Conventional wisdom in Oaxaca: “For everything bad, drink mezcal; for everything good, you also should.”
Lest we forget, the walls of Oaxaca are always there to remind us.
My copitas (little cups) by maestro Vicente Hernandez are always ready for a gotita (a little drop) or two on good days, bad days, and especially days when friends stop by.
Day trips to my favorite mezcal making villages and their mezcaleros, like Berta Vásquez (above) in San Baltazar Chichicapam, were frequent enough to keep the liquor cabinet stocked with a variety of artisanal mezcal made from one or more kinds of maguey (AKA, agave) — arroqueño, barril, cuixe, espadín, jabalí, tepeztate, tobalá, and tobasiche, to name a few!
Alas, since Covid-19 hit the scene, many of the villages are closed to outsiders and, even if they were open, I wouldn’t go — for their health and safety and mine.
However, mezcal aficionado and tour guide Alvin Starkman came to the rescue. Through him, I was able to buy five bottles of mezcal from several different villages and he delivered!
In the event you are trying to read the labels, left to right: Tobalá, Manuel Méndez, San Dionisio Ocotopec; Mezcal destilado con mota (yes, it’s a thing), Rodolfo López Sosa, San Juan del Río; Arroqueño, Fortunato Hernandez, San Baltazar, Chichicapam; Tepeztate, Manuel Méndez, San Dionisio Ocotepec; Espadín, Celso Martinez, Santiago Matatlán.
¡Para todo mal, mezcal; y para todo bien, tambíen!
(ps) This just in! Mezcal Tour Supports Advancement of Indigenous Women — an article about the wonderful ongoing work the above mentioned Alvin Starkman, his wife Arlene, and Mezcal Educational Excursions of Oaxaca are doing.
Mexican Peso Converter
View From Casita Colibrí 
And the last part of the dicho is “cuando no hay remedio, litro y medio.”
Yes! “when there is no remedy, a liter and a half. 😉
We’re missing mezcal too, as there is no mezcal in Alaska! We’re making do with Kirkland Añejo Tequila, but it’s just not the same. “Gotita” is a new word for us – so far we had learned “tich” and “schlock!” So, have a gotita for us!
I learned it from the Lila Downs’ song, Mezcalito! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u-e63AmfV8
a gota is a drop, so a gotita is a little drop.
You’ve had a lot of visitors
Before the pandemic hit. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. 😉
So jealous. Love mezcal and am afraid to buy it in Twin Cities because I know it won’t compare with what you get in the heart of mezcal making.
Actually, there is some good mezcal that is being exported from Oaxaca to the US. Just avoid the industrial stuff!
Salud para ti, y para todo !
¡Salud Archie!
Remembering how graciously you entertained me and my friends, including mezcal toasts! thank you! As a non-drinker, I enjoyed the sociability and the ritual of mezcal, and the festive occasion in general.
I very much enjoyed entertaining you and your friends. Looking forward to when the mezcal and sociability can again flow on the terrace!
I’m looking forward to it, too!