Mexico: Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacan, Nayarit, or Tamaulipas. The other important rule of thumb is that tequila can only be made using 100 percent blue Weber agave.

"The art of tequila-making has evolved over centuries, and today, brands employ a mix of traditional and modern distillation processes," senior vice president of tequila and mezcal at Diageo North America, Karen Harris, tells Men's Journal .

Capable of thriving in arid climates, the agave plant's heart, or piña, is harvested by hand before it's cooked or steamed, allowing for the sugars to be extracted. While agave must be sourced from within these specific tequila-producing regions, producers can use a mix of maturity levels from different growing zones and altitudes within the region, all of which will influence flavor.

"There are countless factions within the tequila community, from purists who savor the complexity of unadulterated tequila to occasional margarita sippers who just want a great cocktail," says founder of Not A Celebrity Tequila Andrew Bushby.

There are five main types of tequila, which includes blanco, joven, reposado, añejo, and extra añejo.

Blanco, also known as silver or white tequila, has limited influence from the aging process. A good blanco's flavor profile should be 'agave-forward' and is ideal for sipping on the rocks, blending into a margarita or your favorite tequila-based cocktail.

Jovens are gold tequila and combine any variety of aged tequila and blanco, so each one can be very different from the next. Jovens are considered a "mixto" tequila.

Reposado translates to rested and is typically aged between two months and no longer than one year in oak barrels. The longer the liquid is left to rest, the darker it becomes. Ideal for sipping on the rocks or in a Paloma or reposado old-fashioned , the finish has less of a bit compared to a blanco.

Añejos are aged between one to three years; the influence from the barrel is much more apparent.

Finally, extra añejos are aged for at least three years in oak barrels. In addition to mezcal, there's been significant growth in the extra añejo space.

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What Is Mezcal?

Mezcal can only be considered mezcal if it's produced in one of eight Mexican states, including Oaxaca, Guerrero, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Zacatecas, San Luís Potosí, Tamaulipas, Durango and Puebla.

Mezcal is made by cooking the piñas, typically for three to four days in earthen pits or in above-ground masonry ovens. That's what's responsible for giving mezcal its smoky essence. After its cooked, the piña is crushed by a large stone wheel or millhouse known as a tahona. It's a traditional method has been passed down from generation to generation for centuries and is one of the biggest differentiators between the tequila and mezcal-making process.

According to Poe, in its early days on the U.S. market, mezcal was criticized for being overly smoky and one-dimensional.

"It was once labeled tequila's awkward sister that tasted like Band-Aids, and this couldn't be farther from the truth," Poe says. "Mezcal has such a wide range of flavors and depth depending on an equally expansive list of factors, including agave varietal, fermentation length, and place of origin."

What's the Difference Between Tequila and Mezcal?

The heart and soul of both tequila and mezcal is agave. Also called maguey in the ancient Nahuatl language of the Aztecs, agave is endemic to Mexico. How the agave is cultivated and cooked both play a critical role in what categories tequila or mezcal. Spirits industry experts rely on the adage that all tequila is a type of mezcal, but not all mezcal is tequila.

There are 250 known species of agave in the world, and only around 30 of them can be used to make mezcal, the most common of which are espadín and tobolá. Tequila can only be made using blue Weber agave, mezcal can be made using a blend of agaves.

The other major difference between tequila and mezcal is the production process. Big tequila brands and U.S.-owned tequila houses utilize an industrialized process, while mezcal is by and large produced on family-owned palenques using traditional methods that have been passed down from generation to generation.

"Compared to tequila, there's a very moonshine-y, sort of romantic quality about the production of mezcal," says Fósforo Mezca l CEO Chuck Huggins . "It feels very pure, and it's hard to believe that something so crude can end up so elegant in the bottle, and that's what you get in the world of mezcal versus tequila."

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