Thats how hard the journey was. Of course now its much easier. "Easier is a relative term. Then it took two or three days to pulverize the baked agave prior to fermentation, hammering it with a wooden mallet made of tree burl. Now its crushed by a horse or mule reluctantly pulling a multi-ton limestone wheel over it for a couple of hours, persuaded with the assistance of a crop-like piece of leather, or simply a stick.
and then its time for the next batch. Hilarino began net present value calculations how to make mezcal when he was about seven years old. Out of economic necessity he moved with his family to Mexico City at age 11, and remained there for the next 15 years. Upon return to Oaxaca some 14 years ago he built and opened his current facility, the mezcal operation with adjoining eatery.
Initially his father worked the business with him, but about four years ago the elder Olivera opened up his own restaurant beside his sons, and since then theyve been competitors of sorts. Hilarino explains "But my father cant produce mezcal on his own, since Im the one with the equipment clay net calculations value present brick still with copper attachments, pine fermenting vats, limestone wheel and ring for crushing, and beast of burden, so when he has a batch of agave he wants to process, we work out an arrangement for him to use my production facility.
" In fact one of Hilarinos brothers does the same thing, buying agave and renting Hilarinos premises to produce, and then selling to his own customers. Occasionally others from the village make similar arrangements with him. Hilarino distills roughly 500 liters of mezcal a month. His average sale is about 5 liters.
He owns a few different pieces of land upon which he has 5,000 plants, with exclusively the espadГn variety of agave under cultivation. At least 90 of the mezcal produced in the state is espadГn, the rest comprising mainly wild varieties. The agave on Hilarinos fields is sufficient to service his regular trade.
But occasionally an out-of-state client will net present value calculations a large quantity of mezcal, perhaps 800 - 1,000 liters. "When this happens," he confesses, "I have to go out and buy mature plants from a neighbor, since I simply cant harvest my agave whenever a special net calculations value present comes in.
I have to wait those 8 - 10 years until the plants in a particular field are ready to be harvested. " But the finished product maintains its quality and character, since Hilarino remains the producer, using his own equipment and particular recipe, and the agave, albeit not from his own fields, comes from the same San Lorenzo Albarradas micro-climate.
Its such cooperation between local producers, together with a united voice, which is required to ensure that small-scale, traditional production of quality mezcal continues. To this end Hilarino has recently joined the ninety-member association, Fabricantes y Expendedores del Tradicional Mezcal OaxaqueГo A.
Its function, at least in the estimation of Hilarino, is to maintain the artisanal nature of the industry; resist the move towards increased industrialization and the ability of large net present value calculations to label any spirit produced with or containing additives, as mezcal; and provide small producers with an opportunity to have their products exposed to and promoted in a wider marketplace.