our process

We start with cultivated and wild harvested agave, hand selected for their maturity and high sugar 

content.

Agave is grown on the land surrounding the Palenque, as well as harvested high in the mountains surrounding the village.

All Tileño Mezcal releases are single agave expressions, allowing the character of each agave species to shine through.

Tileno Mezcal takes great pains to maintain sustainable Agave practices. 

After harvesting the agave, we then roast the agave in open pit, releasing the fermentable sugars.

10’ deep and 10’ fille with volcanic rock and covered in dirt, our agave is roasted at lower temperatures, reducing the smokiness found in some agave, while still having that rich character.

This process allows for the character of the agave plant to shine through.

The agave is then crushed using a horse drawn “tahona de piedre”, a large hand carved stone, used to break down the agave into liquid and fibers for fermentation. Our horse, Rubio, is pictured here.

Once broken down to fibers, the agave is placed in to large wooden vats, with hot water, where fermentation will take place

No yeast is added to aid in the fermentation process, so the walls of the palenque are left open in order to allow natural yeast to do it’s work.

The process can take anywhere from 3-5 days and the maestro mescalero uses taste and hearing to know when the fermentation has stopped.

Once fermented, the liquid and agave are placed in wood fired copper pot stills (alembiques).

Keeping only the most flavorful part of the distillate, we add no water after distillation.