Additives - anything added to the distillate besides water or other portions (cuts, heads and tails) of the same distillation process. Common additives include components for flavor, color, or texture/mouthfeel. These additives can be chemically derived from agave in order to maintain a “100% agave” label, or be synthetic. The process of using additives in tequila or mezcal is heavily under-regulated.
Agave - aka Maguey, often used to refer to the scientific name of the species, large succulent from the traditional americas used for thousands of years.
Aguamiel - unfiltered agave sap/nectar.
Añejo - agave distillate that is aged in oak from 1 year to 3 years.
Bagasse / Bagasso - The fibrous remains of the agave left after the distillation of mezcal.
Batch Blending - An industrial practice in which multiple batches of distilled mezcal are blended before bottling in order to standardize flavors and increase volume.
Biodynamic - a farming practice in which the plants are grown in a way that promotes natural soil fertility via crop rotation, animal integration, and composting. Biodynamic practices also often include the consideration of cosmic or otherwise supernatural forces.
Blanco (plata/silver) - agave distillate (using specifically Blue Weber agave from Jalisco, Mexico) that is usually not aged in oak, but can be for up to 2 months.
Blend - a word that is ambiguous and could mean either, neither, or some combination of “ensamble” or “mezcla”. Best used sparingly, or to refer to specific cases of blending that don’t fit into those words.
Capón - to cut the quiote off of an agave towards the end of its life, which concentrates the sugars into the piña and brings floral flavors into the mezcal.
Cogollo - the agave center stalk that all pencas are formed from. When the cogollo becomes much shorter than the surrounding pencas it is a sign that the plant will soon sprout the stalk for the quiote.
Colas - “tails” or ends of distillation at 25-40% ABV, low in ethanol and high in methanol, are traditionally used to adjust the final alcohol profile of mezcals.
Corazon (cuerpo) - “heart”, body of the distillation, composes the majority of the distillate that is put into a bottle.
CRM - “Comercam”, a private organization that operates as the first extension of the Mexican government to certify products that are protected by the standards outlined in the DO for Mezcal. They changed their name to “CRM” to mirror the certifier for Tequila, the CRT, and have since reverted back to Comercam. Comercam is not an official or publicly elected body of the Mexican government. They are known to operate in monopolistic ways such as delegitimizing competing certification organizations, abusing the lack of competition to artificially inflate the price of certification, or refusing to make their certification process more accessible to small producers with less business acumen.
DO - The Denomination of Origin that was granted for Mezcal in 1994 is the intellectual property of Mexico. The DO has been amended a number of times over the years to attempt to categorize mezcal and delineate what methods of production are viable, or to include additional Mexican states for the legal production and distribution of mezcal. Mexico’s government authorizes private parties as “certifiers” for all of their DO’s. Certifiers (like Comercam) essentially put the final stamp of approval onto a product, stating that it’s producers have followed the rules set forth by the DO.
En Guía - the harvesting of an agave that has matured (as evidenced by the shortening of the cogollo) but has not yet started to grow its quiote
Ensamble (mezcla) - ensambles are how mezcal was traditionally made before it was mass-produced to be sold internationally. They are made with a variety of agaves that were harvested, roasted, mashed, fermented, distilled, and bottled together;now best understood to represent the biodiversity of a particular place.
Extra Añejo - agave distillate that is aged in oak for at least 3 years, is often served to sip.
Horno - “oven”, can refer to an earthen pit that is lined in rock and used to roast agave, or an above-ground oven that is heated either by steam or fire.
Jimador (magueyero) - farmer who grows and harvests agave.
Joven - “young”, agave distillate that is bottled without aging (could otherwise be aged in glass/wood).
Maguey - “century plant” aka agave, often used to refer to the local name for an agave, large succulent from the traditional americas used for thousands of years.
Mezcal - comes from pre-Hispanic languages, derived from ‘agave’ (metl) and ‘cooked’ (lxcalli).
Mezcalero - person that processes mezcal; can include farming, harvesting, and/or distilling.
Mezcla (ensamble) - a mezcal made from a mixture of different agaves, or different batches of distillate.
Milpa - a natural method of farming in which the land is “intercropped” with agave grown alongside corn, squash, beans, and other seasonal crops to naturally enrich the soil.
Palenque/Palenquero - mezcal distillery, and its’ workers.
Pechuga - “breast”, traditionally made for special celebrations, is named for the inclusion of a chicken breast for aromatics during distillation. Also uses local fruits, herbs, and spices during distillation.
Penca - the leaves of an agave plant, often green, edged with spines, and radiating from the center of the plant.
Perlas - “pearls”, the persistent bubbles that form on the surface of mezcal at 45%+ ABV, shown by shaking a bottle or splashing it into a cup as a traditional mark of authenticity.
Piña - the heart of the agave plant, is the main portion of the plant processed into agave distillates, grows underground.
Pulque - Alcoholic drink made from fermented agave sap (salmiana/americana) with an ABV range similar to beer.
Puntas - “points” or heads of distillation at 60-75% ABV, flavorful and high in alcohol, are commonly used to adjust the final alcohol and flavor profile of mezcals, are sometimes consumed on their own.
Quiote - the flower of an agave created in it’s center towards the end of its life. The quiote is a common signal to magueyeros for an agaves’ readiness for harvestation.
Reposado - any agave distillate that is aged in oak for up to 1 year.
Sabino - translates to Cypress, in reference to the wood that the fermentation vat is made of.
Silvestre - “wild”, though
Sotol - Granted Designation of Origin in 2004, this Mexican distillate is made from dasylirion (Desert Spoon), a non-agave succulent that can regrow from the same roots.
Tahona - a giant stone wheel used to crush the roasted agave piñas, typically powered by mule.
Tepache - combination of solid fibers and liquids that is made during the fermentation process of mezcal.
Tequilero - person that distills tequila.
Pipas / Tinas - wooden vats used for fermentation, tinas are older and taller, upwards of 6 feet. Pine vats can last for up to 10 years, while cypress can last for up to 50 years.
Venencia - hollow reed similar to bamboo that is traditionally used to verify the alcohol content of a mezcal by collecting a small amount into the reed, then letting the mezcal fall from the venencia into a jicara and observing the size and persistence of the resulting perlas (bubbles). ‘Cordon cerrado’ is a ring of persistent bubbles around the jicara, which is a traditional sign of quality.