Mezcal in Oaxaca

A Craft Spirit for the Global Marketplace

By Ronda L. Brulotte

University of Texas Press

An ethnography of mezcal and how it has become a global, "artisanal" good.

Mezcal is booming. Once considered a peasant drink—the rough, lowbrow cousin of the more refined tequila—the smoky spirit is now prized by connoisseurs the world over. It is also hailed as a savior of Oaxaca, powering a craft industry that can uphold rural economies and Indigenous traditions.

Ronda L. Brulotte traces mezcal’s swift rise and its effects on communities that have distilled and enjoyed the beverage for generations. Only in the late 1990s did mezcal begin to escape its longstanding associations with Indigenous and working-class life, even as these very qualities supply the “authenticity” that elite consumers crave. Through a detailed ethnography of the spirits industry in Oaxaca, Brulotte compares the ideal of the artisanal economy with the reality of participation in global markets. Her findings—focused on tourism-led development and gentrification, the exploitation of women and smallholders, and swelling regional migration pressures—raise troubling questions about the ecological and social sustainability of a new craft imaginary that rebrands rustic products as luxury goods.

Reviews

With her deep knowledge of Oaxaca and sharp ethnographic eye, Ronda Brulotte presents a compelling story of mezcal’s rise to global prominence. But Brulotte’s genius is in using mezcal as a window to understand Oaxaca today—as it fits into the Mexican and global political economy, as embedded in global cultural currents, the often-hidden role of women, and the complicated ways artisanal production takes place in a free-market context. Brulotte writes in an accessible style and deftly weaves together the many different strands that make up this story in a way that will appeal to both specialists and students. Edward F. Fischer, Vanderbilt University, author of Making Better Coffee: How Maya Farmers and Third-Wave Tastemakers Create Value

Ronda Brulotte tells the real story of mezcal. The popular saying, 'para todo mal, mezcal; para todo bien, también' comes to life in her vivid prose as she describes the hard work, beauty, and situated Indigenous knowledge that goes into the production of mezcal (a product gloriously immune to industrialization). She also conveys the complex trends and risks of global popularity that sometimes contribute to ongoing inequalities and disenfranchisement. Ultimately, however, it is not a story that makes us reluctant to lift a glass of this spirit, which she explains is 'good to think with,' but rather an opportunity to appreciate the wisdom and vulnerability of those who make it and commit to their prosperity. Alyshia Gálvez, Lehman College, author of Eating NAFTA: Trade, Food Policies, and the Destruction of Mexico

Author

Ronda L. Brulotte is a professor and chair of the Department of Geography & Environmental Studies and affiliated faculty in Anthropology and Latin American Studies at the University of New Mexico. She is the author of Between Art and Artifact: Archaeological Replicas and Cultural Production in Oaxaca, Mexico and coeditor of Edible Identities: Food as Cultural Heritage.