5 Most Common Types Of Agave Used to Make Mezcal.
Below are the major types of Agave commonly used to make Mezcal. They are based off of the type of agave used to make the drink.
Espadín
Easily 90% of all Mezcal is made from this type of agave. It grows in many different areas, both wild and farmed. There is no way to pinpoint a taste as so many different Mezcal producers make different flavors out of this type of agave.
Tobalá
This type of agave makes usually pretty expensive bottles of Mezcal because of its rarity and unusual land requirements. It only grows in rocky, shady areas and must be reproduced through pollination by birds and bats rather than spreading its own seeds. When it’s made into Mezcal, the taste is usually quite complex and fruity.
Tobaziche
Although this species of agave grows in different regions around Mexico, it has completely different flavors and names based on where it’s grown. In general it makes a very pleasant savory, herbal sort of flavor.
Tepeztate
You probably won’t find a lot of this Mezcal around even though it’s immensely popular. The reason is that the wild agave needed to make it takes at least 30 years to mature. The result is a very aromatic, intensely flavorful Mezcal.
Arroqueño
This Mezcal is prized for its delicious combination of flavors. Often when it’s finished it will have floral or vegetal tastes with a background of spicy, dark chocolate to complement it.
WHAT’S THE BEST MEZCAL?
With so many different varieties of Mezcal spirits, it’s impossible to say which is the best tasting. For most of us here at Everything Mezcal it's the Tobala Agave.
Do your research. Once you now know how to find different types of Mezcal and to know generally what’s in them or how they were made based on the labels, you can look through a local supply and choose whichever sounds like it has the best taste to fit your unique liking.