La Jornada: “2,500 years ago, agave distillates already existed in Mesoamerica”

Agave distillates already existed in Mesoamerica, of which there is physical evidence dated 2,500 years ago. It is a knowledge that is part of Mexican culture, whose raw material must be protected from current overexploitation, said researcher David Suro Piñera, author of the book Alma the agave (Planet).

The volume, explained to The Day, “It presents elements that allow us to see angles of these emblematic national drinks, which we do not talk about, because we are distracted with the marketing of transnational companies.”

The text, subtitled Past, present and future of Mexican distillates, It was a two-year collaboration by David Suro with the American ethnobotanist Gary Paul Nabhan, and was published for the first time in English, on the Norton label. He earned one of the 2024 James Beard Awards, an award that recognizes “demonstrated commitment to equity, community, sustainability, and a culture in which everyone can thrive.”

Suro reported that they covered all denominations of origin of agave distillates: bacanora, sotol, tequila, mezcal and raicilla. “It is a commitment to breadth and diversity. That is one of the most beautiful things about these products, that they are hyperdiverse, not only in flavors, but in cultures.”

He exemplified with the Zacatecas mezcal, which “uses varieties of agave that give us extraordinary diversity; in Oaxaca, where there is another exceptional biodiversity of agaves, there is another universe of flavors, aromas, culture and how to handle the raw material.”

The author reported that in his more than four decades spent in areas producing agave distillates, he noticed flaws in the version that tequila and mezcal originated from mixing with Europeans, since in regions of Jalisco and Michoacán he learned of production different from the Arab still that the Spanish brought.

The specialist said that despite some controversy, it is known that distillations were carried out in clay 2,500 years ago, utensils similar to those used in Mongolian environments in Asia. “A very well-done investigation by a group of archaeologists, anthropologists, and ethnobotanists shows physical evidence of vessels” from the ancient Capacha culture, which flourished in western Mexico.”

He explained that he took a sample of these clay containers to the biomolecular laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania for analysis. It tested positive for agave, with a carbon test dating of 2,500 years.

This is, the author highlighted, a relevant “historical link”, since mezcal and tequila were linked to deep Mexico and were discriminated against by the “classism that existed since the Colony. We are revealing fundamental elements for the valorization of these agave distilled drinks.”

For respectful handling

David Suro explained his taste for agave derivatives that respect their raw material, “the producer who does it with great respect to maintain as much as possible flavors and aromas created in the five to 30 years that the vegetative cycle of an agave can take.”

The distiller of “tequila, mezcal, bacanora or raicilla who handles the raw material with respect is going to give us an interesting and complex drink like no other in the world, because there are many factors involved: the climate, the rain and sunny days. In agave we need years to achieve them.”

The knowledge of the care of these plants, Suro commented, is “in the towns of Oaxaca, Zacatecas, Jalisco, Nayarit, Michoacán, Guerrero…, where there is an exceptional biodiversity of agaves, but knowing how they are going to achieve their vegetative cycle in a healthy way and, therefore, of excellent quality, falls on the producer, on the teacher. This is knowledge that comes from pre-Columbian times.”

He exemplified that due to the demand for agave tequilana Weber, a monoculture was forced through the reproduction of this species in a clonal, non-sexual way, which translated into the reduction of its genetic diversity since they are very vulnerable plants.

“We are very concerned about the massive extraction of these drinks. There is an uncontrolled overextraction of agaves due to which we are losing endemic species. There must be regulations, government participation to review our standards with a view to protecting the communities.”

Suro mentioned that without the large producers of distillates there would not be global recognition for these drinks, “but we need to generate more awareness in the way in which “we can be sustainable and guarantee the future, and find ways in which the large producer fits, but is aware of the process of a plant that requires time.”

On the other hand, he asked to take into account the “great master producer, who are the greatest promoters and guardians of these drinks, connected to that historical link of at least 2,500 years”, that, despite the fact that there were prohibitions in pre-Hispanic times and during the Colony, “we have families linked to the distillates for thousands of years, which is something sensational.”

Agave distillates, he highlighted, are important in our national culture. “In Oaxaca, mezcals de pechuga, for example, are offerings; they are used to celebrate a deceased person or the arrival of the harvest, the sowing. There is that cultural link that refers to the uses of these drinks not necessarily to socialize or get drunk just; that is, they have a reason to exist.”

He concluded: “mezcal, tequila, bacanora are culture, and agave should not continue to be extracted in the way it is.”