The Mezcal Rush: Explorations in Agave Country

(Hardback)

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"A rich, inclusive portrait of one of the world's great drinks." -Kirkus Reviews Mezcal. In recent years, the oldest spirit in the Americas has been reinvented as a pricy positional good popular among booze connoisseurs and the mixologists who use it as a cocktail ingredient. Unlike most high-end distillates, most small-batch mezcal is typically produced by and for subsistence farming communities, often under challenging conditions. As Granville Greene spends time with maestros mezcaleros, who distill their drinks using local agaves and production techniques honed through generations, mezcal becomes a spirit of contradictions-both a liquid language celebrating village identity and craftsmanship, and a luxury export undergoing a gold-rush-style surge. The Mezcal Rush explores the complications that can arise when an artisanal product makes its way across borders.

Reviews

Praise for The Mezcal Rush

A rich, inclusive portrait of one of the world's great drinks. Kirkus Reviews

A unique and fascinating journey following the mezcal trail from remote Mexican villages to trendy bars abroad, from indigenous fiestas to mixology events crammed with modish tipplers. Greene's lively and skillful blend of travelogue and social commentary charts the sometimes troubled links between these very different worlds. Gideon Rachman, chief foreign affairs commentator, The Financial Times

Impressively informative, exceptionally well written, organized and presented, The Mezcal Rush is an original and inherently fascinating read from beginning to end. Wisconsin Bookwatch

An artful combination of travel narrative and researchI felt as if I was sipping mezcal through Mexico as I read it. Baylor Chapman, author of The Plant Recipe Book

Author Bio

Granville Greene is a graduate of The Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University. He has written for Outside, The New York Times, and many other publications. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.