Agave Spirits - The Past, Present, and Future of Mezcals

The agave plant was never destined to become tasteless, cheap tequila. Follow Gary Nabhan and David Suro Piñera on the trail with archaeologists and botanists to caves where 9,000-year-old remains of agaves have been found, and then fast track to the 1990s, the peak of the "margarita craze," before a deadly cocktail of microbes devastated blue agave plants on Mexican lands.

Culled from decades of fieldwork and interviews with mezcaleros in eight Mexican states, Agave Spirits reveals the stunning innovations emerging today across the mezcal supply chain and offers solutions for improving sustainability and equity. Thousands of years of tradition are inspiring a new generation of individuals (including women), with an explosion of cutting-edge science pointing a way forward for the betterment of the drink and the lives of the people who create it. Agave Spirits boldly delights in the most flavourful and memorable spirits humankind has ever sipped and savoured.

About the author

Gary Paul Nabhan is a MacArthur “Genius Grant” Award–winning ethnobotanist and literary naturalist. He lives in Patagonia, Arizona.David Suro Piñera is a restaurateur and founder of the Tequila Interchange Project. He lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Product details

• Authors: Gary Paul Nabhan, Nabhan Gary Paul, David Suro Piñera
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 17.08.2023
• EAN: 9780393867107
• ISBN: 978-0-393-86710-7
• Dimensions: 163 mm x 236 mm x 28 mm
• Weight: 502 g
• Subjects: Guides > Food & drink > General, dictionaries, tables; SCIENCE / Global Warming & Climate Change, Climate Change, HISTORY / World, Cookery / food & drink etc, General & world history, Spirits & cocktails, General and world history, Spirits, liqueurs and cocktails, COOKING / Beverages / Alcoholic / Bartending & Cocktails, COOKING / Beverages / Alcoholic / Spirits, Cookery / food and drink / food writing