Oaxacan Futures

To date, the most notable impact of this pandemic on the rural, mezcal-producing communities of Oaxaca has been economic. Some of the villages have completely shut themselves off to outsiders. The mezcaleros continue to make their unique, delicious mezcals but no one is able right now to buy it. As Felix Angeles said, "There's no quarantine for us, only work to do." Here's your chance to help these families until you get the chance to come down to Oaxaca and see them in person. Purchase bottles now and they'll be holding onto your mezcal until your next visit. It would mean a great deal to these families and these communities right now. And they look forward to thanking you in person. We can either give you directions or we can take you there as part of tour. Whenever the time is right.

You’ll receive a receipt from PayPal that you will bring with you. When you order below, unless you know what you're doing, unfortunately you will have to order each item individually. You can add multiple bottles of any one item in each purchase, but you can't just click once and order, say, three different expressions. Sorry! And when you go to pay, the top button option is if you want to pay with a PayPal account -- the bottom button allows you to use your credit card.   Any questions, email me! And for folks who want to help but don't see themeselves getting bottles ... or don't drink ... or whatever, if you just want to make a donation, here you go:

Adela del Carmen Cruz
San Dionisio Ocotepec, Oaxaca

This is Adela del Carmen Cruz, age 20. She started when she was 11 years old, under the tutelage of her father, Hilario Perez Cruz. Her agave are baked in an stone-lined earthen oven, crushed with a tahona, fermented in open-air wooden tinas, and distilled in wood-fired copper pot stills.

Temo Garcia
San Dionisio Ocotepec, Oaxaca

Temo roasts his agave in an earthen oven, mills it with a horse-drawn tahona, ferments open-air in wooden barrels, and distills in wood-fired copper pot stills

Fortunato Hernandez
San Baltazar Chichicapam, Oaxaca

Fortunato roasts his agave in an earthen oven, mills it with a horse-drawn tahona, ferments open-air in wooden barrels, and distills in wood-fired copper pot stills

Felix Angeles
Santa Catarina Minas, Oaxaca

Felix roasts his agave in an earthen oven, mills his karwinskiis with a machine, but his espadin, tobala, and arroqueno by hand. He ferments open-air in wooden barrels, and distills in wood-fired clay pot stills

"El Conejo"
Antonio Carlos Martinez
Santa Catarina Minas, Oaxaca

Like Felix, who is on the other side of Minas, El Conejo roasts his agave in an earthen oven, mills his karwinskiis with a machine, but his espadin, tobala, and arroqueno by hand. He ferments open-air in wooden barrels, and distills in wood-fired clay pot stills, but with a steel condenser. (Felix uses a copper condenser.)

Jose Alberto Pablo
San Bernardo Mixtepec, Oaxaca

Jose Alberto roasts his agave in an earthen oven, mills it by hand using wooden mallets, ferments open-air in CLAY POTS, and distills in wood-fired clay pot stills. The mezcal of his community is traditionally yellow from using laminate condensers that get progressively more rusty until they eventually fail. He also makes clear mezcal using stainless steel condensers.

Fulgencio Ramirez
San Agustín Amatengo, Oaxaca

Fulgencio roasts his agave in an earthen oven, mills it with a horse-drawn tahona, ferments open-air in wooden barrels, and distills in wood-fired copper pot stills with a refrescador