Batch #1 - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Quiote - 06.Sep.2025

The Library Newsletter Archives
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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Quiote

Batch #1 - 06.Sep.2025 - by Jordan P.

“Pay respects to the differences between where you are and where you want to be, then use those differences to motivate your actions.”

Read this monthly newsletter to review MC’s unfolding progress, collected thoughts, and to hold us accountable to our goals.

:pushpin:This one has:

  1. Community highlights (release and conventions)

  2. Ongoing struggles and process (deadlines and setbacks)

  3. Learned lessons (acceptance and patience)

  4. Plans for next month (rollout and polish)

  5. Take our SEATS (power assessment)

  6. Self-introduction (who I am and why I made MC)

Thanks for being here with me. Reading this makes you one of MC’s Most Valuable Pollinators, and I hope you feel as appreciated as you are. I won’t take you for granted.

Highlights:

I’ve been working on MC since October of 2024, and in that time I’ve had dozens of ideas for what MC could be. I’ve focused my last 10 weeks on finishing MC’s strongest offers:

    • Website to host MC spaces and ideas
    • Forum to host our mezcal community
    • Tasting log to stoke the curiosity bubbling inside so many of you

I’m SO excited to finally share all of this and more!

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MPS is a mezcal convention hosted by Ivan Vasquez (@ivan_vasquez_) and Rocío Flores (@mezcalting). Even though they’re opening their doors for just the second time, I expect it to be my favorite event of the year given the high bar that they set for their producer/brand invitations.

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Hosted by the Mezcalistas team, MIAB is a mezcal convention that’s been touring the US (and recently Mexico!) for more than a decade. The range of attending brands is unmatched, and MIAB is bound to be the biggest mezcal gathering of the year.

I’ve attended 8 mezcal conventions, but these two will be the first time I’m sharing anything that I’ve made. I can’t wait!

Struggles:

Things always take longer than I expect them to. For Mezcal Curiously, I knew I wouldn’t need to rush the release if I did a good job of making it useful for visitors of all experience levels. Then Mezcal Por Siempre posted their date which quickly became my deadline - the chance to share my own projects with other mezcal-focused people is too promising to pass up.

It still took me a few weeks to lock in my priorities and figure out my most important completable tasks. Everything MC is made by me so far. I’ve been working on this for 11 months in the spare hours alongside my full-time restaurant job, and I wanted to release MC with:

  • The website done (it’s not)

  • Forum populated and buzzing (I’m still writing the intros)

  • Youtube channel with multiple videos made (not even close)

  • Website code polished (working is good enough, right?)

My to-do list gets longer more often than it gets shorter. I don’t often feel overwhelmed, but I’m consistently behind. This is ok. It has to be. I’ll keep spending all the time I can bringing it up to par, you just get to be a part of that process now which isn’t such a bad thing.

Lessons:

:leaf_fluttering_in_wind:Let go of anything that isn’t tied down, and do your best to tie down the important things. Your ship is gonna get rocked and the ocean doesn’t even know you’re there. Use personal deadlines for motivation, but be flexible with disruptions instead of trying to keep the same goals and pace.

:fallen_leaf: Perfection won’t make you or anyone else happy. Real life isn’t perfect, you’re not perfect, and the things you make don’t need to be perfect. Sharing your ‘thing’ can make its imperfections feel permanent, but you’re paying them more attention than anyone else. Your work will improve over time with consistently applied gentle pressure.

:deciduous_tree:Good things are worth waiting for. The right people will join you in the process or come around when it’s right for them. Patience is a muscle you can train, so take every setback as an opportunity to flex it.

Plans:

:hourglass_done: Rollout starts this week, sharing Mezcal Curiously with increasingly wider circles:

  1. Friends and family, people who are invested in me no matter what I make. Their sentiments are valuable, but they can be too gentle or out-of-the-mezcal-loop to tell me if something is good or not.

  2. Former guests and social connections, people who’ve experienced me in a mezcal context before. MC is more of the same for them, so I’ll be listening for replicated positivity.

  3. Mezcal enthusiasts and professionals, people who *know* what’s good. Their feedback is essential to confirm and correct MC’s path and pace.

  4. General public, “mezcal-curious” people. You might not yet know mezcal very well, but you’re so eager to learn more. I’ll reach out by sharing the [Tasting Log]( Mezcal Curiously | A home for the mezcal-curious ) on socials alongside posting my first [Youtube video](https://youtube.com/@mezcalcuriously).

:globe_with_meridians: Starting forum topics shouldn’t take long, I just need to adapt my pre-written concepts for the forum. Bring your own thoughts and experiences here when it feels right to you.

:clapper_board:Youtube videos are my next big project after MC’s foundations are in place. Pollinator Polls will determine video priorities, sampled from my list of original concepts and series. This part of MC will take up the most time for a while once it starts since I don’t have prior video experience, so stay tuned for the drop and let me know what you think!

SEATS:

Energy, Attention, Time, and Space. Your REAL power is made of these limited resources that life grants to everyone in tiny amounts. You choose what to do with them, but your choice is filtered by complex layers of emotions, awareness, intentions, and circumstances. Stress summarizes your feelings on that process.

My life improved when I started noting these things regularly. I’ll end every letter with my own, and encourage you to regularly take your SEATS. Higher scores are better:

  • Stress 4/5 - My stress is lessening as the release deadline approaches, which is a good sign. I think I’ve done alright with setting things aside and prioritizing appropriately.

  • Energy 5/5 - I feel good, wake up on time, eat well, and go to sleep a bit late. I’ll be able to slow the rush after next weekend.

  • Attention 4/5 - All I do is MC. My partner’s been very helpful and gracious, but it doesn’t feel good to help her less and less around the house.

  • Time 3/5 - Same as above, all I do is MC. There’s more to life. I tell myself that those things don’t have deadlines though. It’s ok, but also not sustainable.

  • Space 2/5 - I’m not taking care of my home or body beyond the absolute basics. My partner and I have a plan for how we’ll get back into exercising regularly, and I’ll resume my portion of the chores soon. I appreciate her patience.

I also consider my Relationship, Mezcal, Health, Food, and Focus in my personal journal. Think about what else is important to you and share your SEATS in our community when it feels right; peer accountability can make a big difference.

but last, an Introduction:

Hey, I’m Jordan. I found myself here as you probably did; led by curiosity, fondness, and an inevitable love for the numerous ways this spirit captures and delivers beauty. I’m a California-native that isn’t Oaxacan, Mexican, or even of Central/Southern-American descent, so who am I to speak for mezcal?

I have 14 consecutive years of bar/restaurant experience, and 9 years ago I chased my songwriting ambitions from San Jose to Los Angeles. Most paths to success in the music industry require dependence on someone whose musical interests are tied to their profits. I quickly resented those people and probed my creative process for years, hoping I would find some way around them. I used to regret how long it took me to see the industry as insatiable, thriving on exploitation, but that spent time motivates me now.

The global spirits industry was painted with the same relentless brush. Mezcal is vulnerable to the industry’s exploits, especially when compared to more well-established spirits. Making this comparison offers convenient insights into some of what makes mezcal special: Its best parts aren’t easily scalable to miraculous profits. This fact has delayed capitalism’s worst side effects, but there’s still work to be done. There always will be while people in positions of relative power apply selective hearing to the voices of those with less.

I’m not the right person to represent mezcal. I don’t have mezcal-relevant heritage, or speak the right colony’s language. Even so, my sense of purpose has deepened in these last 6 years while presenting mezcal as a Maguey Spirit Guide. It may not be my responsibility, but I appreciate the opportunity to do this work. I’m grateful for my advantages, and the chance to leverage them to benefit more than just myself or people like me.

We’re all carved from the same tree of life and most of us can choose our beneficiaries to some degree. With Mezcal Curiously, I simply choose the people who make and enjoy mezcal. I want MC to be where mezcal-curious newcomers, knowledgeable enthusiasts, and qualified professionals can all come to celebrate, query, and realize mezcal’s potential together. I’ve spent more time in 2025 looking forward than looking back, and Mezcal Curiously is mostly responsible for that. I hope it does something similar for you.

Grateful for your time + attention,

Jordan Prescott

Founder + Maguey Spirits Guide