The most intensive, immersive experience we offer, you’ll trek into Oaxaca’s Sierra de Juarez mountains to actually make mezcal on the outskirts of San Cristobal Lachirioag.
Each year, we join Mezcal Tosba’s maestro mezcalero Edgar González to participate in every step in the process of making “mezcal de pechuga.” This experience begins and ends in Oaxaca City, and we spend two days and nights camping out at the palenque in a lush jungle environment. The road is long and serpentine and the conditions are rustic, but the camaraderie, mezcal, and local pre-Hispanic cuisine make it well worth it.
The Zapotec village of San Cristobal Lachirioag is remote and well beyond the typical tourist destinations. We are honored to be guests in “Lachi” once a year. The microclimate and terroir are unique in the world of Oaxacan mezcal—magueys grow amongst various types of wild plantains and cultivated coffee beans. We will participate in unloading cooked maguey from the earthen pit oven, harvesting maguey and re-loading the oven, breaking down and milling cooked maguey, formulating it for fermentation, and distilling a special mezcal de pechuga throughout the night.
All of our food will be prepared on-site, and the majority of it is local, indigenous cuisine. The menu is based entirely on what is fresh and caught that week, and has included chachalaca, wild boar, venison, crayfish, and the best turkey mole you’ll taste anywhere. As special guests, you can work making mezcal as much, or as little, as you like. For the more recreationally inclined, there are waterfalls and a pristine river for bathing and swimming.
Most of us will camp out at the palenque, close to the still. If you’d prefer a bit more comfort, there is a basic hotel in the village of 2,000 people that we’ll provide transportation to and from. We recommend this experience for guests in good general health who don’t mind roughing it a bit.
*Please note: the drive is long, windy, and worth it. Tosba is remote and the closest small village is 30 minutes away.
