Understanding Mezcal by James Schroeder. This was an intensely enlightening book. Unlike many mezcal books out there that focus on the narratives of the producers, personal journeys exploring the spirit, and/or descriptions of the variety of products on the market, this book simply lays down an objective deep dive on the hard facts and realities of mezcal – the science and botany of what it is, how it came to be, the geeky details of how it’s made, and how it presents itself to us eager outsiders ready to fall in love with the traditional spirit of rural Mexico.

This book is for the spirits lover who delights in geeking out over how and why a spirit exists, its role in society (now and throughout history), and exactly what goes into that bottle. This book is for the mezcal enthusiast who has a grasp on mezcal beyond its smoky facade and gets excited about introducing unique mezcales to unsuspecting friends, and yet, who is simultaneously confused and overwhelmed about the vast and difficult-to-navigate variety out there. This is for anyone who is enchanted by the spirit and wants to truly, as the title blankly declares, understand mezcal.

That all said, this is a pretty dense book (tho not a long read), and to be frank, probably isn’t the best choice for someone completely new to the spirit (for that, I highly recommend Mezcal by Emma Janzen). This is not a book that sugarcoats or puts mezcal on a fanciful dazzling pedestal, and at times, may make you quite depressed about the state of the spirits world. All said and done – this was absolutely eye opening, extremely informative, and dang I am now even more excited to continue exploring the spirit!

Find it on Amazon here!

Ready to explore some mezcal? Check out some bottles I’ve talked about here.