Clay Pot Distillation

You’ll be picked up by Alvin or Randall and travel in an air-conditioned SUV or similarly comfortable touring van. The first village you’ll visit is Santa Catarina Minas, renowned for its ancestral clay-pot distillation. At a family palenque, you’ll learn every step of traditional mezcal production: agave reproduction, growth, and harvesting; roasting the carbohydrate-rich piñas in a sealed in-ground oven over firewood and river stones; hand-crushing the baked agave with a wooden mallet; fermenting in wooden or clay vessels; and finally, distilling in locally crafted clay pots.

You’ll gain a clear understanding of why traditional mezcal production is considered one of Mexico’s most sustainable industries, and why no two batches of agave distillate can ever be identical. At a second nearby palenque, you’ll meet a young, determined woman producer who has built and operates her own distillery — an exceptional accomplishment in a mezcal world still shaped by machismo. This visit offers rare insight into both technique and resilience.