{"id":692,"date":"2013-03-26T09:22:53","date_gmt":"2013-03-26T15:22:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/?p=692"},"modified":"2014-08-20T14:17:44","modified_gmt":"2014-08-20T20:17:44","slug":"meet-tequilas-older-sister-mezcal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/2013\/03\/meet-tequilas-older-sister-mezcal\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Tequila&#8217;s Older Sister, Mezcal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" title=\"A variety of Mezcal\" src=\"https:\/\/i255.photobucket.com\/albums\/hh138\/beatlo\/Food%20-%20Mexican%20Traditional\/20120502mezcalguide_zps253570e8.jpg\" alt=\"Retirement living Mexico\" width=\"250\" \/>When the Spaniards arrived in Mexico, they discovered fermented drinks the Aztecs and other indigenous people drank, notably &#8220;pulque,&#8221; a thick, sourish drink made from the agave cactus plant.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Spaniards, familiar with the process of making liquor by distilling, soon discovered how to produce a stronger distilled liquor from the same plant, specifically the maguey agave; the Aztecs gave the drink the name &#8220;<strong>mezcal<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" title=\"A worker harvesting the core of the agave plant\" src=\"https:\/\/i255.photobucket.com\/albums\/hh138\/beatlo\/Food%20-%20Mexican%20Traditional\/agave-harvest_zps6ce05946.jpg\" alt=\"Retirement living Mexico\" width=\"250\" \/>Over the next few centuries, an important region emerged in the production of mezcal, made from the blue agave instead of the maguey, with a cleaner, easier flavor.\u00a0 This newer, distinct form of mezcal was given the name of the valley in the state of Jalisco where it was invented and is still is primarily produced to this day: <strong>&#8220;tequila<\/strong>.<strong>&#8221; <\/strong>(Jalisco is the state where Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta are located.)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Differences<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While it was the tequila variety of mezcal that gained the most popularity throughout Mexico and the world,<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" title=\"Rufino, a mezcal shop in Playa del Carmen\" src=\"https:\/\/i255.photobucket.com\/albums\/hh138\/beatlo\/Food%20-%20Mexican%20Traditional\/935-2-rufino_zps4217017d.jpg\" alt=\"Retirement living Mexico\" width=\"250\" \/> other forms of mezcal continue to be produced on a large scale.\u00a0 The most significant region for production of the older form of mezcal is Oaxaca.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Even though they are simply two forms of the same drink, people simply call the older form &#8220;mezcal&#8221; and the one from Jalisco &#8220;tequila.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Anyone who has had tequila will also notice the difference in flavor as well.\u00a0 Mezcal has a fuller, smoky flavor.\u00a0 People say it&#8217;s stronger, this refers only to the robust flavor; commercially produced mezcal and tequila have the same alcohol content.\u00a0 Some varieties are sweetish.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" title=\"A scorpion in a bottle of mezcal\" src=\"https:\/\/i255.photobucket.com\/albums\/hh138\/beatlo\/Food%20-%20Mexican%20Traditional\/6046477368_98dffbe194_z_zpsa683a69d.jpg\" alt=\"Retirement living Mexico\" width=\"250\" \/>Typically, from what people have told me, those who enjoy whiskey will usually enjoy mezcal.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Worm<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the U.S. and Canada, people often associate the worm in the bottle with tequila.\u00a0 In reality, this custom was started in the 1940s as a marketing gimmick for mezcal, and not tequila.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Mezcal, however, goes a few steps further, and you can find bottles being sold with a scorpion in it!\u00a0 Now, they say you&#8217;re supposed to drink the worm &#8211; but what about the scorpion?!?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>If you like hard liquors, especially stronger-flavored ones, I recommend trying mezcal.\u00a0 It&#8217;s not very common north of the Rio Grande, but it&#8217;s becoming easier to find.\u00a0 Here in Mexico, you can find it in most liquor stores and souvenir shops.\u00a0 In places like Playa del Carmen, they also have some mezcal bars, right on the main strip so they&#8217;re easy to find.<\/p>\n<p><em>-by Thomas Lloyd<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/mexico-real-estate-promotions\/rally.php?web=Blog\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\" https:\/\/i255.photobucket.com\/albums\/hh138\/beatlo\/Banners\/banner-email_zps366c7ef5.jpg\" alt=\"Mexico Real Estate Testimonials\" width=\"464\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When the Spaniards arrived in Mexico, they discovered fermented drinks the Aztecs and other indigenous people drank, notably &ldquo;pulque,&rdquo; a thick, sourish drink made from the agave cactus plant. &nbsp; The Spaniards, familiar with the process of making liquor by &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/2013\/03\/meet-tequilas-older-sister-mezcal\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[172,66,174,173,171,728],"class_list":["post-692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-living-in-mexico","tag-drink","tag-history","tag-jalisco","tag-liquor","tag-oaxaca","tag-playa-del-carmen"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Mezcal - Mexico&#039;s Lesser Known &quot;Sister&quot; Liquor of Tequila<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Like tequila? Give mezcal a try; it&#039;s an older, stronger and slightly smokey-flavored version of the same drink, made of agave plants. Read more ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/2013\/03\/meet-tequilas-older-sister-mezcal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mezcal - Mexico&#039;s Lesser Known &quot;Sister&quot; Liquor of Tequila\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Like tequila? Give mezcal a try; it&#039;s an older, stronger and slightly smokey-flavored version of the same drink, made of agave plants. Read more ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/2013\/03\/meet-tequilas-older-sister-mezcal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Let&#039;s Retire in Mexico\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-03-26T15:22:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-08-20T20:17:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i255.photobucket.com\/albums\/hh138\/beatlo\/Food%20-%20Mexican%20Traditional\/20120502mezcalguide_zps253570e8.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Thomas Lloyd\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Thomas Lloyd\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/2013\/03\/meet-tequilas-older-sister-mezcal\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/2013\/03\/meet-tequilas-older-sister-mezcal\/\",\"name\":\"Mezcal - Mexico's Lesser Known \\\"Sister\\\" Liquor of Tequila\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/2013\/03\/meet-tequilas-older-sister-mezcal\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/2013\/03\/meet-tequilas-older-sister-mezcal\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i255.photobucket.com\/albums\/hh138\/beatlo\/Food%20-%20Mexican%20Traditional\/20120502mezcalguide_zps253570e8.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-03-26T15:22:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-08-20T20:17:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/#\/schema\/person\/5b31461102b81025381a9454adc9aa9f\"},\"description\":\"Like tequila? Give mezcal a try; it's an older, stronger and slightly smokey-flavored version of the same drink, made of agave plants. Read more ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/2013\/03\/meet-tequilas-older-sister-mezcal\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/2013\/03\/meet-tequilas-older-sister-mezcal\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/2013\/03\/meet-tequilas-older-sister-mezcal\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i255.photobucket.com\/albums\/hh138\/beatlo\/Food%20-%20Mexican%20Traditional\/20120502mezcalguide_zps253570e8.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i255.photobucket.com\/albums\/hh138\/beatlo\/Food%20-%20Mexican%20Traditional\/20120502mezcalguide_zps253570e8.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/2013\/03\/meet-tequilas-older-sister-mezcal\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Meet Tequila&#8217;s Older Sister, Mezcal\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/\",\"name\":\"Let&#039;s Retire in Mexico\",\"description\":\"Join us on our Mexico Retirement Discovery Trips\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/#\/schema\/person\/5b31461102b81025381a9454adc9aa9f\",\"name\":\"Thomas Lloyd\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6671b85ca621c63c37f5b298d259b016355f1cb79f254b0fe2bb83dd4ede3ca7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6671b85ca621c63c37f5b298d259b016355f1cb79f254b0fe2bb83dd4ede3ca7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Thomas Lloyd\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/author\/thomas\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mezcal - Mexico's Lesser Known \"Sister\" Liquor of Tequila","description":"Like tequila? Give mezcal a try; it's an older, stronger and slightly smokey-flavored version of the same drink, made of agave plants. Read more ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/2013\/03\/meet-tequilas-older-sister-mezcal\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mezcal - Mexico's Lesser Known \"Sister\" Liquor of Tequila","og_description":"Like tequila? Give mezcal a try; it's an older, stronger and slightly smokey-flavored version of the same drink, made of agave plants. Read more ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/2013\/03\/meet-tequilas-older-sister-mezcal\/","og_site_name":"Let&#039;s Retire in Mexico","article_published_time":"2013-03-26T15:22:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-08-20T20:17:44+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/i255.photobucket.com\/albums\/hh138\/beatlo\/Food%20-%20Mexican%20Traditional\/20120502mezcalguide_zps253570e8.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Thomas Lloyd","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Thomas Lloyd","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/2013\/03\/meet-tequilas-older-sister-mezcal\/","url":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/2013\/03\/meet-tequilas-older-sister-mezcal\/","name":"Mezcal - Mexico's Lesser Known \"Sister\" Liquor of Tequila","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/2013\/03\/meet-tequilas-older-sister-mezcal\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/2013\/03\/meet-tequilas-older-sister-mezcal\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i255.photobucket.com\/albums\/hh138\/beatlo\/Food%20-%20Mexican%20Traditional\/20120502mezcalguide_zps253570e8.jpg","datePublished":"2013-03-26T15:22:53+00:00","dateModified":"2014-08-20T20:17:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/#\/schema\/person\/5b31461102b81025381a9454adc9aa9f"},"description":"Like tequila? Give mezcal a try; it's an older, stronger and slightly smokey-flavored version of the same drink, made of agave plants. Read more ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/2013\/03\/meet-tequilas-older-sister-mezcal\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/2013\/03\/meet-tequilas-older-sister-mezcal\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/2013\/03\/meet-tequilas-older-sister-mezcal\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i255.photobucket.com\/albums\/hh138\/beatlo\/Food%20-%20Mexican%20Traditional\/20120502mezcalguide_zps253570e8.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i255.photobucket.com\/albums\/hh138\/beatlo\/Food%20-%20Mexican%20Traditional\/20120502mezcalguide_zps253570e8.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/2013\/03\/meet-tequilas-older-sister-mezcal\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Meet Tequila&#8217;s Older Sister, Mezcal"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/","name":"Let&#039;s Retire in Mexico","description":"Join us on our Mexico Retirement Discovery Trips","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/#\/schema\/person\/5b31461102b81025381a9454adc9aa9f","name":"Thomas Lloyd","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6671b85ca621c63c37f5b298d259b016355f1cb79f254b0fe2bb83dd4ede3ca7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6671b85ca621c63c37f5b298d259b016355f1cb79f254b0fe2bb83dd4ede3ca7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Thomas Lloyd"},"url":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/author\/thomas\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=692"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2675,"href":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692\/revisions\/2675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.topmexicorealestate.com\/lets-retire-in-mexico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}