Pizorra (verano) - ameyaltepec

Batch: P-DT-04

Release date: Feb 2023

Delfino Tobon Mejia makes mezcal as part of his wider farming activities in the remote community of San Pablo Ameyaltepec, Pubela. His fascinating home made, 3-plate column still allows for a single pass distillation and produces wonderful aromatic spirits.

The development of spirits production in this traditional agricultural community is equally as fascinating. Over the 5 years since our first visit we’ve watched this palenque grow from broken down sheds to reasonable scale operations. And now there’s government money flowing into town to encourage growth in production.

Mayuey Pizorra (A.Marmorata) is a slightly smaller and quicker growing cousin of Tepextate, found specifically in this part of Puebla. You can distinguish it from the Tepextate by the white horizontal markings on the leaves.

Historically thought to be an entirely wild species of agave, various cultivation efforts are now underway within the Marmarota family. In fact on our most recent trip to Delfino, in Jan 2024, we spotted this field of cultivated Pizorra.

Delfino’s agaves, however, continue to be harvested from wild stock. He and his brother Pablo will trek with donkeys for 4 hours to fertile ground where both maguey Pizorra (A.Marmorata) and maguey Papalote (A.Potatorum) are in natural abundance.

Wintessing the slow development of Delfino’s palenque over the last 5 years has been very interesting: from a incredibly makeshift shed with old corrugated iron sheets for walls and roof, and no ventilation; through the building of concrete walls; to the recent instillation of new refrescadera casings and a second still, with both running into a central concrete cooling chamber… and with an extraction chimney.

Delfino’s roast happens in a traditional earthen pit, for 3 days, with a fire built from local tehuisqle wood. After milling with machete and then wood chipper, fermentation typically takes 8 days, in plastic tambors with well water.

Each 200 litre fermentation drum holds about 15 milled pizorra piñas. Once distilled, that will result in between 6-12 litres of finished mezcal, depending on various production factors, but mainly the season of harvest and consequential sugar-water ratio of the plant.

This batch was produced in August 2022 - in the summer / rainy season. That means the harvested plants contained more water, and the yield was therefore on the lower end of this range.

For a contrasting batch (made in the dry season with a higher yield) check out P-DT-03.

The all important distillation is quite unique in this case. Delfino uses a homemade column reflux still with 3 plates. You can see a retired still here, decorating the wall of the palenque. This column is immersed in a water bath to keep the reflux plates cool enough to have their condensing effect.

The re-condensing nature of this set-up means only a single pass of the apparatus is needed. A kind of 2-in-1 distillation.

We re-visited Ameyaltepec in Jan 2024, just before the release of this batch, and Jon presented Delfino with a MAS box containing two of his batches. He’s a big fan of the project and the details it showcases :)

Tasting notes: A little Mixteca dust on first nose smooths out into roasted agave sweetness after a moment. Mellow and smooth from first sip. Lots of citrus in the mid-palate, with tones of grapefruit and blood orange. Hints of chocolate in the back end fade to an un-fussy sweet finish. Very tasty and smashable.

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