A Day off from the Palenques; a Night in Oaxacan Bars
How Our Group Spent a Wednesday Off in Oaxaca
That was a longer break from my series of articles about our group’s Oaxaca trip than I planned, but hey…there were two new mezcal bars in my town, and I just had to write about them!
Now back to our Mezcal Exploratory Trip to Oaxaca: Wednesday, February 15th, 2023.
Yes, it was a day off of the palenques. This helped me catch up on my voiceovers, which was helpful. As I mentioned before, it’s true we probably drink a little less on these days—but that remains an open question. Also some of our road trips into the campo can be a little tiring; so I got out of one Wednesday while the rest of our group went on a different type of expedition. There was a black clay pottery thing in San Bartolo Coyotepec, and something I kept calling basket weaving, but which Barb was quick to correct me on. 😂 That said I can’t say I recall what type of weaving it was in Teotitlán del Valle, but I know it didn’t involve weaving back to a vehicle after ten or thirty samples of mezcal.
And I really am primarily here to write about mezcal anyway.
As evening approached we couldn’t think of a better place for dinner than a return trip to La Popular. But while this place is often busy, it was super busy this night; so we were directed to…what else? La Otra Popular! This spot is just up the same street, and offers the same food, mezcal—and pretty much the same atmosphere as the original location. So we ate up and sipped. I don’t remember everything I tried, but I know I got that de-LIGHT-ful Jabalí we enjoyed the previous Saturday.
Afterward we started up the street looking for another place to drink. We stopped into a few places, but it’s probably accurate to say our trips to Oaxaca in the past—and our appreciation for La Popular—have spoiled us. It really wasn’t that long ago that at several spots in centro you could find house mezcales at 60 to 70 pesos for a 2 ounce shot. And, amigo, it was good stuff! But at a number of these places here in 2023 I’d say most interesting distillations were closer to the 180 to 300 pesos per shot range—with the occasional Espadín exception.
You’ll get no complaints from me. I know how amazing mezcal is. Am I supposed to fall upon my fainting couch when a new crowd of others finally realizes its tantalizing beauty? I believe in market economics, and fundamentally where demand increases so does price. But the only lingering thought during these times is: if I pay 270 pesos for this shot of Tepextate, am I sure there’s not another hangout where something just as good is significantly less?
And it turns out there is.
Quiote Mezcalería, Oaxaca
I’d consider Craig Thompson a Mezcal Maniac. He doesn’t even live in Mexico, but clearly comes for visits to Oaxaca and other Mexican mezcal hotspots more than I do as a resident. And he had a great recommendation for us: go check out Quiote Mezcalería.
Located in the Xochimilco neighborhood of Oaxaca, Quiote Mezcalería was a much longer walk than most of us thought we’d be taking after leaving La Otra Popular. But I was resolute in going, fueled by Craig’s promise of outstanding mezcal—even some from Hermogenes and other Logoche maestros—as well as reasonable prices. He also suggested I try a certain Barreno mezcal made by Ageo Cortés—also operating in the Miahuatlán region.
Like a lot of my gringo friends, I don’t necessarily turn my nose up at a Mexican dive. They can be some of the best places to meet up, drink and laugh. But I’ll admit it was a refreshing surprise that, on the second floor, Quiote featured a rather modern design, was well lit, cheery and with a nice sized wooden bar—and LOADS of mezcal to sample!
My understanding is that both Celia Bolanos and Jesus Jimenez are involved with Quiote. I was sorry not to catch her, but Jesus was there, doing a fine job of hosting. They have a dizzying array of bottles behind the bar—with more underneath. I figured I’d ask for the aforementioned Barreno.
For me, it was classically Karwinski—very reminiscent of other such distillations from Miahuatlán: distinctively earthy with a bit of balancing sweetness. We all tried a few different options, occasionally sharing our finds—and confident it would be hard to find mezcal this good at a bar this nice with prices this agreeable.
As it happens, Jesus is also a maestro mezcalero, and he invited us to his palenque in Santiago Matatlán on Friday. We enjoyed his company so much, we agreed to make it part of our plans. I’ll share more about that later in this series—as he gave me my first chance to actually chop an agave piña in half! 😃
We were able to arrange taxis back to our apartment, and I don’t think it was too late. I’d need my rest for the following day’s trip to both Santa María Albarradas and Santiago Matatlán, where we’d meet up with previous and brand new maestros. That’ll be next up on Mezcal Maniac.
At last Friday’s mezcal meetup that we have every week here in San Miguel de Allende, two new characters showed up—both named Steve. And one of them is a reader of this newsletter; so it was great to chew the fat and roll out a nice selection of mezcales I’ve been hoarding. If you live in the area—or are just passing through—let me know and we’ll meet up!