# In praise of Mezcal **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 10, 2016, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-mezcal/765493 "2016-09-10T02:23:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-mezcal/765493/1 "2016-09-10T02:23:42Z")
Personally I am a big fan. It’s the smokier more complex big brother of tequila. (Yeah I know that more technically tequila is a subset of mezcal, but in practical terms tequila is never called mezal and mezcals have a different set of flavor profiles.) Nice to just sip but quite refreshing 2 parts with one part Campari and one of grapefruit juice. Any other fans? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-mezcal/765493/2 "2016-09-10T02:56:05Z")
I still remember the first time that I ate the worm from a bottle. It was a little trippy. To me, mezcal tastes like burnt tequila. I am not sure if I can ever overcome that. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-mezcal/765493/3 "2016-09-10T03:23:08Z")
Next up: Bacanora! ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-mezcal/765493/4 "2016-09-10T03:33:34Z")
If the mezcal you had had a worm in the bottle you 1) had crappy mezcal and 2) had it many many years ago. Get yourself a bottle of Del Maguey Vida as a good start - should be under $40. You can of course go higher end and easily spend twice that or more but Vida is quite good. I’d put it this way - if you prefer rye in addition to or even over bourbon; Ardberg or Laphroaig as well as or over Glenfiddich, then you’ll appreciate Del Maguey over a Patron. If you prefer the latter solidly in each case then mezcal is likely not for you. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-mezcal/765493/5 "2016-09-10T06:51:19Z")
In order to be called tequila, it must have been produced in the state of Jalisco. But you are right Mezcal is normally smokey. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-mezcal/765493/6 "2016-09-10T07:23:05Z")
Mezcal is pretty nice, I agree. The nice thing about all the agave distillates is that even the cheap stuff is relatively smooth. However, I haven’t been drinking a lot of it or Tequila over the last couple of years. I’ll have to pick up a bottle next time I’m at the liquor store. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-mezcal/765493/7 "2016-09-10T09:55:59Z")
OK! About once a week I drop by one of the bars downtown for a fine cocktail or two. I’ve been neglecting [The Pastry War](http://www.thepastrywar.com/)–will check in again next week! (They have a\* really interesting\* selection of agave-based liquors.) ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2016, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-mezcal/765493/8 "2016-09-12T12:52:43Z")
> [@Duke\_of\_Rat](#): > > Next up: Bacanora! I quite enjoyed an unreasonable amount of bacanora when I lived in Hermosillo several years ago. I’d love to get my hands on some.