🥃 Mezcal artesanal and ancestral

Mezcal Artesanal and Mezcal Ancestral are two of the three mezcal categories under the Mexican standard NOM-070-SCFI-2016. They are defined by the equipment at four stages: roasting the agave, milling, fermentation and distillation. Ancestral is the oldest method: a pit oven, milling by hand or with stone, and distillation over an open fire only in a clay pot.

For artesanal, the agave hearts are roasted in pit or masonry above-ground ovens. They are milled with a wooden mallet (mazo), a stone tahona wheel, a chileno or egipcio mill, a trapiche or a desgarradora. Fermentation takes place in hollows in stone, earth or a tree trunk, masonry pools, wooden or clay vessels, or in animal hides, often together with agave fibre.

Artesanal is distilled over direct fire in copper stills or clay pots, and the montera lid may be of clay, wood, copper or stainless steel. For ancestral the standard narrows the choice: only a pit oven, only the mazo, tahona or a chileno or egipcio mill, and distillation only in a clay pot with a clay or wooden montera. The fermentation vessels are the same in both categories.

The third category, simply “Mezcal”, permits autoclaves, diffusers, steel vats and continuous columns. Only mezcal of the same category and the same class may be blended. The category says nothing about age: artesanal and ancestral come as blanco, reposado, añejo or another class, and the strength of all of them is 35–55% ABV at 20 °C.

Why this matters to you. The front label must carry only one category inscription, “Mezcal”, “Mezcal Artesanal” or “Mezcal Ancestral”, separate from the brand. It describes the oven, mill and still, not quality or ageing. WHO: there is no safe dose of alcohol.