More about Mezcalosfera

Mezcalosfera is mezcal for people who want to know exactly what is in the glass and who made it. It is the export label of Mezcaloteca, the small tasting room in Oaxaca City that runs more like a library of mezcal than a bar.

Mezcaloteca was founded around a simple idea: traceability and fair dealing with the maestros mezcaleros who make the spirit, many of them in remote corners of Oaxaca. Silvia Philion and Marco Ochoa are both credited as founders. Bottlings are very small batches from individual producers, and the labels are famously detailed, typically giving the agave species, the maestro and the method. Two releases are never quite alike, and that is deliberate.

The range covers cultivated espadín, wild agaves such as tobalá and papalote, and destilados con, where fruit or even meat is added to the still on a final distillation, as in pechuga. Drink them neat, at room temperature, in small sips, and expect each one to taste like its agave and its maker rather than like a brand.