Papalome Ixcateco Spirits Distilled From Agave Mezcal

Papalome Ixcateco Spirits Distilled From Agave Mezcal

Ixcateco represents the local traditions, customs and ancestral techniques that have been preserved for centuries as part of the production of this spirit. Ixcateco seeks to become a medium for the development of social and cultural projects, to promote environmental responsibility for producers and consumers, and to dignify one of the most important economic activities in the village of Santa María Ixcatlán, in the Cañada region of Oaxaca.

Ixcateco is produced and owned by Amando Alvarado Alvarez, who has been distilling agave spirits since the age of fifteen. Mainly utilizing wild Papalomé (agave potatorum), Amando is one of a dwindling number of mezcaleros who maintain the centuries-old, ancestral practices of fermenting in rawhide and distilling in clay. Ixcatec is the native ethnic group of Santa María Ixcatlán, where fewer than 10 people still speak the 1,300+ year
old language known locally as Xwja

Ixcateco mezcalero Amando Alvarado Alvarez typically harvests his maguey in the dry season. This is the time of year when greater yield is achieved because the sugar content of the agave is greater. Papalomé (agave potatorum) is traditionally the only maguey used by in
Ixcatlan to make agave spirit, although there are many other maguey species around including rabo de leon, cimarrón, maguey blanco, and pulquero. These are used for construction, textiles, and pulque. The agave's fructans are transformed into fermentable sugar by slowly cooking the heart of the maguey in an underground oven covered by palm leaves for three nights. The roasted agave is then milled into smaller pieces first with a machete, then by pounding those pieces with large wooden mallets. The milled agave is placed into rawhide vessels with spring water where natural fermentation takes place. Distillation takes place on clay pots made in nearby
Oaxaca City. The spirit is distilled twice over direct fire and adjusted to proof with colas, or tails.