A Silver medal was given to coffee‐flavoured Sierra Milenario Tequila Cafè. Two more Silver medals were hailed in the Tequila Liqueur round. El Sueño Watermelon Liqueur pleasantly surprised the judges with its “fresh watermelon notes” and some “light earthiness”. Silver winner Horus was likened to a “very well done chocolate cream”. Susan: Wait, wait, wait. You said that mezcal is made from all different mezcals. You mean all different agaves, right?

Susan: So, you could, you could live your life drinking a different mezcal, like literally every day of your life. Chambers said: “Quality‐wise, this was a solid tasting. And you’re starting to see one or two producers pushing the boundaries of what can be done.”Five or 10 years ago, nobody would put investment into research and development for Tequila, but now producers are in a position to start messing around a bit more, which means they must have confidence in the consumer.” Susan: It was great to have Eduardo on the program teaching us all about Mezcal and Ojo de Dios mezcal in particular. I know I can’t wait to start trying it from each different Mexican state.

Outright industrialisation, meanwhile, has the potential to put mezcal’s reputation as a handcrafted and artisanal spirit at risk. As Moreno puts it: “The beauty of mezcal lies in its unrepeatable imperfection.” Eduardo: Well, the way you have it in your glass, I’m going to pour myself some. So obviously if you smell it, loads of totally chocolatey, roasted coffee notes, bitterness, sweetness. Susan: So, there are nine regions where they make mezcal. Where do you start? Did you just kind of have a map and close your eyes and point to one, or was there one type of mezcal that you loved so much that you wanted to recreate it? It’s not close to saturation, but new brands will need to look outside of Oaxaca, where maybe 85% or 90% of mezcal is produced at the moment.” Agaves grow on those areas in that territory. So, all those nine estates are a part of it because agave grows in those areas. Now, when you are looking at flavor profile per agave, it’s really very difficult because there are too many. Espadin, as you can taste here in this delicious mezcal, Ojo de Dios 42%, espadin agave is usually sweet and spicy. Mezcal from Oaxaca, they smoke a lot. They’re usually very smoky or you get hints of smoke on the mezcals, but then when you move to Guerrero, for instance, they have another agave which is very popular. It’s called cupreata. That is very fruity. Every time I drink a mezcal from Guerrero I remember that chewing gum, Tutti Frutti bubble gum.They organize this big event where you have a table and someone to assist you. It’s like speed dating. Suddenly every 15 minutes, you have a new producer and they come to you, and you have a timer. They present the brand and then they go, and they present the brand and then they go.