The owner of QuiQuiRiQui picks five great exported mezcals (plus her favourite mezcal ever)
Los Siete Misterios (Coyote agave) »
“This is an ancestral mezcal, so it’s made very traditionally with wooden canoe-shaped tubs instead of stone wheels. It’s distilled in clay pots instead of copper pots, and you can taste the clay. It’s a smooth, beautiful mezcal made in a very remote traditional area of Oaxaca.”
“It was the most delicious thing I’d ever tasted – like a crazy 3-D tequila.”
Read Melanie’s Adventures in Mezcal
Derrumbes (Cupreata and Cenizo agave) »
“This is one of the only mezcals available in the UK that’s not from Oaxaca. It’s made in high-altitude pine forest in Michoacán and they distil it in wooden tree trunks – you can taste the wood. People think mezcals are always going to be massively smoky, but this one isn’t.”
Papadiablo (Espadin and 3 types of wild agave) »
“This is a really interesting emsemble – a mix of wild and cultivated agaves. Incredible stuff.”
Mezcal Vago (Tobalá agave) »
“This is made by an American guy who married Oaxacan woman whose family make mezcal. He started the brand, it’s awesome, and this mezcal is beautifully made (you can taste flowers, fruit, earth, herbs and then some).”
Quiquiriqui San Juan del Rio (Espadin agave) »
“This is one of two bottles under my brand. The guy who makes it for me is called Don Modesto and his horse is called Modesto. He has a tiny palenque in San Juan del Rio, a very small village four-and-a-half hours south of Oaxaca City. I could have charged £60 or £80 a bottle for this but I want to sell lots of bottles, in part because it helps him. He’s just rebuilt his palenque and put in another still. This is made with espadin, which people think is a boring agave, but a well-made espadin mezcal is amazing. This has bags of character and complexity, for a quarter of the price.”
AND MELANIE’S FAVOURITE EVER…
Mezcalogia (Arroqueño agave)
“This my favourite mezcal ever, made by a very dear friend of mine. This isn’t for export, it’s just stuff that his family makes. These arroqueño agaves are 18 years old when they get harvested, and they only harvest them at a full moon at night. I bought this back in April. It’s bottle 6 of 24. It’s got this amazing tropical banana taste. It’s just nuts.”
Melanie’s off-licence and tasting room Brahms & Liszt is at 10 Chatsworth Rd, London E5 0LP; www.brahmsandlisztlondon.uk. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram