From the streets of Oaxaca, maguey to mezcal in murals.
And then comes the music, “Dos Botellas de Mezcal” (Two Bottles of Mezcal).
Cheers! ¡Salud! ¡Dixeebe!
Posts Tagged ‘agave’
Maguey to mezcal to music
Posted in Beverages, Creativity, Culture, Music, Travel & Tourism, tagged agave, Dos Botellaas De Mezcal (song), Dueto Dos Rosas, La Santa Cecilia, maguey, Mexico, mezcal, murals, Oaxaca, photos, popular travel destinations, street art, urban art, wall art on June 29, 2023| 10 Comments »
Day in the country, part 4
Posted in Animals, Beverages, Culture, Flora, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged agave, cempasúchitl, cockscomb, flowers, grasshoppers, José Alberto Pablo, marigolds, Mexico, mezcal, mezcal palenque, Oaxaca, popular travel destinations, rusty mezcal, San Bernardo Mixtepec on November 11, 2021| 6 Comments »
Our Day in the country’s final destination was San Bernardo Mixtepec. The scenery was spectacular as we drove south from Zimatlán de Álvarez, through the valley, and northeast up into the mountains. It was mid October, nearing Día de Muertos and in the valley there were fields filled with cempasúchitl (marigolds) and cresta de gallo (cockscomb) waiting to be picked for altars. In the meantime, they were being enjoyed by a local grasshopper.
Navigating the narrow, winding, and steep roads, we eventually arrived at the palenque and family home of José Alberto Pablo and his father Mario. Perched on the side of a mountain, it offers stunning views.
Fermentation is done in clay pots in a specially built room, and clay pots are used for distillation. In an eco-friendly feature, he recirculates the condenser water rather than letting it drain into a stream.
At some point in the history of San Bernardo Mixtepec, a persuasive vendor must have introduced the palenqueros to enameled metal condensers. Over time they rust and deposit a small amount of rust into the mezcal — giving it a distinctive yellow-orange color. According to José Alberto, the villagers have become so accustomed to the color, they are reluctant to drink clear mezcal.
Yes, we bought! I came away with a lovely rusty tobalá. By the way, they also use stainless and copper condensers to make clear rust-less mezcal — for the less adventurous and to satisfy the mezcal regulatory board.
Prickly in Oaxaca
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged agave, cactus, coronavirus fallout, COVID-19 fallout, Mexico, nopal, Oaxaca, photos, popular travel destinations, tourism on February 26, 2021| 2 Comments »
This article, Tourists are welcome in Oaxaca, Mexico. Their increasingly bad behavior is not, is one of the reasons these images from my garden express how I’m feeling these days.
Then there is the fact that I haven’t set foot out of the city for exactly one year. Color me prickly and awaiting the vaccine.
Missing mezcal
Posted in Beverages, Creativity, Culture, Flora, People, Travel & Tourism, tagged agave, Alvin Starkman, Berta Vásquez, ceramicist, maguey, Mexico, mezcal, mezcal cups, mezcaleros, Oaxaca, photos, stencil art, street art, urban art, Vicente Hernandez, wall art on August 14, 2020| 14 Comments »
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.
Making mezcal: the cooking
Posted in Agriculture, Beverages, Culture, Flora, People, Travel & Tourism, tagged agave, bagaso, Félix Ángeles Arellanes, maguey, Mexico, mezcal, Mezcal El Minerito, mezcaleros, Oaxaca, Palenque, photos, Santa Catarina Minas on July 17, 2019| 11 Comments »
Yesterday, friends from California invited me to accompany them on one of their favorite pastimes — going to the source for artisanal mezcal. At our first stop, the palenque of Félix Ángeles Arellanes, Mezcal El Minerito, we were just in time to watch the beginning of the process of cooking the agave piñas.
The art of making mezcal at the palenque, Mezcal El Minerito.
Piling river rocks onto the red and white hot coals in the earthen pit that functions as the horno (oven).
Covering the rocks with bagaso (recycled crushed agave fibers).
Putting the long tobasiche agave piñas into the oven.
Adding the more rounded jabalí and tobalá piñas.
Topping it off with more tobasiche piñas.
Covering the piñas with more bagaso.
Félix’s sons worked nonstop — an hour and fifteen minutes from the time of the first photo, they covered the mound with tarps to enclose the oven. Though we didn’t see it, I suspect this was then sealed with soil.
Félix pours the “Nectar of the Gods” — a multilayered and complex artisanal mezcal.
Nothing like being at the right place at the right time. And, yes, we not only watched, we tasted and we bought!
Cheers to hummingbirds and bats
Posted in Agriculture, Animals, Beverages, Creativity, Culture, Flora, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged agave, bats, flowers, hummingbirds, Lapiztola, mague, Mal de Amor palenque, Mexico, murals, Oaxaca, photos, popular travel destinations, quiote, Santiago Matatlán, wall art on February 24, 2019| 5 Comments »
Let us all raise a glass to the hummingbirds and bats of Oaxaca.
Without the work they do pollinating the flowers on the quiotes (stalks) that shoot up from the agave,
there would be no maguey piñas to harvest and cook…
and no mezcal to drink!
*Mural by Lapiztola on the side of the Palenque Mal de Amor (makers of Ilegal mezcal) 2+ miles north of Santiago Matatlán, Oaxaca. Check out their other mural at the palenque HERE.
Don Quiote in the garden
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged agave, century plant, flowers, garden, maguey, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, quiote, terrace on January 31, 2018| 16 Comments »
While scientists were in the process of identifying four new species of agave, an agave on my terrace…
June 28, 2017
… had a surprise of its own.
July 23, 2017
Seemingly overnight, from its center, a stalk (aka, quiote) began reaching toward the sky.
July 23, 2017
After awhile, buds began appearing along the sides of the stalk.
September 18, 2017
And from the buds, the rainy season brought blossoms.
September 27, 2017
The flowers opened from bottom to top.
October 21, 2017
Eventually, all the flowers browned and seed pods began forming.
November 19, 2017
Who knows what I will find when I return to Casita Colibrí next week. What I do know is that this agave is now dying — but there are plantlets waiting to replace it! By the way, quiotes have traditionally been used for firewood (Maybe for my chiminea?) and even to make a didgeridoo-like musical instrument. (Hmmm… I don’t think I’ll try the latter.)
Lovely Oaxaca 2017
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged Año Nuevo, agave, buildings, Chapulines, chicken on a spit, dried chiles, fog, garbage trucks, grilling, Linda Oaxaca song, metate, Mexico, molinillo, Museo Textil de Oaxaca, New Year's Eve, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Quinceañera, Shibori, traje on December 31, 2017| 20 Comments »
A challenging year 2017 was — for Oaxaca, Mexico, USA, and the world. However, lovely Oaxaca continues to survive with beauty and grace and helps keep me focused on trying to do the same. I am grateful to her every day. Thus, my New Year’s gift to you — sharing a month-by-month look back at the little things in 2017 that nourished my body and soul.
January 2017 – Shibori flags flying over the courtyard of the Museo Textil de Oaxaca
February 2017 – Agave somewhere between San Dionisio Ocotepec and Ocotlán de Morelos
March 2017 – Quinceañera celebration in front of Santo Domingo de Guzmán
April 2017 – Chapulines at the first Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales Oaxaca
May 2017 – Teotitlán del Valle’s garbage truck.
June 2017 – Grinding lime tree leaves for té de limon in Teotitlán del Valle
July 2017 – Six layer rainy season view from Casita Colibrí
August 2017 – Unión de Palenqueros de Oaxaca — and that means mezcal!
September 2017 – Chickens roasting at earthquake relief benefit at Criollo restaurant
October 2017 – Grilling at an outdoor “hall of smoke” in Villa de Mitla
November 2017 – Dried chiles at Mercado Benito Juárez
December 2017 – Decorated molinillos at the Feria del Pan y el Chocolate in Tlacolula de Matamoros
In the words of Linda Oaxaca, “Oaxaca you live in me.” From my home to yours, adiós 2017 and bienvenidos 2018!!!
Oaxaca pride
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Creativity, Culture, Music, People, Travel & Tourism, tagged agave, benefit, concert, earthquake, earthquake relief, flowers, Francisco Garcia Vásquez, Lila Downs, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, sculptures, Susana Harp, Tehuana, video on September 18, 2017| 4 Comments »
A skein of yarn waiting to be woven…
Agave blossoms reaching for the sky…
Ceramic sculpture of a Tehuana by Fran Garcia Vásquez.
Ooops, a broken arm! It seems appropriate that my only casualty from the 8.2 earthquake depicts a woman from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec — the region where some of the most severe damage in the state of Oaxaca occurred. However, like the people she represents, she is strong, proud, and healing will happen.
If you want to help the victims of the September 7 earthquake, please see my previous post. If you do, reward yourself by watching last night’s benefit at the Guelaguetza Auditorium, Oaxaca Corazón. And, if you don’t, perhaps this spectacular concert will encourage you to donate to earthquake relief.
This all-star event, organized in less than a week by Lila Downs and Susana Harp, will have tears falling — I guarantee it!
Cultivating creativity
Posted in Agriculture, Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged agave, art, Mexico, mezcal, murals, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, street art, wall art on March 31, 2017| 4 Comments »
It’s good to be back in Oaxaca — land of mezcal. Even the walls sing its praises.
And, they are not alone — so does National Geographic, with their article, A Mezcal Boom Spurs Creativity.
Gifts from my garden
Posted in Animals, Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged African Tulip trees, agave, birds, Casita Colibrí, caterpillars, flowers, garden, Mexico, Oaxaca, orb weaver spiders, photographs, photos on December 17, 2016| 12 Comments »
Last week, a friend of mine in California challenged me to post a nature photo every day for seven days on Facebook. I had participated in one of these challenges nine months before, posting mostly photos from the countryside. This time, I decided to acknowledge the gifts that Mother Nature keeps surprising me with in my rooftop terrace garden.
African tulip tree seen from my terrace, July 6, 2016
Neoscona Oaxacensis orb weaver spider, Sept. 9, 2016
Night Blooming Cereus early morning, July 21, 2016
Lesser Goldfinch (I think) on the terrace chain link fence, Nov. 12, 2016
Io moth caterpillar munching on plumeria leaf, Oct. 31, 2016
Hibiscus flower taken Oct. 19, 2016
Agave and Stapelia gigantia early evening, Oct. 24, 2016
And, in the spirit of the season, they are my gifts to you. Hope you like!
Celebrating commonalities
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Flora, Science and Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged agave, California, Cerro Picacho, costumes, Mexico, Mill Valley, Mount Tamalpais, murals, Oaxaca, papel picado, photographs, photos, Zio Ziegler on September 20, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Despite 2000 miles between here and there, similarities abound between the two places I call home.
Art on walls. (Left) A massive new mural in Mill Valley, above the side wall of the Sequoia Theater, by Zio Ziegler. (Right) One of the many murals by Sanez (Fabián Calderón Sánchez) in Oaxaca. By the way, I’ve previously posted murals by both artists: click Sanez and/or Zio Ziegler.
Agave. (Left) Of course in Mill Valley (California), it’s solely ornamental for those meticulously landscaped gardens. (R) Whereas in Oaxaca, it’s vital crop — land without agave means life without mezcal!
Fluttering swags of flags. (Left) Cloth Tibetan prayer flags flying outside the 142 Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley welcome patrons to the Mountainfilm festival. (Right) Ubiquitous papel picado found inside and out in Oaxaca, in paper or plastic, for events special or just because.
Sacred mountains. (Left) Mt. Tamalpais, the Sleeping Lady and mountain of my childhood dreams, teen driving lessons, and adult peace, joy, and renewal. (Right) Cerro Picacho (in Zapoteco, Quie Guia Betz), brother/sister mountain — the sacred mountain in Teotitlán del Valle, where, among other times, villagers make a pilgrimage to the top on Día de la Santa Cruz (Day of the Holy Cross).
And, last but not least, colorfully costumed couples. (Left) Soon after arriving at the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival, I ran into this twosome. Turns out, in the “it’s a small world” universe, they are actually friends of a couple I know in San Miguel de Allende. (Right) During July’s Guelaguetza in Oaxaca, the delegation from Putla de Guerrero representing their celebration of Carnaval, is garish and gaudy and wild and wacky — in other words, fantastic!
Creativity is a challenge. It requires us to be fully human — autonomous yet engaged, independent yet interdependent. Creativity bridges the conflict between our individualistic and our sociality. It celebrates the commonality of our species while simultaneously setting us apart as unique individuals. —Greg Graffin
Art of agave
Posted in Agriculture, Culture, Flora, Travel & Tourism, tagged agave, Lapiztola, mescal, Mexico, mezcal, murals, Oaxaca, photos, popular travel destinations, street art, urban art, wall art on October 18, 2015| 3 Comments »
Before a “suspendida” order is slapped on this stunning piece by the Lapiztola collective celebrating the human face of agave cultivation, here is another moving work of art for the people, seen on Tinoco y Palacio on the wall of Piedra Lumbre, near the Sanchez Pascuas mercado. It tells a story…
The wisdom of cultivation handed down from generation to generation.
From the agave comes mezcal.
There are 199 “recognized” species of agave. How many can be used to make mezcal? The Mezcal PhD explores the answer. And, for an illustrated guide to many of the more popular varietals, click The Many Varieties of Mezcal.
Scenes from a Sunday drive
Posted in Animals, Flora, Food, Restaurants, Travel & Tourism, tagged agave, bike riders, cattle, Los Huamuches, Mexico, mezcal, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, restaurants on October 13, 2014| 5 Comments »
Sometimes a Sunday drive is just what the doctor ordered. Though when in Oaxaca, one can’t assume the course will run smooth.
After being blocked by bloqueos a couple of times last week, blogger buddy Chris and I were in the midst of congratulating ourselves when our leisurely drive south on Hwy. 190 came to a halt as we attempted to turn west at San Dionisio Ocotepec. At least ten men and a few trucks were positioned across the turnoff. Oh, no, not again… another protest?
No, a bike race had closed the road. Seeing our disappointment, we were directed to make a U-turn, backtrack a mile (or so), and turn onto the dirt road that skirted the hillside, in order to bypass the race. It was easier said than done, but after a few fits and starts, gullies and rocky outcroppings, and inquiries of all manner of vehicles coming from the opposite direction, we eventually wound up back on the paved road — right where we wanted to be!
We weren’t the only ones westward bound. These guys, while not part of the race, were also enjoying a Sunday ride. We passed them on our way to San Baltazar Chichicapam.
And, why were we going to Chichicapam? To fill up our 5 liter “gas” canisters with some of our favorite mezcal made from locally grown agave, of course! Muy suave…
Sunday or not, a campesino’s work is never done. Cattle, burros, and herds of goats were a common sight as we continued our Sunday drive. And, speaking of goats… By the time we turned north at Ocotlán de Morelos, we were starving. Lucky for us, Los Huamuches, our “go to” roadside restaurant between Santo Tomás Jalieza and San Martín Tilcajete, wasn’t far away.
What can I say? Mild temperatures, spectacular scenery, good company, and barbacoa muy sabrosa — the “doctor” was right!
“For everything bad, drink mezcal…
Posted in Beverages, Celebrations, Parks & Plazas, tagged agave, Feria Nacional del Mezcal, Llano Park, maguey, Mexico, Oaxaca, parks on July 22, 2011| 3 Comments »
… and for everything good, you also should.” — old Oaxaca saying.
Today, the XIV Feria Nacional del Mezcal opens in el Paseo Juárez el Llano. Preparations were in full swing yesterday afternoon, when I walked passed Llano Park (as it is more commonly known).
Behind the back of Benito Juárez, carpenters were busy.
Newly constructed puestos lined the sidewalk on Pino Suarez, waiting to be filled with vendors and displays…
… and hearts of the maguey (called piñas, because they look like pineapples) were piling up all around the park.
For more information about mezcal, including how it differs from tequila, see:
- All About Tequila and Mezcal – from the Beverage Testing Institute
- Mezcal – entry in Wikipedia
In the meantime… “¡Arriba, abajo, al centro y pa’ dentro!”
Update: Posters, website, and other publicity to the contrary, the feria did not begin today. Mañana is the word!
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