Oakland mezcal connoisseur offers tastings as spirit explodes in popularity
A drink long popular in Mexico, demand for mezcal has exploded around the world, and the Bay Area is no exception.
East Oakland may not be the first place you think of for a tasting experience. But behind an unassuming gate, Hugo Gonzalez was shaking things up with a spirted twist.
A couple of years ago, Gonzalez turned his humble garage into a mezcal mecca, where every sip is a shot of history, culture, and just the right amount of kick.
"Mezcal right now is having a moment," Gonzalez told CBS News Bay Area.
A former lawyer from Mexico City, Gonzalez traded in his briefcase for a bottle of agave or, more precisely, hundreds of them, using his rare Mezcal collection like a library of liquid stories.
His goal is to spread the word about the complexity of mezcal, also known as tequila's smoky cousin.
Unlike tequila, which is made exclusively from blue agave, Mezcal is produced from over 30 different types of the plant, offering a much wider range of flavors and profiles.
While Mezcal has been part of Mexican culture for centuries, in the last few years, it's been enjoying an explosion in popularity. Mezcal sales have increased by double digits year over year, making it one of the fastest growing spirit categories in the country.
Andi Miller, a bartender from San Francisco, said part of the allure is the fact that agave plants can take years to mature, once harvested it can't be reused.
"You're really drinking the wind the rain the hands and love of the people who made the product," Miller told CBS News Bay Area.
The growing demand has its downside, with some wild agave species now at risk of extinction.
It's why Gonzalez said it's important to savor every drop.
"The best way to drink Mezcal, they call it 'besito a besito," he said, which translates into "little kiss by little kiss."
In other words, he says, don't drink it, just sip it.
The hope, he says, is that people appreciate not just the final product but the plant itself.
"It's part of our legacy, part of our traditions and, I believe, it's part of our blood in a way," he said.