.Where and how to drink mezcal locally

Mezcal is booming in the East Bay. These bars are leading the way.

I have great news: Gone are the days where the only way to drink mezcal is by shooting it down with a worm at the bottom. Agave spirits are getting better and better, and we’ve only seen the tip of the larger iceberg.

Unlike other metropolitan areas, the East Bay is just starting its journey in this area. Mezcal, the close cousin to tequila, is a distilled spirit of more than 30 possible varieties of agave, or “maguey” in Spanish. The best maguey are found growing wild in the jungles and high-altitude villages of Oaxaca and numerous other Mexican states, crafted into unbelievable expressions of place and culture by generational mezcaleros.

With help from the New York-born cocktail renaissance in the late 1990s and 2000s, American consumption of mezcal transformed from a novelty item with suspended agave larvae—commonly mistaken as a worm and originally paired with mezcal as an advertising campaign—into a new tool for bartenders across the country, therefore starting its burgeoning influence in the marketplace. Mezcal is projected to become a $2.1 billion industry in the next six years.

Thankfully, a couple of local spots have been inspired to teach those about mezcal—not to hop on the bandwagon of potential profit, but because they’ve simply experienced some “divine agave epiphany.” I had to see if the tales were true.

Cory McCollow, co-owner of Odin along with his wife Sylvia, first tried mezcal in 2007 while living in Philadelphia.

“My first sip of mezcal was Del Maguey Chichicapa, and it was because the bar was out of The Famous Grouse Blended Scotch,” McCollow said. 

An interest in collecting rare bottles became the genesis for what is now Odin’s back bar—a jaw-droppingly solid wall of pure, sustainably sourced mezcal that rivals the best selections in America.

“I collected mezcal like I collected sneakers,” McCollow said. “So then there was an opportunity to showcase sneakers or mezcal, and I lost.” 

PUNCH, a digital media brand dedicated to drinks and drinking culture, put Odin on their list of “The Best Places to Drink Mezcal Across the Country,” a well-deserved leap from the building’s past life as a juice bar, barbecue joint and laundromat.

People walk by Odin on their way to better-known spots in Jack London Square, a main thoroughfare of new restaurants, niche breweries and classy jazz clubs. But they’re mistaken if they think any of those places offer anything as new or exciting as Odin does.

In Odin I was offered a copita, a traditional clay cup meant for mezcal tasting, of a bottling called “Palenqueros,” highlighting individual mezcaleros. Made from a little-known varietal of agave called Sierra Negra, by fourth-generation mezcalero Baltazar Cruz, it proved to be some of the best liquor I’ve ever tasted. Transcending liquor, it was subtle and perfume-like and everything that’s good and right in the world.

“He’ll make more when he feels like it or when he needs some extra money for his family,” McCollow said of Cruz.

Odin doesn’t believe in allocating bottles, and that’s intentional. If you choose a bottle off the top rack, you might never taste that mezcal ever again, simply due to the fact that the producer isn’t forced to make anything they don’t want to. There’s a beauty in that freedom.

“They make it to drink, not to keep on shelves,” McCollow said. 

And drink they do, always straight. Not everything esoteric and maximalist is delicious. Far from it, actually. Mezcal purists only drink the spirit neat, that being the original intention of the mezcalero who crafted it.

“That’s what we like about mezcal,” McCollow said. “It’s just agave and yeast from the air.” 

McCollow and his wife have made a practice of buying a village’s worth of agave from Mixteca Alta, a region in Oaxaca, and purposefully overpaying. That then becomes what they use for their cocktails.

Odin has one rule: If it’s on the spirits list, it has to come from Mexico. If it’s an amaro, they make it in-house or track one down from the middle of nowhere in Puebla. They procure sotol from Chihuahua, Mexican rum from Zihuatanejo, and varieties of mezcal people here have never heard of and raicilla we’re rarely able to try anywhere else, from Jalisco. That is Odin’s identity; responsible sourcing and intentionality is the business plan.

PARTY BUS El Patio’s ‘Agave on Wheels’—a classic 1984 Chevy P30 bus retrofitted with a bar and lounge space. (Photo by Hamei Hamedi)

Another haven for mezcal lovers is El Patio, located just off University Avenue in Berkeley. Hamei Hamedi’s collection began with 18 bottles and has grown to more than 300, including the extra storage upstairs in the private tasting room. The gospel Hamedi feels called to preach is simple: Mezcal is for everyone, even those who don’t like its hallmark smoky flavor, a byproduct of the halved agave hearts cooked in a charcoal pit called a horno, or oven.

“Espadin makes up roughly 85% of mezcal production,” Hamedi said. “But there’s more than just one varietal of maguey to try for those that are new. Tepeztate is a perfect example.” Hamedi was referring to a tamer, more intricate variety of agave better suited for those with a delicate palate.

In theory, there’s little difference between a specific grape’s flavor profile for wine and that of a specific agave’s for mezcal. It would be ludicrous to surmise that one doesn’t like wine after only trying a chardonnay from one producer. The same logic applies to mezcal. Enough regions, talented mezcaleros and different strains of agave exist for everyone to find a mezcal they enjoy.

Those at Odin and El Patio have discussed the future of mezcal in the East Bay for a while. Maybe that future looks like El Patio’s bright-orange party bus Hamedi calls “Agave on Asphalt” or Odin’s myriad of mezcal tastings and classes. Whatever it is, these two businesses should take credit when mezcal truly takes root in the East Bay.

Odin, 444 Oak St., Oakland. 510.444.6436. odinoakland.com. El Patio, 2056 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. 510.548.2222. elpatio510.com. For more info about the El Patio party bus, visit elbus510.com.

Other places to try mezcal locally:

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