Creme of Mezcal

Fine mezcal, made naturally from 100% agave, is probably the purest, most traditional spirit available on planet earth. Mezcal smells like history. It tastes like wonder and superstition. It finishes with ancestral connections to the past and mystical visions of the future. Love it or hate it, no one remains ambivalent after tasting mezcal.
Lance Cutler, Tequila Lovers Guide to Mexico (and Mezcal), published 2000.

A few months ago on a trip to Mexico we brought back a couple of bottles of Creme of Mezcal. They've been waiting to be tasted at home, it seems for just a tad too much! Yesterday after dinner we opened the coffee flavoured bottle only to discover that the Creme turned from a consistency similar to Baileys to that of yogurt! We did taste it, obviously we got it from so far away we're not going to throw it away, even if it means we will have a tummy ache for the rest of the evening. The taste itself was good but I would advice my friends coming over for dinner at my place to chose another liquor to drink from!

Mezcal is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from the maguey plant (a form of agave) native to Mexico. The word mezcal comes from Nahuatl mexcalmetl, meaning maguey. The maguey grows in many parts of Mexico, though most mezcal is made in Oaxaca. We spent a few days in the state of Oaxaca and the town of Oaxaca was very enjoyable with a central square with all the bars and restaurants around it as well as markets on the street.

Tequila is still technically a mezcal, but all mezcals are not tequila. Like cognac is a brandy from a specific region of France, tequila is a mezcal from a specific region of Mexico.