AGAVE SPIRITS

A comprehensive, readable exploration of the history and science of tequila, mezcal, and other agave-derived spirits.

Agaves yield complex distilled beverages that can rival the finest of wines, cognacs, and brandies at one end of the spectrum or yield weak, milky, crude drinks such as pulque on the other. Ethnobotanist Nabhan and Mexican environmental activist Piñera, founder of the Tequila Interchange Project, explain the ways in which the 215-odd known species of agaves are put to use in making topers happy. That biodiverse body of plants, as with so many other industrially made products, is suffering as large corporate growers—none, the authors point out, headquartered in Mexico—clear large expanses of land to make the stuff to be found at the corner drugstore, all at the expense of localized products. “Somehow along its wayward journey,” they lament, “tequila lost most of its connections to its ancestral roots, going astray.” Tequila—now bottled by celebrities along with those faceless corporations—ranks high among the popular agave drinks, but there are many other varietals that are growing in popularity around the world, including mezcal and the rural hooch called bacanora. The authors conclude their survey with a suggested platform for preserving variety and diversity among the agave distillates, including paying workers better, in the hope that “the responsible drinkers of the world will stand up and take notice.” Occasionally the authors dip into arcana, as when they puzzle over whether distillation was known to Indigenous peoples before European contact or whether it was introduced from Asia by way of the Spanish galleon trade. They also surrender to puns and cute turns of phrase (on agaves: “They stay celibate and delay having sex much later than other plants, but then they do it with a bang”) that detract from the serious yet approachable discussions surrounding them.

An instructive survey for fans of margaritas and their cactus-born kin.