Distiller magazine a publication of the American Distilling Institute, the Voice of Artisan Distilling; devoted to the craft spirits industry: vendors and distillers alike.
Issue link: http://distilling.uberflip.com/i/1306663
76 distiller made at 2,000 m elevation with pulquero, silvestri and mezcal bruto — different names for the wild species harvested at 18–20 years of age. Jesus Lupian Contreras makes a liter of raicilla from 30 kg of wild agave piñas randomly harvested at 2,100 m within a 50 km radius, some of which can weigh as much as 50 kg. Water from a mountain spring two miles away is carried by mule to the distillation site to be used at varying stages of the process. e seven-me- ter circumference oven of pumice is bottomed with oak logs, which are set afire. Pumice is then placed atop the burning oak, and as many as 100 piñas are added, covered with canvas and layered with mud. After cooking three days, the piñas are removed and placed onto a pad where a stone wheel pulled by two mules crushes them. All juice and fiber are then placed into fermentation vats. Fermentation begins naturally, without the addition of yeast. e barril (beer) will be ready between 5–10 days, after which the beer is transferred to the distillation area. ere, an oak oven below is kept at a constant tempera- ture, purely by feel — no thermometer. e fermenting pulp is then wheelbarrowed from the fermentation room back to the ceramic distil- lation vessels, where water is often added to dilute the juice and prevent scorching. Some of the pulp is used to seal the cooking vessels from the air out- side, helping manage heat and trap smoke. e floor is soon swept of the ashes shoveled from the fire, and new oak is added. e mash heats to boiling, and the first spirit comes off the still at 20% ABV. Some of this will be distilled a second time, to 50%, with the two distillates later blended down to around 40%. Each step is car- ried out with meticulous care, the result of years of experience — even the fire is built with great skill, so as to not grow too fast or give off too much smoke. Contreras touches the water in the copper pans atop the vessels to check the temperature. He adds cold water as needed to keep the still turning vapor into distillate. Hacienda Meson dates to the conquistado- res. Commercialized in 2015, Saité (Huichol for "must") raicilla is produced by fifth-generation Edgar Saul Covarrubias Fletes and business partner Carlos Flores from a family tradition. Inaequidens and rhodacanta are harvested from Covarrubias's 500 hectare Rancho Los Tepetates in the Sierra de Amula. "He owns the town," laughs Villegran. With 600 L lots produced sporadically throughout the year, "commercialization is a little difficult here because people prefer tequila," Flores admitted, "but we've made many appointments with wine sellers and fairs to promote it." Covarrubias also Above — Edgar Saul Covarrubias Fletes of Saité Below — Freshly distilled raicilla at Contreras's Sierras de Tigre