Biquix con Piña - El Guayabo

Batch: CV-01

Release date: The Berkeley Hotel Exclusive Batch

Main image of the Biquix con Piña - El Guayabo mezcal on the Sin Gusano project website
Main image of the Biquix con Piña - El Guayabo mezcal on the Sin Gusano project website

At a glance:

  • Maguey: Biquix (Agave Karwinski) con Piña
  • Producer: Carlos Vasquez
  • Community: El Guayabo, Miahuatlán, Oaxaca
  • Cooking: In-earth horno, 10 day roast
  • Milling: Hand mashed with wooden mallets
  • Fermentation: 4 day dry ferment + 5 days with water
  • Distillation: Double distilled in copper alembic with refresacdera
  • Composition: Heads & hearts
  • Batch size: 67 litres
  • Date of production: March 2022
  • ABV: 52.0%
  • Special notes: 43kg of pineapple from the Sierra Sur added on second distillation

One fine Spring day in 2022 we pushed a little deeper into the Miahuatlán valley than usual and happened across this stunningly situated palenque.

There we found Carlos Vasquez, recently returned from working in the US, and establishing his new mezcal business.

This delicious Biquix con piña, our first batch from Carlos, has been bottled exclusively for bars of The Berkeley Hotel.

Agave delivery for mezcal

Agave delivery

Carlos on a closed oven cooking Pina's for mezcal

Carlos on a closed oven

Maguey Biquix for the Biquix con Piña - El Guayabo small batch mezcal

Maguey Biquix

Having only recently built his palenque on return from the US, Carlos currently buys in his agave from farmers when he can. The plants sit in piles under logs protecting them from the sun until they’re ready to be loaded into the oven.

His first crop of own harvested agave should be ready very soon.

After a 10 day roast, the piñas were crushed entirely by hand using wooden mallets on a wooden mashing table - highly unusual for the region.

the piñas were crushed entirely by hand using wooden mallets on a wooden mashing table
Wooden tools used for making mezcal

Once crushed, the sweet roasted agave was loaded into the wooden Tina below, where it was left to dry ferment for 4 days, with no catalyst other than the airborne yeasts in the environment. The lightly fermented fibres were then split into plastic drums and had water added for a further 5 days of fermentation.

Once fermented, the sour and alcoholic mash was loaded, fired and all, into Carlos’ single 200-litre copper still, for a first distillation.

the sour and alcoholic mash was loaded, fired and all, into Carlos’ single 200-litre copper still, for a first distillation.
the still was cleaned of bagazo (agave fibres) and vinasa (waste liquid)

After the first distillation, the still was cleaned of bagazo (agave fibres) and vinasa (waste liquid), and the first run distillate or ‘ordinaro’ was added back into the still along with 43kg of chopped ripe pineapple.

That’s 26 whole pineapples in this tiny 67 litre batch, which were trucked in from the Sierra Sur where they grow plentifully.

Carlos, creator of the Biquix con Piña - El Guayabo mezcal exclusive to the Sin Gusano project

Gracias Carlos

House Tasting Notes:

Biquix and Piña - absolute winner!

a bottle of the Biquix Con Pina mezcal exclusive to the Sin Gusano project

This batch has been bottled exclusive for The Berkeley.

For a copita, head to their hotel bars.

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