This eisode follows the making of mezcal, showing how each choice shapes what you taste. You’ll move step by step through the journey—from which agave is chosen and when it’s harvested, through cooking, crushing, fermentation, and distillation, and finally into aging decisions and the last tuning at bottling. Along the way, the label becomes a kind of guide, pointing back to the plant, the place, the allowed methods, the batch, and the proof. A few careful comparisons to additive-free 100% agave tequila help sharpen what’s distinctive about mezcal without losing the thread of the story.

This is the journey of mezcal—from maguey’s earliest roles to the modern ways we define, make, and choose it. We’ll step into a world where agave was food and ritual drink, hear how language hints at mezcal’s name, and then watch distillation transform fermented sap into a high-proof spirit tied to colonial trade. From there, the story follows mezcal as it becomes written about, taxed, banned, and controlled, while tequila rises from a regional “vino mezcal” into a separate identity. Finally, we shift into the era of standards, protected names, and today’s debates, then walk through additive-free production and the label clues that help you spot a no-additives, no-cheats bottle on the shelf.

This episode traces how additive-free tequila earns its taste, step by step, from plant to bottle. We’ll move through the quiet decisions that shape sweetness, aroma, texture, and finish—how Blue Weber agave is grown and harvested, how cooking unlocks fermentable sugars and cooked-agave character, and how crushing sets the stage for what yeast can do. From there, fermentation builds personality, distillation refines it through careful cuts, and aging (when used) lets wood and time soften or transform the spirit without shortcuts. Finally, bottling choices like proof, water, and filtration decide how much of that true character reaches your glass.