A "Mezcal" like substance!

[SenileToo]

I love Mezcal. Making it is of course out of the question. The really good stuff is well north of $100 a bottle, if you can find it. Brain fart - what else to do with some center cut neutral spirit or good corn squeezen hearts? Why not try adding a few drops of Wright's liquid mesquite smoke and a few drops of agave nectar to about 8-ounces of spirits (the nectar seemed to add an air of legitimacy to an otherwise fallacious endeavor). So I bought the ingredients and a $13 bottle of Kirkland vodka to avoid ruinning my own and gave it a try. After a few cycles of dropping and sipping and sniff / taste comparing with some really good original Mezcal I was amazed at how good the result was! Tried the sniff / taste test with the control on a couple of friends. Yup, it's really, really very close to the real thing! Give it a try. 8 ounces of spirits lets you work your way up a few drops of each ingredient at a time to the taste you're looking for. It's NOT Mezcal! Good Mezcal is of course the product of ingredients and processes we can't duplicate in our garages. But, this experiment produced a result with an unexpectedly authentic taste and bouquet.

[kiwi Bruce]

Far out !! I tried coriander and cilantro to make tequila several years ago I'd have to go and look at my notes, I have no idea what the results where.

[bearriver]

If the nectar adds too much sweetness, try fermenting it dry and then using that to temper the vodka to drinking proof.

Nice find. I'll be trying this. Subed.

[Boda Getta]

I've often wondered if it's possible to import agave pina's from Mexico, also wondered if any type of suitable agave grow's in the US SW.

BG

[junkyard dawg]

Id be willing to ship a pina to someone, but the cost would be outrageous.

There are many varieties of agave used to make mezcal. I used agave americana with good results. I want to try sotols next...

[Boda Getta]

Junkyard:
I hear that, but I suspect that someone out your way would have a lot of demand if they could find a way to do some amount of pre-processing (maybe do the baking step, then roughly grind before shipment. Shipping could still be high'ish, but doable. I suspect a lot of members here have managed to make pretty much every type of drink except for a real Agave type drink because of the un-availabily of a pina.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

Junkyard:
I hear that, but I suspect that someone out your way would have a lot of demand if they could find a way to do some amount of pre-processing (maybe do the baking step, then roughly grind before shipment. Shipping could still be high'ish, but doable. I suspect a lot of members here have managed to make pretty much every type of drink except for a real Agave type drink because of the un-availabily of a pina.

+1. I had the same thought of processing.

Our favorite Panela Wizard came to mind....

[T-Pee]

There are three of these brutes on my mom's driveway in San Diego. They grow just fine there, dontcha know.

tp

[Boda Getta]

T-Pee:
"There are three of these brutes on my mom's driveway in San Diego:

Let's dig up of those suckers!

BG

[jedneck]

T-Pee:
"There are three of these brutes on my mom's driveway in San Diego:

Let's dig up of those suckers!

BG

I got a shovel and a smoker but I'm on the right coast

[junkyard dawg]

I think that would take away half the fun of making this drink. Harvesting an agave, cutting your way to the heart and slow roasting it is a hell of an adventure all on its own.

I am trying to wrap my head around an actual dollar amount for doing that and shipping it somewhere. It would be so hard to let it go!

[chris8sirhc]

I love Mezcal. Making it is of course out of the question. The really good stuff is well north of $100 a bottle, if you can find it. Brain fart - what else to do with some center cut neutral spirit or good corn squeezen hearts? Why not try adding a few drops of Wright's liquid mesquite smoke and a few drops of agave nectar to about 8-ounces of spirits (the nectar seemed to add an air of legitimacy to an otherwise fallacious endeavor). So I bought the ingredients and a $13 bottle of Kirkland vodka to avoid ruinning my own and gave it a try. After a few cycles of dropping and sipping and sniff / taste comparing with some really good original Mezcal I was amazed at how good the result was! Tried the sniff / taste test with the control on a couple of friends. Yup, it's really, really very close to the real thing! Give it a try. 8 ounces of spirits lets you work your way up a few drops of each ingredient at a time to the taste you're looking for. It's NOT Mezcal! Good Mezcal is of course the product of ingredients and processes we can't duplicate in our garages. But, this experiment produced a result with an unexpectedly authentic taste and bouquet.

which agave nectar did you use? Ive experienced vast differences in agave nectar between what you get at a whole foods vs what you get at total wine which is made specifically as a drink mixer (tres agaves). The tres agaves works much better in cocktails, but the whole foods type stuff may work better for what your describing.

[SenileToo]

It's from Costco. The brand is Wholesome Sweeteners and called Organic Blue Agava Nectar.

[sweeps]

The stuff sold for cocktails is usually diluted with water. Looking at the labels, you'd need to use twice as much of the Tres Agaves to match the sugar content of the Wholesome Sweeteners stuff.