Tequilas, mezcals, and sotol

Some tastes for a specific food and music are  formed in childhood, others deliberately developed. Coffee, scotch, and I am certain, kale, are among the things most people are not born with a taste for. They develop it.

For me, it was crucial in college to develop a taste for coffee. Later, perennially mountain biking and living in hot climates necessitated being able to enjoy an icy beer. Two major things I have developed a taste for since moving to Mexico are Mexican regional music and tequila.

Ever since I saw the character of Teresa Mendoza, la mexicana, in Telemundo’s wildly popular series Reina del Sur sipping a shot of tequila in the bathtub in one of the first episodes during my first year in Mexico, I decided to get to know my way around tequila and its misunderstood sibling, mezcal.

In the subsequent five years, I kept my antenna tuned to the subject of tequila and mezcal. Therefore, I was taken off guard to learn, in Taste the Nation, an American food show, that tequila and mezcal have a step-sibling, sotol. 

What is sotol?

“What the hell is Sotol?” I asked out loud while watching the show, and why hadn’t I heard of it? I felt better about my ignorance when I ran into a Mexican lifestyle magazine article that asked the same question (“Que diablos es Sotol?”) As it turns out, a number of well-written articles have recently appeared about this up and coming spirit, which is distilled much like mezcal. 

Sotol, while related to tequila and mezcal in taste, is not made from the agave plant, but rather from desert spoon, a type of shrub. The plant grows in a variety of climates, each lending a distinct taste to the sotol. 

Interest has grown in sotol because the desert spoon grows wild and is a more sustainable plant than the agave.  The plant's roots are maintained intact when harvested. If you need further justification to try sotol, maybe you will like knowing that sotols and mezcals are 100% organic. No sugars are added (It’s practically a health food!)

The history of sotol

Sotol has a colorful past. At one time it was illegal to produce sotol in Mexico and the spirit was almost driven to extinction. Bootleg distilleries and family sotoleros operated to uphold its ancient tradition. Now the drink appears to be making a comeback.

In its even more distant past, the plant was used with peyote in religious ceremonies by regional indigenous groups with the Spaniards adding distillation to the process later. According to Chilango magazine “the mystical qualities of sotol first awaken your senses, then your consciousness.” Today, only three States in Mexico have denominación de origen for sotol; Chihuahua, Durango y Coahuila. 

Many varieties and brands

For me, the biggest obstacle to understanding tequilas, mezcals, and now sotol is the bewildering array. If you were a bartender limiting yourself to only the best brands, it would still take years to call yourself an expert.

Mezcal has been a particular challenge to know what to expect. Expensive brands are often not what I would call smooth, yet I have tasted regional brands of mezcal at 10:00 in the morning over gorditas and wanted a second round (maybe it all has to do with the company).

Sotol, like tequila, can be silver (joven), reposado or añejo (aged) in addition to the subtle distinctions in taste from brand to brand due to the terrier of the plant from which it's made. Infusions, called curados are also common in the genre, according to Kara Newman, a writer for Wine Enthusiast. 

How to drink sotol

Ideally, it’s recommended that you drink sotol as you (and Teresa Mendoza, La Mexicana in Reina del Sur) would drink tequila, that is to say, neat. The accompaniment for tequila is a slice of lemon while for mezcal, it’s a slice of orange. Serve sotal neat with a cherry and a wedge of orange as garnish. Squeeze the orange into the shot glass to give it a pleasing orange scent.

If you want to try sotol and are living in the U.S., you likely will need to go to a Mexican restaurant or bar to find it.  Even upscale bars in Denver did not have sotol when I looked for it during my last visit (and nothing drives me to find something like not being able to.)Tequila/Mexican bars are most likely to carry the Hacienda de Chihuahua brand if they carry sotol. The brand also carries a sotol cream which, like any cream, is delicious as a dessert drink.

I personally find sotol more gentle than its siblings. If you are new to the drink and developing an appreciation, I would recommend a soft, clean silver sotol (joven) over tequilas and mezcals.

Here are some interesting drink recipes with sotol. Get your Mexican game on and give sotol a try!

Related links:

Best brands of sotol - The Thrill List

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About the author:

Kerry Baker is the author of several books for travelers and aspiring expats.

The Mexico Solution: Saving your money, sanity, and quality of live by living in Mexico Part-time gives practical advice on living in Mexico along with insights on what to expect in your first few years. It’s both instructive and a good read, making it one of kind in its genre.

If Only I Had a Place is the ultimate guide to renting in Mexico. Her most recent work, The Lazy Expat: Healthy Recipes That Translate in Mexico, is for travelers, snowbirds and expats trying to eat healthy in Mexico.