Hello Mezcalero!
How much do you know about mezcal production?
If you've read the previous blogs where we talked about cooking, grinding, and fermentation, you're getting closer and closer to becoming an expert mezcal maker.
Today, I'm going to teach you about the distillation process.
Did you know that the Egyptians were already distilling substances in 3,000 B.C.?
There are findings indicating that the Egyptians had already mastered this art for making perfumes. Later, the Persian, Al-Razi, invented the first copper still, which made its way to Spain through Arab conquest and finally reached the New World with the discovery of America.
That's a very brief way to explain the history of this process but...
What is distillation?
Distillation is a process by which we can separate a liquid mixture through different boiling points, this is when a substance boils and changes from a liquid to a gaseous state.
To make ARTISANAL MEZCAL, 2 distillation steps are necessary:
First distillation: The fermented agave juices and some of the pulp are brought to the copper still pot.
Rectification: The substance obtained in the first distillation goes through the same process a second time. With these processes, methanol is separated with the first boiling that occurs around 65°C, then ethanol at 78°C, and finally water at a point close to 100°C.
The distilled beverages we know are mainly composed of ethanol and water, which is why this process is fundamental, as the human body cannot process methanol.
At Mezcal Mitre, we distill in copper stills heated by firewood, and the result is analyzed in a laboratory to obtain a physicochemical analysis and deliver a certified product to the consumer.
Now you know the distillation process and you're one step closer to becoming an expert mezcal maker!
Stay tuned for the next blog so you can keep learning about the mezcal universe.
