Frontera Fiesta Blogería

Don't call it tequila, and don't refer to it as "the other tequila." Mescal has been around for at least a couple hundred years, but has only truly started to gain notoriety in the last few decades. There is a saying in Oaxaca, “Para todo mal, mezcal, para todo bien, también” (For everything wrong, mezcal; for everything right, too.)

Join us as we travel to the "Mezcal Capital" of Santiago Matatlán, Oaxaca. Roughly 20 minutes outside Oaxaca city you'll notice the barren, semi desert, landscape start to take shape in the form of agave fields, which start to become more frequent, as do the palenques or mescal distilleries.

While the beverage is starting to become more recognized worldwide, the process in which it is made remains steeped in tradition. And though many varieties exist, most would categorize the spirit as a mix between a tequila and a good scotch with a strong smokey flavor, and as you'll see, we got to experience just how that smoke finds its way into the process.

Bring your wallet, a bag or two, and an empty stomach. To take a trip to Oaxaca is part and parcel to visit the open air marketplaces. Let your senses run wild as we wander around two of Oaxaca city's most popular markets, The Mercado Benito Juarez and the adjoining Mercado 20 de Noviembre (or more commonly known as Mercado de la Comida).

Whether you fancy a tlydas, queso fresco, an assortment of fresh spiced chocolate, pan de yema ( a type of sweet egg bread), fish, poultry, or beef; if it's a particular, sweet, taco, mole, or the famous chipulines ( fried grasshoppers) that you crave or wish to try, you can find it here.

Coming to the market is a dance, literally and figuratively. Here you'll find plenty of musicians playing aloud, that when mixed with the hollering vendors, conversation, and laughter truly creates a symphony of sound and culture.

Finca Las Nieves was an experience straight out of Indiana Jones...at least the trip to get there was. The trek to get to the coffee plantation made you feel that you were about to embark on a journey to witness something truly spectacular...and by the time you reach the summit where the plantation sits, you were not left disappointed.

Not simply a producer of world-class coffee, Robin, the owner of the plantation, and Gustavo, an agricultural specialist, cupper, and coffee expert, helped restore the plantation to its former glory and have even gone as far to make the destination a place for eco-tourism where travelers can come and bird watch, learn of the plantation, eat from the vegetable garden, and learn of their environmentally conscious recycling program. To be nestled high in the mountains with such beautiful surroundings, fresh produce, mountain water, and world-class coffee, hard to say we missed anyone that day....pretty perfect setting