How is mezcal made?

Clear glass of Mocel mezcal in a vaso veladora sitting on a cupreata maguey chino agave plant in Michoacan Mexico

The art of creating mezcal can be simplified into several steps: harvesting, cooking, fermentation, and distillation. Each of these steps is done by hand and uses traditional techniques mezcaleros have been using for over 400 years. The end result is a clean, nuanced artisanal spirit.

Handpick the agave (maguey)

The first step, harvesting, begins with growing the agave. Unlike tequila, mezcal can use a variety of agave (maguey) species, each lending a different flavor palette to the final product. Mocel has carefully selected the best species of agave for the most robust, natural flavors. Ensuring the agave has reached peak maturity is also important for the flavor. Agaves are hand-picked anywhere between 7 and 30 years after they were planted, depending on the species. For Mocel’s Cupreata Expression, the cupreata agave took between 8 to 10 years to reach maturity before it was harvested. The sharp leaves are removed by hand using a coa, a flat-bladed knife, leaving the center, or piña, of the agave ready for the next step.

cupreata maguey chino agave plant in Michoacan Mexico

Agave Cupreata. Colloquially known as “maguey chino.”

Mocel mezcalero farmer harvesting maguey chino agave plant pina in Michoacan Mexico to make mezcal

Harvest of agave cupreata with the use of a coa, a flat-bladed knife.

Cook and ferment the agave

The second step is cooking. To cook the agave, a fire pit is dug into the earth, filled with volcanic lava rocks, and burns down to embers. Then the piñas are placed in the pit and buried for five days. The heat of the lava rocks and the smoke of the embers cook the piña, which develops mezcal’s smoky flavor. Once the agave is cooked, it is crushed by hand using a wooden mallet and canoe–or in Oaxaca using a mill-like tahona.  The agave mash is then placed in a wooden vat, stirring in water and left to ferment for about fifteen days. Natural yeasts feed on the sugars of the agave to ferment it.

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Distill to perfection

Once the agave mash and juices inside finish fermenting, it is twice-distilled in a wooden still. Distillation requires constant attendance for about three days straight. Mocel’s maestro mezcaleros stay up all night working to make the best tasting spirit. The final product is a clean spirit with no additives. 

Explore the Mocel Collection.

Mocel is dedicated to honoring these artisanal methods when producing our mezcal.