When you think of liquors from Mexico, tequila is almost always the first one that springs to mind. You may love it, you may have had too much of it one night in College and hate it, but you still probably think of it first. Some may also think of creamy cool Kahlua, but nowadays there is another liquor vying for your attention from south of the border, and that liquor is Mezcal. Mezcal is an agave based liquor like tequila (and in fact tequila is a type of Mezcal, but that’s not important right now) and it’s been showing up on more and more trendy menus around the world lately and so when we arrived in Oaxaca, the de facto home of Mezcal, we just had to try it out at a few places around town.
Here’s my pick for where to find the best Mezcal in Oaxaca.
La Casa De Mezcal – Flores Magón 209
This place is what you envision when you hear the word cantina. This is the kind of place to drink, drink some more, get rowdy, and maybe even get tossed out through the swinging doors. For this reason, we felt a bit intimidated standing outside, but once we went in, we felt very, very, welcome. The menu was extensive without being overwhelming and the place was a touch rough, but in a welcoming way. I asked the waiter what his favorite mezcal was, and he brought me one of those. He said it was “sauve”, which if you remember your 90’s pop music correctly, means “smooth”. It was indeed smooth and smoky and when followed up with a little orange, hit the spot. As with all mezcal, the move is to cooly sip it, not to do it as a shot.
