The Mezcal Experience by Tom Bullock

Author:Tom Bullock
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jacqui Small LLP
Published: 2017-05-22T04:00:00+00:00

NOTES ON TASTING

As we approach a mezcal for the first time, we might consider it as new terrain. A landscape with certain features we’re looking to explore. What are they? What promises do they hold?

But first, let’s pour a cup. Or a glass. Glass is less forgiving, more honest. Jicaras (gourd cups), though they look wonderful and bounce when you drop them, suck up some of the flavours, ‘steal’ them, as it was described to me. Clay copitas soften the mezcal, enhancing certain aspects, which can be pleasant. But, to get to the stark truth, use a glass.

And a wide-rimmed glass is best. Though it looks a bit odd, giant wine goblets are great. Mezcal has a fantastically broad vista and you want to allow for the full view. Wide-screen. IMAX mezcal. Though if there isn’t one at hand, then a classic shot glass will do just fine. OK, so it’s in the glass. Now swirl it about. Watch for the legs. Like in wine, neat rows and straight lines–long legs–indicate a good sugar structure, which suggests a healthy experience.

And how does it look? Clear or tinted? Subtle tints to the distillate can indicate certain things. Some good, some bad. A little yellowing might mean it’s corked. A little green and it could mean super-legit as it’s pure craft from a simple copper still. Most are crisp and crystal-clear unless they are reposados (see here), of course, and therefore amber.

Then, there is the texture. Dip your fingertips into the glass and rub a little on the back of your hand. Is it viscous? A sign of nice, flavour-conducting oils. Or perhaps it’s not so oily. Fewer oils can mean a lighter, fresh-tasting mezcal and a good energetic lift. What you don’t want is sugars that make your hand sticky. Those are not agave sugars. If they’re in your mezcal, I suggest pouring it down the drain and finding another.

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So then, to the nose. What aromas do you find? Surprisingly, it seems to me at least, almost all the flavours we discern are through the olfactory system. Try holding your nose and taking a sip: you’ll get almost nothing. The tongue only recognizes five essential tastes: sweet, on the front of the tongue; salt, sour, umami and bitter on the sides and back.

It’s with the nose that we’re tasting, really. And I was told by a slightly genius German distiller, who makes gin for The Queen, that we are able to recognize all things in the material world this way. Thousands of flavours. Everything we’ve experienced. The trick is to make the connection between the flavour sensed and the memory. It’s a leap made in the realm of synaesthesia and very satisfying when you pull it off, so give it a go.

Take a deep breath and clear your mind. Now, slowly move the cup from side to side about an inch beneath your nose. Notice how the aromas change, or at least become more defined in one specific place. There: that is the peak of your nasal power.

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