at the bar
| BY ELYSE GLICKMAN | About a decade
ago, mezcal—tequila’s smoky, rustic forbearer—started arousing curiosity among die-hard agave connoisseurs and bartenders. Now, it has come into its own as a spirits category — and by all indications, it isn’t going anywhere but up. According to the North America Mezcal Market Forecast to 2027 research report, the North America mezcal market accounted for $326.29 million in 2019, and is expected to reach $521.11 million by 2027. Premiumization is one trend driving demand — and it’s a trend Ivan Vasquez, owner of Madre! Oaxacan Restaurant and Mezcaleria is tapping into.
Vasquez has always been a fan of mezcal. As the restaurant’s website notes, he has “relied on the power of mole and mezcal to grow his restaurant empire.” The pandemic has only strengthened his commitment to mezcal. After analyzing where he wanted his bar program to be in five years, he shifted his focus to advancing smallbatch mezcals behind the bar at his restaurants in Torrance, Culver City, and West Hollywood, California — the latter his newest location, where 400+ bottles of rare mezcals line the shelves and agave plants from a mezcal producer enhance the outdoor garden. “In the last couple of months, there’s been tremendous change happening in the tequila markets, and in the case of Madre!, we decided not to move forward with reposado, anejo or extra anejo tequilas,” explains Vasquez. “Instead, we’re primarily focusing on mezcals and high proof blanco or silver tequilas, as many Mexican bars and restaurants did about 30 years ago. And we’re only promoting these high-proof blancos because we want customers to discover or rediscover that natural connection between tequila and mezcal.”
Mezcal’s MOMENT
Silencio Michelada
WHY MEZCAL? Just how has mezcal become such a presence behind the bar? Industry pros have some ideas. “Mezcal, as a stand-alone category, is being driven by bartenders who enjoy educating and introducing guests to a new agave flavor profile,” says David Ortiz, corporate beverage director at Florida-based Rocco’s Tacos & Tequila Bar — a concept with eight locations in the Sunshine State. Maxwell Reis, beverage director at Gracias Madre in West Hollywood and Newport Beach, California, credits consumers’ more adventurous approach to alcohol consumption with spurring the uptick in interest. And Torrence Swain, regional sales director, East Coast, for Mezcal El Silencio, says the introduction of higher quality mezcals to the U.S. market has elevated the profile of a product many — especially members of the Baby Boom generation — considered a working man’s drink with a flavor too
“The more mezcal from different regions we begin to see appear, the more we find consumers finding their niche in the mezcal world…and the better we become at tour-guiding a guest to find a style of mezcal they enjoy.” – MAXWELL REIS, Gracias Madre
