Xocolatl - Santa Catarina Minas

Batch: RA-02

Release date: Masa, Rotterdam Exclusive batch pick

A woman toasting cacao. This is the poster of the Xocolatl - Santa Catarina Minas mezcal on the Sin Gusano website
A woman toasting cacao. This is the poster of the Xocolatl - Santa Catarina Minas mezcal on the Sin Gusano website

At a glance:

  • Maguey: Espadín (A. Angustifolia)
  • Producer: Rosario Angeles
  • Region: Santa Catarina Minas, Ocotlan district, Oaxacan Central Valleys
  • Cooking: 3 days in pit oven heated by volcanic rock
  • Milling: By hand with machete and wooden mallet
  • Fermentation: 3 days in open-air tinas
  • Distillation: Tripple clay pot
  • Batch size: 29 litres
  • Date of production: February 2024
  • ABV: 62.3%
  • Special Notes: 2kg homemade chocolate added to 3rd distillation

We’re very pleased to present this extremely special bottling. It’s an exceptionally rare liquid (29 litres ever made), and it represents a collaboration not only with the talented producer, Rosario, but also with our friends at The Netherlands finest Mexican establishment - Masa.

Rosario’s beautiful palenque has been in operation since only 2021, when she returned from the US during the pandemic. The style of production is in keeping with the rest of the famous community of Santa Catarina Minas. That is to say ‘ancestral’ - milling by hand and distilling in small clay pots.

To learn more about Rosario’s story and these production details, check out the batch page from our first bottling from her, RA-01.

Traditional distillation for mezcal production

The really special thing about this batch is an unusual third distillation with the addition of homemade Oaxacan chocolate.

Rosario at the comal roasting cacao

Rosario at the comal

Toasted Cacao on a milling stone

Toasted Cacao ready for milling

a plate of Chocolate paste

Chocolate paste

Cacao beans from the nearby Sierra Sur were toasted at the palenque on a traditional comal before being mashed and turned into a paste along with a heavy dose of toasted almonds, piloncillo (local raw cane sugar) and cinnamon. The 2kg of chocolate paste used was about 1/4 almonds.

Historically reserved for the gods, the addition of this homemade chocolate massively reduces yield, as the fats in the chocolate absorb the mezcal. 70 litres of double distilled Espadín quickly become 30 litres.

A lesser producer might have economised the batch by diluting it with more lower-proof mezcal. But with one taste of this high proof creation you’ll understand why the indomitable Rosario Angeles kept this batch at this powerful abv.

Paste mixed with warm mezcal

Paste mixed with warm mezcal

The chocolate/mezcal mix added to the still

The chocolate/mezcal mix added to the still

Rosario, creator of the Xocolatl - Santa Catarina Minas mezcal

Gracias Rosario

House Tasting Notes:

Incredibly rich and powerful flavour of quintessentially Oaxacan chocolate. The slightly gritty and heavily spiced chocolate of the Oaxaca markets has been represented here in silky liquid form. At over 62% abv, it explodes in the mouth with flavour, but without aggressive heat. Earthy tones from the famous Minas clay pots mingle with the most mild of background smoke. With an extremely long and lingering savoury chocolaty finish, this batch is an almost endless joy.

A bottle of the Xocolate mezcal bottled exclusively for Sin Gusano in collaboration with Masa

Only available at Masa, Rotterdam

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