Mezcal vs Tequila.
You may have heard “all tequila is mezcal, but not all mezcal is tequila.” It’s one of those things that seems to be a popular “interesting fact” to regurgitate, but is actually kinda misleading… I mean, the two are distinct spirit categories (albeit both agave-based), and they’re even governed by different regulations!

In that phrase, “mezcal” refers to the traditional word for an agave-based spirit, though the modern day protected “Mezcal” denomination does not include all agave spirits. Thus, Tequila and Mezcal are two distinct spirits as recognized by law.

A bit of history on how this division came to be. Throughout time, humans have found ways to make booze from nature’s assets. Agave grows rampant in the deserts of Mexico, and boom, we have agave spirits (referred to as “mezcal”). In the 1800s, enterprising entrepreneurs from Jalisco started seeking an international audience for the spirit from their region. They achieved great $uccess, and the rising popularity of this local style of mezcal drove its demand for exclusivity and lawful protection with a unique name: Tequila.

Where there’s money to be made, there are shortcuts to be found. The “Tequila” style of mezcal spent the 20th century capitalizing on this new vast international audience and Tequila evolved into an industry where production shortcuts and additives were the norm, and the tradition of the spirit was mostly lost behind its marketing facade. Meanwhile, small villages continued to make their traditional agave spirit locally, which was “discovered” in the past couple decades and amplified in recent years with the modern cocktail revival.

So yes, Tequila and Mezcal both originated from the same traditions. Both names are now protected by laws dictating their dos-and-don’ts. There are still Tequilas made in artisanal ways; there are also Mezcals made in commercialized blasphemous ways (a category unfortunately growing as Mezcal ascends in popularity). The two are siblings with divergent development evolutions resulting from different market forces.