Editing Mezcal (section)

==History==
[[File:Tarasco Still (Bourke, 1983).png|thumb|A "Tarascan still", a modified Filipino-type [[still]] with bound wooden [[Stave (wood)|stave]]s as the boiling chamber. It was used by the [[Purépecha]] people for distilling mezcal ({{ca|1893}}).<ref name="Bourke">{{cite journal |last1=Bourke |first1=John G. |title=Primitive Distillation among the Tarascoes |journal=American Anthropologist |date=January 1893 |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=66–70 |jstor=658788 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/658788}}</ref>]]
[[Pulque]] (a fermented drink from agave sap) is pre-colonial,<ref name="municipio">{{cite web |title=Mezcal |url=http://www.oaxacainfo.gob.mx/?mod=topic&topic=mezcal |publisher=Municipality of Oaxaca |location=Oaxaca |language=es |trans-title=Mezcal |access-date=19 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090728185637/http://www.oaxacainfo.gob.mx/?mod=topic&topic=mezcal |archive-date=28 July 2009 }}</ref><ref name="Zizumbo-Villarreal">{{cite journal |last1=Zizumbo-Villarreal |first1=Daniel |last2=Colunga-GarcíaMarín |first2=Patricia |title=Early coconut distillation and the origins of mezcal and tequila spirits in west-central Mexico |journal=Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution |date=June 2008 |volume=55 |issue=4 |pages=493–510 |doi=10.1007/s10722-007-9255-0|bibcode=2008GRCEv..55..493Z }}</ref> but the [[distillation]] of [[agave]] heart juice into mezcal was only introduced in the colonial era when [[Filipino people|Filipino]] [[Asian Mexicans#Filipinos|sailors and migrants]] brought the technology of Filipino-type [[still]]s with them during the [[Manila galleon|galleon trade]] between Mexico and the [[Philippines]] (1565 to 1815).<ref name="Zizumbo-Villarreal"/> This is supported by ethnohistoric, botanical, archaeological, and toponymic evidence. Mezcal is the product of the merging of pre-Columbian indigenous fermentation traditions and Asian distillation techniques brought over from the Philippines.<ref name="Ji">{{cite news |last1=Ji |first1=Yuan |title=The Origins of Mezcal, Tequila and Agave Spirit Distillation in West-Central Mexico |url=https://www.erstwhilemezcal.com/origins-of-agave-spirit-distillation/ |access-date=23 April 2024 |work=Erstwhile Mezcal |date=19 February 2023}}</ref>

[[File:Generalized Filipino-type stills with labels.png|upright=1.3|thumb|left|Generalized diagrams of the two main variations of Filipino-type stills<ref name="Bruman"/>]]
Filipino-type stills, derived from [[Mongols|Mongolian]] and [[East Asia]]n stills, are very distinct from the more complex European-type [[alembic]] stills (derived from Arabic and Middle Eastern stills). They were cheap and easy to manufacture, though less efficient than alembic-type stills. They were made of a mixture of different easy-to-acquire materials. They usually consist of a hollowed-out log (usually from the [[Enterolobium cyclocarpum|parota tree]]) with two copper or iron pans. These were often substituted with larger capacity earthenware jars and bowls, bound wooden [[Stave (wood)|staves]], or even metal cylinders. The upper pan is continually filled with cold water and functions as the condenser; while the bottom pan holds the fermented juice over the furnace, functioning as the boiler. The distillate is collected either by an internal container placed in between the two pans on a platform; or a spoon-shaped collector and gutter made from wood, rolled agave leaf, or [[Arundo donax|carrizo cane]] (originally [[bamboo]] in the Philippines) that exits from the hollow log in between the pans to an external clay container. A modified version of this, usually called "{{lang|es|olla de barro}}" (lit. "clay pot"), use a specially-shaped clay vessel (or overlapped clay vessels) built into a furnace as the boiler chamber (doing away with the hollow log and the bottom pan). It only uses one pan (the condenser), but otherwise operates on the same principle.<ref name="Zizumbo-Villarreal"/> There are also many other modified variants, usually named after the indigenous peoples that use them, including the "[[Purépecha|Tarascan]] still" (or "Tarasco still"), "[[Zapotec peoples|Zapoteco still]]", "[[Nahuas|Nahua]] still", "[[Bolaños Municipality|Bolaños]] still", and "[[Huichol]] still" (the latter used for making [[sotol]], not mezcal).<ref name="mr">{{cite web |title=Filipino still|url=https://www.mezcalreviews.com/filter-by/distillation/filipino/ |website=Mezcal Reviews |access-date=20 April 2024}}</ref><ref name="Bruman">{{cite journal |last1=Bruman |first1=Henry J. |title=The Asiatic Origin of the Huichol Still |journal=Geographical Review |date=July 1944 |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=418–427 |doi=10.2307/209973|jstor=209973 |bibcode=1944GeoRv..34..418B }}</ref><ref name="Valenzuela-Zapata">{{cite journal |last1=Valenzuela-Zapata |first1=Ana Guadalupe |last2=Buell |first2=Paul D. |last3=Solano-Perez |first3=Maria de la Paz |last4=Park |first4=Hyunhee |title="Huichol" Stills: A Century of Anthropology – Technology Transfer and Innovation |journal=Crossroads |date=2013 |volume=8 |pages=157–191}}</ref><ref name="Bourke"/> Filipino-type stills are also still referred to by mezcal and [[tequila]] manufacturers (especially in [[Jalisco]] and [[Michoacán]]) as the "Filipino still" ({{lang|es|destilador Filipino}}).<ref name="Hatchett">{{cite news |last1=Hatchett |first1=Caroline |title=The Philippine Influence in Mexican Mezcal Distilling |url=https://www.liquor.com/filipino-mexico-mezcal-distilling-7485906 |access-date=20 April 2024 |work=Liquor.com |date=27 April 2023}}</ref>

[[File:Huichol distillery (Lumholtz Expedition to Mexico 1894-1897).jpg|thumb|A "Huichol still", a modified Filipino-type still with a suspended internal distillate collector. It was used by the [[Huichol]] people for making [[sotol]] ({{ca|1898}}).<ref name="Bruman"/><ref name="Lumholtz">{{cite journal |last1=Lumholtz |first1=Carl |title=The Huichol Indians of Mexico |journal=Bulletin of the AMNH |date=1898 |volume=10 |issue=article 1|url=https://digitallibrary.amnh.org/items/56020dc4-c9ff-4934-a4cf-b532df9c2aee}}</ref>]]
These stills were initially used by Filipino settlers who established [[coconut]] plantations on the coastal regions of Guerrero and [[Colima]] of [[New Spain]] to make ''[[vino de coco]]'' (coconut liquor, also called ''[[lambanog]]''). Over the centuries that the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade was active, an estimated 75,000 Filipinos settled western Mexico and intermarried with indigenous and [[mestizo|mixed-race]] families. They passed the knowledge of these stills to local communities who applied it to distill fermented agave. The first historical record of mezcal production is from southern Jalisco, using techniques derived from coconut liquor production from Colima.<ref name="Zizumbo-Villarreal"/><ref name="Machuca2018">{{cite book |last1=Machuca |first1=Paulina |title=El vino de cocos en la Nueva España: historia de una transculturación en el siglo XVII |date=2018 |publisher=El Colegio de Michoacán |location=Zamora, Michoacán |isbn=978-607-544-034-7}}</ref><ref name="Machuca">{{cite journal |last1=Machuca |first1=Paulina |title=La herencia asiática en México: nuestra cuarta raíz |journal=El Universal |date=8 August 2021 |pages=2–3 |url=https://www.academia.edu/61090274}}</ref><ref name="McGovern"/><ref name="Hatchett"/> 

By the early 1600s, the [[New Spain|Spanish colonial government]] and the ''[[Real Audiencia]]'' in Spain banned ''vino de coco'' and issued an order for the destruction of coconut plantations in Colima because it competed with the sales of imported spirits from Spain. This was also the reason they did not initially introduce distillation to Mexico. Although this wasn't complied with completely, the [[prohibition]] of ''vino de coco'' led to the expansion and commercialization of the production of mezcal to fill the local demand for cheap liquor. The first mention of distilled agave spirits in colonial records is from 1619, by the Spanish cleric Domingo Lázaro de Arregui. He mentions that the indigenous peoples in the coastal regions of the Sierra de Nayarit were distilling "''mexcales''", which he describes as being obtained by distilling fermented juice from roasted agave leaf bases. By 1638, the governor of Nueva Galicia also started to regulate the sale of mezcal. Mezcal became banned shortly after, though its illicit trade continued. By 1643, there are records of mezcal and ''vino de coco'' being sold in [[Guadalajara]].<ref name="Zizumbo-Villarreal"/><ref name="Hatchett"/>

[[File:MezcalCantaroDRSBC.JPG|thumb|upright|left|A [[cantaro]] jar, made from [[barro negro pottery]], used for serving mezcal]]
The production of mezcal moved from the coastal river basins of the [[Río Grande de Santiago]] to the inland ravines by the early 1700s to evade the prohibition on indigenous spirits production, as well as to take advantage of the larger numbers of wild agave plants in the interiors. The plants used expanded to highland cultivars of ''[[Agave angustifolia]]'', as well as ''[[Agave rhodacantha]]'' in Jalisco, and ''[[Agave hookeri]]'' in [[Michoacán]].<ref name="Zizumbo-Villarreal"/> 

By the mid-1700s, the production of ''vino de coco'' had ceased completely due to the prohibition and the loss of coconut plantations. But mezcal liquor survived because they were sourced from abundant wild agaves which the Spanish could not eradicate. The production sites moved to even more remote and difficult-to-access areas in the foothills of the [[Volcán de Colima]], the ravines of the Colima Valley, and in the Chamila Valley. During this period, the first clandestine distilleries in the highlands of Jalisco were also established in the valleys of [[Amatitán]], [[Tequila, Jalisco|Tequila]], [[Magdalena, Jalisco|Magdalena]], and [[El Arenal, Jalisco|El Arenal]], whose mezcal variant made specifically from [[blue agave]] later became [[tequila]].<ref name="Zizumbo-Villarreal"/> 

The small size of the Filipino-type stills made it easy to disassemble and move while evading colonial authorities. The numerous well-like ancient graves cut into the rocks in the region were also coopted as fermentation basins for agave juice. The small size of the still also allowed distillers to produce agave liquor from a very small number of agave plants or even a single plant. These conditions led to the constant selection and vegetative propagation of wild agave plants with the best characteristics for agave liquor production, eventually resulting in the development of domesticated cultivars of agave.<ref name="Zizumbo-Villarreal"/> 

In Colima, the fermented agave to be distilled into mezcal is still called ''tuba'' (a synonym of {{lang|es|mosto}}), the term adopted from the ''[[tubâ]]'' used to ferment {{lang|es|vino de coco}}.<ref name="Zizumbo-Villarreal"/><ref name="Bruman"/><ref name="Ji"/> The term ''tuba'' is also used for fermented sotol plant (genus ''[[Dasylirion]]'') core juice, before its distillation into [[sotol]] liquor by the [[Huichol people]], also indicative of its origins as an adaptation of {{lang|es|vino de coco}} production.<ref name="Bruman"/>

The oldest agave spirits distilleries (called ''tabernas'' or ''viñatas'') use Filipino-type stills, many of which are still operational (like the Macario Partida distilleries in [[Zapotitlán de Vadillo]], Jalisco). The technology was also transported through trade routes into [[Zacatecas]], [[Guanajuato]], [[Michoacán]], [[Sonora]], and the rest of Mexico, as well as parts of the southern [[United States]], where modified Filipino-type stills have been reported.<ref name="Zizumbo-Villarreal"/><ref name="Machuca"/> The alembic-type still, finally introduced by the Spanish for distilling [[sugarcane]], was later also adopted for mezcal production.<ref name="Bowen">{{cite book |last1=Bowen |first1=Sarah |title=Divided Spirits: Tequila, Mezcal, and the Politics of Production |date=2015 |publisher=University of California |isbn=9780520962583 |pages=29–30}}</ref> Most modern mass-produced mezcals are made using [[alembic]]-type stills, but the highest category of certification, the "ancestral mezcal" must be distilled using only Filipino-type stills.<ref name="Mezcal Basics">{{cite web |title=Mezcal Basics |url=https://www.experienceagave.com/mezcal-basics/ |website=Experience Agave}}</ref><ref name="Maxwell">{{cite web |last1=Maxwell |first1=Khrys |title=Mezcal Categories: What defines Ancestral, Artesanal, & Mezcal! |url=https://www.oldtowntequila.com/blog/mezcal-categories-what-defines-ancestral-artesanal-mezcal/ |website=Old Town Tequila |access-date=21 April 2024}}</ref>

=== Possible pre-colonial distillation ===

Some authors have also proposed the existence of a separate pre-colonial distillation of small quantities of agave for elites, based on an interpretation of the peculiarly-shaped double or triple-chambered [[Capacha Culture]] clay vessels as small stills.<ref name="McGovern"/><ref name="Hatchett"/><ref name="aldan">{{cite AV media | people =Aldana, Pascual (Director); Fuentes, Alberto (Producer); Aldana, Daniel (Animation and Visual Effects;  Zizumbo, Daniel; Colunga, Patricia; González, Fernando | date =October 2012 | title = Los Mezcales del Occidente de México y la Destilación Prehispánica | type =Documentary | language =es | url =https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atqU5pwK9E4 | publisher =Explora México, Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán (CICY)| doi=10.13140/RG.2.1.3730.3209}}</ref> These vessels are known in Spanish as {{lang|es|bules}}, and dates to c.1500 to 1000 BCE. They were hypothesized to have been capped with a condensing cold water-filled bowl, with a very small cup placed inside to collect the distillate. Modern replicas using this method have been successful in producing small quantities of spirits with an alcohol content as high as 35%. If the distillation of mezcal was indeed present in pre-Columbian Mexico, it would mean the introduction of Filipino-type stills merely expanded the production by using new techniques. However, the archaeological evidence for this remains inconclusive,<ref name="McGovern"/><ref name="Hatchett"/><ref name="Salgado-Ceballos">{{cite journal |last1=Salgado-Ceballos |first1=Carlos |last2=Mitrani |first2=Alejandro |last3=Alcántara Salinas |first3=Andrés Saúl |last4=Galicia Flores |first4=María Judith |last5=Leiva García |first5=Pavel Carlos |last6=Cañetas Ortega |first6=Jaqueline Rafaela Dolores |title=Technological analysis of Capacha pottery from the Colima Valley (western Mexico) by ED-XRF and thin-section petrography |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports |date=June 2021 |volume=37 |pages=102914 |doi=10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.102914|bibcode=2021JArSR..37j2914S }}</ref> as examination and molecular testing of ancient Capacha {{lang|es|bules}} in 2019 have not detected any of the expected macroscopic botanical remains (like fibers) or chemical biomarkers for agave or any other high-sugar agricultural products (like fruits, cactus juice, honey, or corn) that could be distilled into spirits. Furthermore, all of the vessels are exclusively only found in association with tombs and burial sites (they are absent in utilitarian or industrial sites); they show completely no evidence of ever having been placed over a fire;  and no cups or bowls have been recovered ''in situ'' in association with them.<ref name="McGovern">{{cite journal |last1=McGovern |first1=Patrick E. |title=Pre-Hispanic Distillation? A Biomolecular Archaeological Investigation |journal=Open Access Journal of Archaeology & Anthropology |date=11 March 2019 |volume=1 |issue=2 |doi=10.33552/OAJAA.2019.01.000509|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Salgado-Ceballos"/>